Alaska’s annual Stikine River Garnet Festival gets a new tour and a revised name to celebrate its twelfth anniversary. Festivities are scheduled for April 30 through May 2, 2009 in the community of Wrangell and on the Stikine River Delta, located in the Tongass National Forest in the heart of the Inside Passage.
Originally created to celebrate the largest concentration of American Bald Eagles in the world as well as the history of the Stikine River Delta which highlighted the mining of gems at Garnet Ledge, the Stikine River Birding Festival now focuses on migratory bird watching.
Located on the Pacific Flyway, the Stikine River is host to as many as 200,000 shorebirds that stop to refuel on invertebrates nestled in the river’s mud flats. Western sandpipers make up 90% of the flock. Birds color banded from as far away as Peru and Mexico have been identified on the Stikine River. Hundreds of thousands of gulls are also among the river’s avian visitors. Up to 15,000 geese annually visit the estuary. The largest springtime concentration of American Bald eagles in the world concentrate at the mouth of the river to feed on eulachon, an oily little fish known by locals as “Hooligan.” Steller Sea Lions also feed on this small smelt-like fish. An occasional killer whale may also be seen feeding on stray sea lions. The Stikine (Stik-Heen) River is the largest mainland river in North America bisecting the Coast Mountains. This trans-boundary river connects Southeast Alaska to interior Canada. The corridor is an ancient trading route used by Alaska Natives of the Tlingit nation. The silt laden waters of this river have created an extensive and diverse inter-tidal wetland which is one of the largest in the United States.
Award winning, eco-tour company, native owned, Alaska Waters Inc. created the Stikine River Shorebird Rendezvous, a weekend vacation package, to celebrate the festival’s twelfth anniversary. Explore the Stikine river delta in comfort and style aboard the Chutine Warrior, a jet boat designed for shallow water navigation. The new tour provides guests with exceptional opportunities to see birds and wildlife up close as well as learn about the area’s natural history. Visitors can meet Alaska’s spring migration of shorebirds and waterfowl during this four-day weekend escape. The package includes 3 nights lodging, 1 dinner/person per day, 3 river delta tours and an island birding tour.
Visit the company’s web site at www.alaskawaters.com for details A complete Wrangell bird checklist and Stikine River bird checklist can be found at: http://www.fs.fed.us/r10/tongass/forest_facts/resources/fauna_flora/chklstwrgl.shtml and http://www.fs.fed.us/r10/tongass/forest_facts/resources/fauna_flora/chklststkn.shtml.
