Alaska

The Pribilofs: St. Paul Island

June 19 — 24, 2025

With George Armistead and local guide

Detailed Itinerary

St. Paul Island is a unique birding destination, home to the Red-legged Kittiwake, nesting seabirds, and a couple of endemic taxa too.

On remote St. Paul Island, the steep and winding cliff faces hold nesting Red-legged Kittiwakes, Red-faced Cormorants, and thousands of alcids (auks) including Least, Parakeet, and Crested Auklets, as well as Horned and Tufted Puffins. It also offers a chance at scarce or rare visitors from Asia, adding an element of ‘jackpot birding’ to each day. Visit a tremendous marine wilderness and see the Bering Sea at its best.

Daily Overview

  • Day 1, June 19th: Arrival into Anchorage

    Upon your arrival into Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC), after collecting any checked luggage, please call the front desk at the Coast Inn at Lake Hood (907-243-2233), and let them know you are ready to be picked up. They have a free shuttle to/from the airport. There is no group dinner scheduled tonight. Your tour leader will check in with you to make sure you’ve arrived and are ready to fly to St. Paul on Day 2. Our first official group meeting will be in the morning. Night in Anchorage.

  • Day 2: Flight to St. Paul Island

    Today we head for the airport in Anchorage. Specifics will be communicated in weeks prior to departure, but we expect a mid-morning flight time. Weather is a factor always in Alaska, but typically upon departing from  Anchorage, our flight should reach the island after about 4 hours of flying time, touching down sometime mid-late afternoon. This should leave us at least a couple hours to bird our first day here. Night at the King Eider Hotel, on St. Paul Island.

    Typically we arrive late afternoon into St. Paul, but with a good amount of daylight to play with we expect to have some birding time this day. Among the first birds encountered are often the Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch Rock Sandpiper, both of which have endemic breeding taxa here. Night in St. Paul Island.

  • Days 3, 4, & 5, June 21st – 23rd: Exploring St. Paul Island

    With three full days to explore majestic St. Paul Island, we should have ample opportunity to cover all the birding hotspots on the island, and enjoy extended time getting to know this place, the Aleut people, and the birds and wildlife here. Arguably the biggest attraction on the island are the cliffs that host throngs of nesting seabirds. These offer fabulous photo opps. Typically there are 7 species of nesting alcids here, including: Least, Parakeet and Crested auklets, Thick-billed and Common murres, and both Tufted and Horned Puffin. The latter along with Red-faced Cormorant are among the most soughtafter species on St. Paul, but no bird is so synonymous with the island as the Red-legged Kittiwake. Though ranging through much of the Bering Sea, over 75% of the population breeds here in the Pribilofs, and this unique, large-eyed, stout-billed gull is seldom seen elsewhere by birders. We expect to see many and to see them well, at the cliffs and bathing at the various lakes and islands that dot the eastern and southern sides of the island. Walking the tundra and the old rocky lava flows can also turn up new birds, including the Bering Sea form of the Pacific Wren, which many have pegged as a future split.

    Of course, situated so far west in the Bering Sea, Saint Paul, is also famous for attracting wayward, strays and vagrant birds, including from Russia. While one can never count on those birds, we will have to be vigilant and ready in case something unexpected does appear. Between enjoying the cliff-nesting birds we’ll check ponds and ravines for migrant and vagrants and see what we can turn up here, at the top eBird hotspot in Alaska. Nights on St. Paul Island at the King Eider Hotel.

  • Day 5, June 24th: Return to Anchorage

    We’ll enjoy a final morning out in the field trying to mop up any last birds we might like to see, and then we are headed back to Anchorage. Once we arrive into Anchorage our Alaska adventure together is over, and we bid each other farewell.

Detailed Itinerary

PRICE & BOOKING INFO

Tour Price/person: $6800*
Deposit: $1500
Single supplement: $860
Final Payment Due: 9 February 2024, or at registration if after
Group size: 8 to 13 guests

*Pricing is based on double occupancy at lodgings, with a group size of 8 to 13 registrants. Maximum groups size is 13 registrants, plus guide(s) and driver(s). If there are fewer than 8 registrants, this tour may be cancelled or re-negotiated. Note that if you want a roommate we can try to find you one, but we cannot guarantee all guests a roommate. If none is available, you will be charged the single supplement. At the King Eider there are a limited number of single rooms. Final tour price is subject to change, should flights within Alaska, fuel, or other required goods/services increase in cost significantly between now and departure.

