Leg 3.  ST. PAUL ISLAND

in the Pribilofs

26 May to 30 May 2012

St. Paul Island

Famously known for its nesting Red-legged Kittiwakes, the Pribilofs have long been a favorite site for birders wanting to reach the outer limits of North American birding. St. Paul Island is the largest of the five-island archipelago known as the Pribilof Islands and is 240 miles north of the Aleutian Islands, 300 miles west of the Alaska mainland.

Amidst spectacular seabird cliffs and Northern Fur Seal rookeries, we can find auklets, Horned and Tufted Puffins, Common and Thick-billed Murres and Ancient Murrelets. Favorable winds can bring Eurasian vagrants such as Common Greenshank, Black-tailed Godwit, Gray Wagtail and Dusky Thrush. Isolated in the Bering Sea, about 300 miles from mainland Alaska and 500 miles from the Siberian coast, the Pribilofs have been described as a birder’s paradise where over 240 species have been identified and an estimated 2.8 million seabirds nest annually. Seventy percent of Northern Fur Seals migrate to the Pribilofs where they breed. Arctic Foxes prowl the seal rockeries and bird nest sites.

Expected highlights

Northern Fur Seal, Harbor Seal, Arctic Blue Fox, Reindeer, Cackling Goose, Harlequin Duck, Long-tailed Duck, Northern Fulmar, Red-faced Cormorant , Rock Sandpiper, Black-legged Kittiwake, Red-legged Kittiwake, Slaty-backed Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Common Murre, Thick-billed Murre, Pigeon Guillemot, Parakeet Auklet, Least Auklet, Crested Auklet, Horned Puffin, Tufted Puffin, Lapland Longspur , Snow Bunting, Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch.

Possible sightings

Steller Sea Lion, Emperor Goose, Brant, Eurasian Wigeon, Steller’s Eider, King Eider, White-winged Scoter, American Scoter, Smew, Peregrine Falcon, Pacific Golden-Plover, Wood Sandpiper, Gray-tailed Tattler, Wandering Tattler, Whimbrel, Bristle-thighed Curlew, Bar-tailed Godwit , Red-necked Stint, Ruff, Red-necked Phalarope, Red Phalarope, Black-headed Gull, Glaucous Gull, Pomarine Jaeger , Parasitic Jaeger, Long-tailed Jaeger, Arctic Tern, Ancient Murrelet, Snowy Owl, Short-eared Owl, Pacific Wren, Bluethroat, Northern Wheatear, Eastern Yellow Wagtail, Brambling.

Schedule

• First day - free day in Anchorage.
• Second day - fly from Anchorage to St. Paul Island, bird in late afternoon and evening, stay overnight at island.
• Third day - birding on island.
• Fourth day - birding on island.
• Fifth day - birding on island, then fly back to Anchorage.

Note, depending on demand we likely will take either the Adak Island tour or the St. Paul Island tour, but probably not both.  In this case, the schedule will be rearranged slightly.  If there is sufficient interest, we will run both trips.

Package features:  5-days / 5-nights

• campground in Anchorage (5 nights)
• airport parking or shuttle in Anchorage
• airfare to St. Paul Island
• airport pickup at St. Paul Island
• accommodations at St. Paul Island (3 nights)
• all meals at St. Paul Island (~9 meals)
• ground transportation at St. Paul Island (4 days)
• taxes and land use permits
• services of local guide
• services of naturalist and caravan guide
• airfare to Anchorage

Package price

• $3,250 one person (assumes second person is staying in RV in Anchorage)
• $6,190 two people (double occupancy)

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Revised: February 03, 2012.