Denali Highway, Alaska— Photo: Barry Zimmer

Part II of our Grand Alaska adventure focuses on the forested interior and southern coasts of Alaska. Three days spent in the magnificent Denali Highway wilderness will acquaint us with the grandeur of the Alaska Range and some of the continent's finest scenery. Based out of a comfortable lodge set amidst dazzling surroundings, we'll be treated to all of the birding and wildlife viewing possibilities of the Denali region without the congestion of cruise line tour buses and rampant commercialization that is coming to dominate the National Park itself. We'll bird tall boreal forest, taiga, subalpine and alpine habitats for Trumpeter Swan, Barrow's Goldeneye, Surf and White-winged scoters, Horned and Red-necked grebes, Spruce Grouse, Rock and Willow ptarmigans, Northern Hawk Owl and Great Gray Owl (rare), American Three-toed Woodpecker, Northern Shrike, Boreal Chickadee, Northern Wheatear, Bohemian Waxwing, Arctic Warbler, Smith's Longspur, White-winged Crossbill, Pine Grosbeak, and many others. Moose, caribou, Dall sheep, grizzly, red fox, beaver, and porcupine are all good possibilities as well.

A boat trip to Kenai Fjords National Park will offer spectacular scenery—immense ice fields, glaciers cutting into the sea, sheer-walled fjords, fog-draped spruce forests, and rugged headlands awash with nesting seabirds. Alcids are the primary attraction with such possibilities as Kittlitz's, Marbled, and Ancient murrelets competing with guillemots, puffins, and murres for our attention.

This trip may be taken alone or may be combined with a pre-trip to the Pribilof Islands, which offer an incomparable seabird experience. Thousands of Least, Crested, and Parakeet auklets, murres, puffins, and fulmars nest along the towering cliffs of St. Paul Island, and can be observed almost within touching distance, as can Red-faced Cormorants and Red-legged Kittiwakes.  Most visits to this remote outpost even turn up an unexpected Asiatic vagrant or two.

Parts I and II of Grand Alaska may be taken separately or in combination with the Pribilofs. These tours, as well as the Barrow Extension, are designed to follow one another sequentially to allow participants maximum flexibility in scheduling. Taken in concert, Grand Alaska Part I, Pribilofs, Grand Alaska Part II, and the Barrow Extension comprise the most complete and exciting Alaska birding tour available.

Comfortable accommodations; easy to moderate terrain; easy, short walks with a full-day boat trip to Kenai Fjords; some long drives; full birding days with optional post-dinner birding at some locations; cool to mild climate.
     
The Pribilofs Pre-Trip features simple accommodations with shared bathrooms; good food; most birding in-and-out of a bus or vans along lightly-traveled gravel roads, with short hikes over mostly grassy tundra; exceptional photographic opportunities; good possibilities for Asiatic vagrants; generally cold, maritime climate (temperatures usually 35-50 degrees Fahrenheit).