PLATTE RIVER CRANE TOUR
Sunday, March 16 to Saturday, March 22, 2008

GENERAL INFORMATION:
Nebraska’s Platte River is one of America’s grand avian spectacles, featuring a half million Sandhill Cranes and many thousands of waterfowl.  Experience the cranes moving from their evening haunts on the river to their nearby favorite daytime foraging areas, plus incredible numbers of geese and other waterfowl on their journey north.  An early morning visit to a lek for displaying Greater Prairie Chicken will be a unique experience, as well as an evening in a blind at the Rowe Nature Center viewing thousands of roosting cranes.  The Rainwater and Platte River basins offer great opportunities for waterfowl, raptors, and passerines, with and Western Meadowlarks calling everywhere.  Roger Tory Peterson considered this one of his dozen favorite American birding hotspots.  Come see for yourself.!  As a bonus we will visit the beautiful and avian-rich bountiful Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge in Missouri.  Other target species include Ross’s Geese, Cackling Geese, Greater White-fronted Geese, Cinnamon Teal, Eared Grebe, Wild Turkey, American White Pelican, Harlan’s Red-tailed Hawk, Black-billed Magpie, Horned Lark, Northern Shrike, Harris’s Sparrow, Lapland Longspur and Pine Siskin.

PACE, WEATHER AND TRAVEL CONDITIONS:
The pace of the tour will be moderate, with days typically beginning at 7:00 a.m., with an exception for our early morning visit to a lek, and ending 6:00 p.m., with one evening in a crane blind along the river.  Most of the area is open and flat and we will do some hiking to goodbirding  vantage points and in search of passerines.  Conditions could be wet, windy and cold, so bring appropriate clothing and footwear. 

Transportation for this tour will be in 12 or 15 passenger vans with no more than 7 participants in one van.  Tour size is limited to 14 people.

You will receive an additional pre-tour information letter including a list of things to bring, lists of motels with addresses, a list of participants and information regarding accessing the motel and meeting the group.  This letter will be mailed well in advance of the tour.

DATES: Sunday, March 16, 2008 (Meet in Kansas City, Missouri hotel at 8:00 p.m.) to Saturday, March 22, 2008 (for flights home.)

PRICE: $1,450.00 per person, double occupancy, single supplement (payable if you request single occupancy or if we cannot find you a suitable roommate) is $250. .00.  A deposit of $500.00 will hold your place until January 15, 2008 when full payment becomes due.

PRICE INCLUDES:
A motel accommodation for six nights, expert leadership, land transportation from Kansas City, Missouri and all entry fees, but does not include airfare or meals.

SEND DEPOSITS AND OTHER PAYMENTS TO:

NJAS Eco-travel
9 Hardscrabble Road
Bernardsville, New Jersey 07924
(908) 204-8998
Make checks payable to the New Jersey Audubon Society.

TOUR LEADERS:

Pete Bacinski is Director of the New Jersey Audubon Society’s Sandy Hook Bird Observatory with over 25 years of tour and workshop experience.  He grew up in Lyndhurst, N.J. with an interest in natural history since early childhood.  He attended Pace University in New York City receiving a B.S. in biology followed by M.S. in biology, specializing in entomology, and an MBA in marketing both from Fairleigh Dickinson University.  Pete began volunteering for New Jersey Audubon in 1971, leading his first field trip for the organization in 1973.  He has been a tour and workshop leader for over 25 years, as well as a member of three winning World Series of Birding teams. Pete was a member of the New Jersey Bird Records Committee for eleven years and was a regional field notes editor for Records of New Jersey B birds for eight years.  He established and directs the Sandy Hook Bird Observatory for NJAS and is co-compiler and voice of the Voice of New Jersey Audubon rare bird alert for the state of New Jersey.  Pete has also been a steering committee member and regional coordinator for the Birds of New Jersey atlas project and currently writes a weekly column in the Newark Star Ledger entitled Seen in New Jersey.    Pete’s favorite natural history interests are birds, butterflies, wildflowers, ferns, insects, “herps”, and mammals.  Other interests include classical music, American History, audio-books, weather, public speaking and photography.  Pete currently resides in New Vernon.

Linda Mack’s interest in birding began twenty years ago on a Cape May Weekend and she has been hooked ever since.  She is a member of the New Jersey Audubon Society's Board of Directors, an Associate Naturalist, and bookstore co-manager at Sandy Hook Bird Observatory.  She is a past President, Program Chair, and Conservation Chair for Monmouth County Audubon Society.  Linda has a special interest in seabirds and other coastal species; she co-leads pelagic birding trips off New Jersey with See Life Paulagics.  Linda has traveled extensively throughout North America studying birds and natural history, with multiple trips to Washington, California, Montana, Arizona, Texas, and Florida.  Her infectious enthusiasm and willingness to share knowledge is well known.  She has co-led tours to New Mexico, Nebraska’s Platte River, the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, Big Bend and the Davis Mountains, Southeast Arizona, Minnesota/North Dakota, and is a regular leader on SHBO's long weekend trips to coastal Massachusetts, the Adirondack Mountains, and Bombay Hook, as well as the Cape May Spring and Fall Weekends.

For tour itineraries, to register, or for more information contact:

NJAS Eco-Travel at: (908)-204-8998
9 Hardscrabble Road
Bernardsville, NJ 07924
or email travel@njaudubon.org.

If you are not a member and would like to become one, consider Joining New Jersey Audubon Society.