Page updated October 7, 2003
Main Page - Itinerary and Price - Checklists - Environment - Expectations - General Information - Maps - Official Products - Participants - Study Guides - Transportation - Web Links

Expectations (updated 10/03)

We have studied the lists generated from several recent trips and have developed a list of species that we have a reasonable expection of seeing. We will not see every bird, mammal, amphibian, dragonfly or butterfly on the list below.

Every trip to a particular location results in a different species list. Weather, migration patterns, participant's observation and identification skills are all factors that contribute to a sightings list. There is no such thing as a "lock".

Birds, Mammals, Amphibians, Dragonflies, Butterflies

BIRDS

Red-throated Loon
Pacific Loon
Common Loon
Pied-billed Grebe
Horned Grebe
Red-necked Grebe
Eared Grebe
Western Grebe
Clark's Grebe
American White Pelican
Double-crested Cormorant
American Bittern
Great Blue Heron
Little Blue Heron - rare
Cattle Egret
Black-crowned Night-Heron
White-faced Ibis
Turkey Vulture
Greater White-fronted Goose - rare
"lesser" Snow Goose
Ross's Goose
Canada Goose
Trumpeter Swan - rare
Tundra Swan
Wood Duck
Gadwall
American Wigeon
American Black Duck
Mallard
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Canvasback
Redhead
Ring-necked Duck
Greater Scaup
Lesser Scaup
King Eider - rare
Common Eider
Surf Scoter
White-winged Scoter
Black Scoter
Long-tailed Duck
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Hooded Merganser
Common Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Osprey
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Northern Goshawk - rare
Broad-winged Hawk
Swainson's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Ferruginous Hawk
Rough-legged Hawk incl. "kriders"
Golden Eagle - rare
American Kestrel
Merlin - "tiaga" and "prairie"
Peregrine Falcon
Gray Partridge
Ring-necked Pheasant
Ruffed Grouse
Spruce Grouse
Willow Ptarmigan
Sharp-tailed Grouse
Wild Turkey
Yellow Rail
Virginia Rail
Sora
American Coot
"lesser" Sandhill Crane
Black-bellied Plover
American Golden-Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Killdeer
American Avocet
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Solitary Sandpiper
"Western" Willet
Spotted Sandpiper
Upland Sandpiper
Whimbrel
Hudsonian Godwit
Marbled Godwit
Ruddy Turnstone
Red Knot
Sanderling
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
White-rumped Sandpiper
Baird's Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
Dunlin
Stilt Sandpiper
Short-billed Dowitcher
Long-billed Dowitcher - rare
Wilson's Snipe
American Woodcock
Wilson's Phalarope
Red-necked Phalarope
Pomarine Jaeger - rare
Parasitic Jaeger
Long-tailed Jaeger - rare
Franklin's Gull
Little Gull
Bonaparte's Gull
Ring-billed Gull
California Gull
Herring Gull
Thayer's Gull
Glaucous Gull
Sabine's Gull
Ross's Gull
Caspian Tern
Common Tern
Arctic Tern
Forster's Tern
Black Tern
Rock Dove
Mourning Dove
Black-billed Cuckoo
Great Horned Owl
Snowy Owl - rare
Northern Hawk Owl - rare
Burrowing Owl
Barred Owl
Great Gray Owl
Short-eared Owl
Boreal Owl - rare
Common Nighthawk
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Three-toed Woodpecker
Black-backed Woodpecker
Northern "yellow-shafted" Flicker
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Western Wood-Pewee
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Alder Flycatcher
Willow Flycatcher - rare
Least Flycatcher
Eastern Phoebe
Say's Phoebe
Great Crested Flycatcher
Western Kingbird
Eastern Kingbird
Loggerhead Shrike
Northern Shrike
Yellow-throated Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Philadelphia Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Gray Jay
Blue Jay
Black-billed Magpie
American Crow
Common Raven
Horned Lark
Purple Martin
Tree Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Bank Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Boreal Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
House Wren
Winter Wren
Sedge Wren
Marsh Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Eastern Bluebird
Mountain Bluebird
Veery
Gray-cheeked Thrush
Swainson's Thrush
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
Brown Thrasher
European Starling
American Pipit
Sprague's Pipit
Bohemian Waxwing
Cedar Waxwing
Golden-winged Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Orange-crowned Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Yellow Warbler - "eastern" and "tundra"
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Yellow-rumped "myrtle" Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
"western" Palm Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Ovenbird
Northern Waterthrush
Connecticut Warbler
Mourning Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Wilson's Warbler
Canada Warbler
Scarlet Tanager
Eastern Towhee
American Tree Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
Clay-colored Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow
Lark Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Grasshopper Sparrow
Baird's Sparrow
Le Conte's Sparrow
Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow
"red" Fox Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Harris's Sparrow
"gambels" White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed "slate-colored" Junco
Lapland Longspur
Smith's Longspur
Chestnut-collared Longspur
Snow Bunting
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Bobolink
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Rusty Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Orchard Oriole
Baltimore Oriole
Pine Grosbeak
Purple Finch
House Finch
White-winged Crossbill
Common Redpoll
Hoary Redpoll
Pine Siskin
American Goldfinch
Evening Grosbeak
House Sparrow

270 species

rare = seen on only one trip by various companies in past four years

MAMMALS

Eastern Cottontail
Snowshoe Hare
Arctic Hare
White-tailed Jackrabbit
Muskrat
American Beaver
Woodchuck
Eastern Gray Squirrel
Eastern Fox Squirrel
Red Squirrel
Richardson's Ground Squirrel
Thirteen-Lined Ground Squirrel
Franklin's Ground Squirrel
Least Chipmunk
Eastern Chipmunk
Southern 'boreal' Red-backed Vole
Meadow Vole
Gray Wolf
Coyote
Arctic Fox
Red Fox
Black Bear
Northern Raccoon
Northern River Otter
Fisher
Short-tailed Weasel (Ermine)
Striped Skunk
Beared Seal
Harbor Seal
Ringed Seal
American Bison
Caribou
Elk
Moose
White-tailed Deer
Beluga

Note on Polar Bears:

No chance at this time of the year, consequently we are not restricted to peering through the steel bars of a Tundra Buggy. If you should for any reason still feel the need to be prudent in this wilderness:
a. Don't bring your favorite seal oil cologne
b. Bring a few empty 16oz cans filled with several small stones to use as a noise maker.
c. Start a physical fitness program so that you can at least outrun Adrian.

AMPHIBIANS

Western Painted Turtle
Plains Garter Snake
Smooth Green Snake
Northern Gray Treefrog
Boreal Chorus Frog
Wood Frog

DRAGONFLIES

Common Green Darner
Darner sp
Four-spotted Skimmer
Hudsonian Whiteface

BUTTERFLIES

Canadian Tiger Swallowtail
Cabbage White
Large Marble
Clouded Sulphur
Purplish Copper
Western Tailed Blue
Northern' Silvery Blue
Meadow Fritillary
Freija Fritillary
Gorgone Checkerspot
Northern Crescent
Green Comma
Comma sp
Mourning Cloak
Painted Lady
Red Admiral
Red-spotted Admiral
Viceroy
Little Wood Satyr
Common Ringlet
Common Alpine
Uhler's Arctic
Melissa Arctic (in odd numbered years)
White Veined
Monarch
Dreamy Duskywing
Arctic Skipper
Hobomok Skipper