Sheryll
06-30-2009, 07:01 PM
Hi,
My non-birder husband and I went on the TOS trip to Alaska. We were there from May 29-June 16, in Anchorage, Nome, Barrow, and on the Denali Highway between Paxson and Cantwell. We also took a day boat trip out of Seward that was the absolute highlight of the trip.
Non-bird highlights included Humpback Whale (one lunged out of the water in front of the boat while feeding!), several groups of Orca, both Sea and River Otters, Beaver, Musk Ox, Reindeer, Moose, Dall's Sheep (like Bighorn), Artic Fox, Ermine, and we even had a Grizzly Bear try to join us for lunch outside of Nome!
The trip got 155 species of birds. Highlights were: Bristle-thighed Curlew, Bluethroat, Short-Eared Owl (irruption year, they were plentiful), Gyrfalcon, Artic Loon, and Black-tailed Gull (all in Nome); all species of Eiders; Lapland and Smith's Longspurs in breeding plumage; loads of Red and Red-neck Phalaropes; Kittlitz's, Ancient, and Marbled Murrelet; Parakeet and Rhinoceros Auklet; Tufted and Horned Puffin; Common and Thick-billed Murre; and Bald Eagles as plentiful as Red-tailed Hawks in Texas.
I came home with 52 lifers, which took my North American Lifelist to over 500. Lifelist bird #500 was the Rhinoceros Auklet, a fine bird to commemorate the event. I finished a number of bird families on this trip including grebes, phalaropes, and eiders.
The other nice part of the trip was that we were on the trip with Jay Lorch and Julius Nussebaum, neither of whom I had ever met before!
Sheryll
My non-birder husband and I went on the TOS trip to Alaska. We were there from May 29-June 16, in Anchorage, Nome, Barrow, and on the Denali Highway between Paxson and Cantwell. We also took a day boat trip out of Seward that was the absolute highlight of the trip.
Non-bird highlights included Humpback Whale (one lunged out of the water in front of the boat while feeding!), several groups of Orca, both Sea and River Otters, Beaver, Musk Ox, Reindeer, Moose, Dall's Sheep (like Bighorn), Artic Fox, Ermine, and we even had a Grizzly Bear try to join us for lunch outside of Nome!
The trip got 155 species of birds. Highlights were: Bristle-thighed Curlew, Bluethroat, Short-Eared Owl (irruption year, they were plentiful), Gyrfalcon, Artic Loon, and Black-tailed Gull (all in Nome); all species of Eiders; Lapland and Smith's Longspurs in breeding plumage; loads of Red and Red-neck Phalaropes; Kittlitz's, Ancient, and Marbled Murrelet; Parakeet and Rhinoceros Auklet; Tufted and Horned Puffin; Common and Thick-billed Murre; and Bald Eagles as plentiful as Red-tailed Hawks in Texas.
I came home with 52 lifers, which took my North American Lifelist to over 500. Lifelist bird #500 was the Rhinoceros Auklet, a fine bird to commemorate the event. I finished a number of bird families on this trip including grebes, phalaropes, and eiders.
The other nice part of the trip was that we were on the trip with Jay Lorch and Julius Nussebaum, neither of whom I had ever met before!
Sheryll