Wilderness Birding Adventures 2012
Lower Kongakut/Arctic Coastal Paddle
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

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LOWER KONGAKUT/ARCTIC COAST PADDLEWilderness Wildlife & Birding
July 16-23
8 days - $3,800

Join us on an Alaskan canoeing trip along the Arctic Coast in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. We camp among the tracks of polar bear on the Barrier Islands which separate Siku lagoon and the Arctic Ocean. The lagoon is alive with interesting birds. This canoe adventure can be easily added to the end of our Kongakut River Raft Trip or you can fly in to join us just for this trip. We saw 25-30 snowy owls on this trip one year! Only moderate canoe paddling experience is necessary for this trip.

We assemble our canoes and then paddle from Caribou Pass through the Kongakut River delta and out to the Arctic Coast. The Barrier Islands, which parallel the coast, form lagoons protected from the broken pack ice that often beaches against the islands’ seaward side. Camping among the remains of structures still visible from the commercial bowhead whaling era, one can scan the Arctic Ocean’s Beaufort Sea for new bird species and marine mammals.

We’ll also explore the mainland lagoons, habitat quite different from that of the barrier islands. We’ll paddle either west to Beaufort Lagoon or east to Demarcation Bay, depending on conditions. Both routes offer ample opportunity to explore the fascinating natural and human history of this remote coast. The weather and wind conditions can be unpredictable along the exposed Arctic Ocean and make this one of our more adventurous trips. Do bring that adventurous spirit of yours on this canoeing trip!

For those continuing from the raft trip, this extension completes our journey from high in the mountains of the Brooks Range, across the coastal plain, all the way to the Arctic Ocean.

Along with the usual mammals in the Arctic Refuge, we encounter birds along the coast which are rarely seen inland. Possibilities include: Yellow-billed Loon, King, Common and Spectacled Eider, Sabine’s Gull, Thick-billed Murre, Snowy Owl, Buff-Breasted Sandpiper, Stilt Sandpiper, Long-tailed Duck and other northern species.

Consider starting your Kongakut journey high in the Brooks Range by adding our Kongakut River Raft Trip. The two trips combine to make an incomparable 18-day expedition from mountains to sea in the wild, remote northeastern corner of Alaska.


Icy Reef - Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR)

Camp on the Arctic Ocean
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR)
Prepare to Go

Self-portrait, long shadows at midnight, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge


Eastern Yellow Wagtail, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge




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WILDERNESS BIRDING ADVENTURES
LOWER KONGAKUT/ARCTIC COASTAL PADDLE - JULY 15-23, 2009
WILDERNESS BIRDING ADVENTURES
LOWER KONGAKUT/ARCTIC COASTAL CANOE PADDLE TRIP
ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE
CUMULATIVE LIST OF BIRD SPECIES OBSERVED

1.  Tundra Swan (Cygnus columbianus)
2.  Northern Pintail (Anas acuta)
3.  Common Eider (Somateria mollissima)
4.  Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis)
5.  Common Merganser (Mergus merganser)
6.  Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator)
7.  Rock Ptarmigan (Lagopus muta)
8.  Red-throated Loon (Gavia stellata)
9.  Pacific Loon (Gavia pacifica)
10.  Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus)
11.  Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos)
12.  Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus)
13.  Black-bellied Plover (Pluvialis squatarola)
14.  American Golden-Plover (Pluvialis dominica)
15.  Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus)
16.  Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius)
17.  Wandering Tattler (Tringa incana)
18.  Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla)
19.  Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla)
20.  Baird's Sandpiper (Calidris bairdii)
21.  Stilt Sandpiper (Calidris himantopus)
22.  Red-necked Phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus)
23.  Mew Gull (Larus canus)
24.  Glaucous Gull (Larus hyperboreus)
25.  Arctic Tern (Sterna paradisaea)
26.  Parasitic Jaeger (Stercorarius parasiticus)
27.  Common Raven (Corvus corax)
28.  Eastern Yellow Wagtail (Motacilla tschutschensis)
29.  American Pipit (Anthus rubescens)
30.  Yellow Warbler (Dendroica petechia)
31.  American Tree Sparrow (Spizella arborea)
32.  Lapland Longspur (Calcarius lapponicus)
33.  Snow Bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis)
34.  Common Redpoll (Carduelis flammea)
35.  Hoary Redpoll (Carduelis hornemanni)
 
 

1.     Tundra Swan (Cygnus columbianus)
2.     Greater White-fronted Goose (Anser albifrons)
3.     Cackling Goose (Branta hutchinsii)
4.     Brant (Branta bernicla)
5.     American Wigeon (Anas americana)
6.     Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
7.     Northern Pintail (Anas acuta)
8.     Greater Scaup (Aythya marila)
9.     Common Eider (Somateria mollissima)
10.   King Eider (Somateria spectabilis)
11.   Harlequin Duck (Histrionicus histrionicus)
12.   Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis)
13.   Black Scoter (Melanitta nigra)
14.   Surf Scoter (Melanitta perspicillata)
15.   White-winged Scoter (Melanitta fusca)
16.   Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula)
17.   Common Merganser (Mergus merganser)
18.   Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator)
19.   Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)
20.   Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus)
21.   Rough-legged Hawk (Buteo lagopus)
22.   Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos)
23.   Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus)
24.   Merlin (Falco columbarius)
25.   Willow Ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus)
26.   Rock Ptarmigan (Lagopus mutus)
27.   Red-throated Loon (Gavia stellata)
28.   Pacific Loon (Gavia pacifica)
29.   Common Loon (Gavia immer)
30.   Yellow-billed Loon (Gavia adamsii)
31.   Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis)
32.   Black-bellied Plover (Pluvialis squatarola)
33.   American Golden-Plover (Pluvialis dominica)
34.   Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus)
35.   Long-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus scolopaceus)
36.   Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus)
37.   Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularia)
38.   Wandering Tattler (Heterosceles incanus)
39.   Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres)
40.   Sanderling (Calidris alba)
41.   Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla)
42.   Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla)
43.   Baird's Sandpiper (Calidris bairdii)
44.   Stilt Sandpiper (Calidris himantopus)
45.   Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos)
46.   Red-necked Phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus)
47.   Mew Gull (Larus canus)
48.   Glaucous Gull (Larus hyperboreus)
49.   American Herring Gull (Larus smithsonianus)
50.   Arctic Tern (Sterna paradisaea)
51.   Pomarine Jaeger (Stercorarius pomarinus)
52.   Parasitic Jaeger (Stercorarius parasiticus)
53.   Long-tailed Jaeger (Stercorarius longicaudus)
54.   Thick-billed Murre (Uria lomvia)
55.   Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus)
56.   Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus)
57.   Say's Phoebe (Sayornis saya)
58.   Horned Lark (Eremophila alpestris)
59.   Eastern Yellow Wagtail (Motacilla tschutschensis)
60.   American Pipit (Anthus rubescens)
61.   American Robin (Turdus migratorius)
62.   Northern Shrike (Lanius excubitor)
63.   Common Raven (Corvus corax)
64.   Yellow Warbler (Dendroica petechia)
65.   American Tree Sparrow (Spizella arborea)
66.   Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis)
67.   White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys)
68.   Lapland Longspur (Calcarius lapponicus)
69.   Smith's Longspur (Calcarius pictus)
70.   Snow Bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis)
71.   Common Redpoll (Carduelis flammea)
72.   Hoary Redpoll (Carduelis hornemanni)