Birds and Bears: An Alaska Birding Adventure
Denali. It is truly one of the most magnificent places on our planet and is an icon of our continent. It is, after all, North America’s highest peak. Hundreds of thousands of tourists from all over the world come to visit the park and see such amazing wildlife as Alaskan Brown Bears and Dall Sheep. What many of those people overlook, however, are the birds. There have been 159 species of birds seen within Denali National Park and Preserve, many of which travel from all over the globe to do so.
I had the opportunity this summer to work in Denali National Park from June 15th until the end of September. In my spare time, I visited the park as often as I could. On these trips I got to see my fair share of bears, moose and caribou, though my eyes were always trained for a northern specialty bird. On many of the trails closer to my workplace, I became very familiar with all the local birds. Through close observation, I noticed how many of the same species from home behaved differently in the north of Alaska and was able to see it all change in the three months (and three seasons) that I was there. I’ll go over all these trips and observations with you in my program at the Audubon meeting on November 13th.
Curtis Mahon is an 18-year-old birder (and a member of Spokane Audubon) who’s been birding since he was 15. He was born in Anchorage Alaska, which prompted him to travel there. Currently, he is a student at Eastern Washington University working on a Bachelor's degree in wildlife biology.
Spotted Sandpiper (Photographed by Curtis Mahon)
Grizzly Bears (Photographed by Curtis Mahon)
Denali (Photographed by Curtis Mahon)