The tour price (fee) includes services from Day 1 until our return to Anchorage on Day 6, including:

·      All meals from lunch on Day 2 through lunch on Day 5.

·      Accommodations for Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4 & Day 5. Tour ends upon arrival back into ANC on Day 6.

·      Roundtrip flight to St. Paul Island and returning to Anchorage.

·      All ground transport on St. Paul Island.

·      All guiding services, access permits and entrance fees to birding areas.

Excluded from your tour fee are:

·      Arrival flight to and departure flights from Anchorage (ANC) and your home destination.

·      Alcoholic beverages, laundry services, charges to your hotel room, or other items of a personal nature.

·      Visa fees, airport taxes, airline baggage fees, etc.

CONSIDERATIONS FOR ST. PAUL ISLAND

For St. Paul Island, travel insurance is strongly recommended, as weather and equipment/mechanical delays can occur. It’s best you prepare for these. Make sure you have nothing urgent to attend to immediately post-tour, and please cover yourself financially in the event of trip interruption, curtailment, or in the event of an equipment or a mechanical delay with the airline (RAVN Alaska) that services the island.

Note that regarding alcohol, St. Paul Island is “damp”. Beer and wine are available for sale by the tribal government, but not always reliably. You may be wise to pack a small stash of your preferred beverage.

Documents

All non-U.S. citizens should have a current passport, valid for six months beyond the start date of this tour, with at least 1 blank page for stamps.

ALL GUESTS/REGISTRANTS MUST:

·      Review Travel Documents. For international travel, guests must have a current passport valid for six months beyond the end date of this tour, with at least 1 blank page for stamps.

·      Review COVID-19 and other health requirements required to travel into or around the destination.

·      Review Hillstar Nature’s Code of Conduct.

·      Consider obtaining travel and medical insurance to cover incidents over the duration of this tour. (Strongly recommended).

·      Sign the Hillstar Nature Terms & Conditions, which includes the assumption of risk/liability waiver.

Cancellation Policy

If a guest/participant cancels registration:

●      120 days or more prior to the start of the tour, a refund is issued minus a $500/person processing fee.

●      Between 119 and 90 days prior to the start of the tour, half of the tour fee will be returned to the registrant.

●      89 days or less prior to departure, no refund of payments or deposits are issued.


Pace, Rigor, Climate & Pests

·       Active pace, with moderately early meeting times in the AM (7am), and optional evening outings after dinner.

·       Accommodations are about 2.5 star variety, but near to the birding sites.

·       Some prolonged periods of time on foot, in potentially very cold and or windy conditions.

·       Expect cold or cool temps (20s to 50s F), with a chance of rain, high winds and/or fog.

We have fairly long days in search of birds and other wildlife. Meals are at the cafeteria and are fairly basic yet decent. It’s possible that weather or that success with our birds may allow for a break, but typically we plan to be out from after breakfast and again after (or through) lunch, with perhaps an additional shorter outing after dinner.

Most birding is along or near roadsides, and walking is at a slow pace so as not to startle wildlife and see as much as possible. Sometimes we will venture off road and into marshy habitat. Rubber knee boots (Much boots or Xtra Tuff boots), or NEOS are recommended. Weather is cold and possibly windy or with precipitation.

We strongly urge guests to consult a doctor about vaccinations and medications prior to travel. All participants are recommended to receive COVID-19 vaccinations. If any guest becomes sick and appears contagious during the tour, the guest may be no longer permitted to continue with the group. This is at the judgement of the guide(s).

Photography is welcome on this tour, but note that this is not a “photography tour”. We will always try and allow some time for obtaining images of desirable subjects, but time is a factor in achieving each of the day’s goals, and it will be up to the tour leader when we move on from photography subjects.

Packing

Please limit yourself to one mid-size suitcase/duffel and another smaller bag for daily use on outings.

For our flight, note that there is a fairly strict 20lb limit for your carry-on bag and the outside dimension of 16”W x 9″H x 14″L should not be exceeded or you will have to check this bag. You are permitted one checked bag, weighing up to 50 lbs and with maximum dimensions of 62 linear inches (W x H x L).

Warm waterproof footwear is recommended. Weather proof pants and a good winter coat, and a hat and gloves, and long underwear are recommended to protect from the cold. Some folks find that having a walking stick for balance is nice or having a foldable stool/chair is nice for times when we sit and wait in an area for a bird(s) to show.

View Hillstar Nature’s Terms & Conditions of Booking