Post by b1schmor on Aug 5, 2006 17:20:21 GMT -8
Hello birders,
my wife Carolynn and I just returned from a three week trip through northern BC, the Yukon, and parts of Alaska. We drove from Abbotsford to PG, then to the Alaska Highway at Dawson Creek, and along the Alaska Highway to Whitehorse. From Whitehorse we did a loop down the South Klondike highway to Skagway, ferried to Haines, Alaska, and then drove the Haines Highway to Haines Junction. We hiked two days in Kluane National Park and then drove to Tok, Alaska, where we continued north, along the Top of the World Highway, to Dawson city.
From Dawson City we drove up the Dempster Highway to Tombstone Territorial Park, and then south, along the Northern Klondike Highway back to Whitehorse. We returned to BC via the Cassiar Highway and the Yellowhead highway to PG. We made a couple of interesting side trips, driving the Telegraph Creek road west of Dease Lake, and driving to Hyder, Alaska.
This was our third trip to Peace River country and our second north of 60. We ventured to the Northwest Territories four years ago. This was more of a sightseeing trip than a birding trip, but we did manage to see some nice birds (109 species) It always amazes me how little bird life there is in the north. What made up for this was the amazing amount of other wildlife sightings. We saw 23 species of mammals including 18 bears (5 grizzlies), moose (9), Lynx (1 , this was a real shocker) , Red Fox (2), Coyotes (7), Dall's Sheep (27), Stone Sheep (19), Caribou (9), Elk (1). WT Deer, Bison (3), Porcupine (4), Mule Deer, Beaver (6), Muskrat (2), Snowshoe Hare, Mountain Goat, Yellow-bellied Marmot, Red Squirrel, Least Chipmunk, and Arctic Ground Squirrel.
I will just list the birds that we normally don't see down in this area, so some, who are interested in going north, will get a sense of some of the birds you might see.
I did have five targets before leaving, but got only one, an Arctic Tern on the Dempster Highway. The others I was hoping to get were Grey-cheeked Thrush, Smith's Longspur, Willow Ptarmigan and Long-tailed Jaeger.
Scout Island Nature Reserve, Williams Lake
American White Pelican
Black Tern
Gray Catbird
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Dawson Creek to Yukon border.
Blue Jay
Black-billed Magpie
Eastern Phoebe
American Redstart
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Clay-colored Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Black-throated Green Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Northern Waterthrush
Boreal Owl-head only at Muncho Lake Provincial Park
Watson Lake, Yukon
Rusty Blackbird
Sora-the most northern I have seen this bird.
Great Gray Owl-heard only at First Wye Lake
Haines, Alaska
Cassin's Auklets-lots of the little guys
Kluane National Park
Say's Phoebe-quite a numerous bird on steep treeless slopes.
Horned Lark
Female Ptarmigan-Could of been Rock or Willow
Three-toed Woodpecker
Golden Eagle
Northern Goshawk
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Yukon-Alaska border
Pacific Loons in breeding plumage-absolutely beautiful
Tombstone Territorial Park-Dempster Highway
Common Redpoll
Northern Shrike
Red-necked Phalarope
Arctic Tern
Whitehorse
Spruce Grouse
Dease Highway
Pine Grosbeak
Boreal Chickadee
Thanks,
Brent Schmor
Abbotsford, BC
my wife Carolynn and I just returned from a three week trip through northern BC, the Yukon, and parts of Alaska. We drove from Abbotsford to PG, then to the Alaska Highway at Dawson Creek, and along the Alaska Highway to Whitehorse. From Whitehorse we did a loop down the South Klondike highway to Skagway, ferried to Haines, Alaska, and then drove the Haines Highway to Haines Junction. We hiked two days in Kluane National Park and then drove to Tok, Alaska, where we continued north, along the Top of the World Highway, to Dawson city.
From Dawson City we drove up the Dempster Highway to Tombstone Territorial Park, and then south, along the Northern Klondike Highway back to Whitehorse. We returned to BC via the Cassiar Highway and the Yellowhead highway to PG. We made a couple of interesting side trips, driving the Telegraph Creek road west of Dease Lake, and driving to Hyder, Alaska.
This was our third trip to Peace River country and our second north of 60. We ventured to the Northwest Territories four years ago. This was more of a sightseeing trip than a birding trip, but we did manage to see some nice birds (109 species) It always amazes me how little bird life there is in the north. What made up for this was the amazing amount of other wildlife sightings. We saw 23 species of mammals including 18 bears (5 grizzlies), moose (9), Lynx (1 , this was a real shocker) , Red Fox (2), Coyotes (7), Dall's Sheep (27), Stone Sheep (19), Caribou (9), Elk (1). WT Deer, Bison (3), Porcupine (4), Mule Deer, Beaver (6), Muskrat (2), Snowshoe Hare, Mountain Goat, Yellow-bellied Marmot, Red Squirrel, Least Chipmunk, and Arctic Ground Squirrel.
I will just list the birds that we normally don't see down in this area, so some, who are interested in going north, will get a sense of some of the birds you might see.
I did have five targets before leaving, but got only one, an Arctic Tern on the Dempster Highway. The others I was hoping to get were Grey-cheeked Thrush, Smith's Longspur, Willow Ptarmigan and Long-tailed Jaeger.
Scout Island Nature Reserve, Williams Lake
American White Pelican
Black Tern
Gray Catbird
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Dawson Creek to Yukon border.
Blue Jay
Black-billed Magpie
Eastern Phoebe
American Redstart
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Clay-colored Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Black-throated Green Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Northern Waterthrush
Boreal Owl-head only at Muncho Lake Provincial Park
Watson Lake, Yukon
Rusty Blackbird
Sora-the most northern I have seen this bird.
Great Gray Owl-heard only at First Wye Lake
Haines, Alaska
Cassin's Auklets-lots of the little guys
Kluane National Park
Say's Phoebe-quite a numerous bird on steep treeless slopes.
Horned Lark
Female Ptarmigan-Could of been Rock or Willow
Three-toed Woodpecker
Golden Eagle
Northern Goshawk
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Yukon-Alaska border
Pacific Loons in breeding plumage-absolutely beautiful
Tombstone Territorial Park-Dempster Highway
Common Redpoll
Northern Shrike
Red-necked Phalarope
Arctic Tern
Whitehorse
Spruce Grouse
Dease Highway
Pine Grosbeak
Boreal Chickadee
Thanks,
Brent Schmor
Abbotsford, BC
