Hello Again,
Yes, Burt G and Ruth S.........I also had another friend from Florida
recommend the CruiseWest tours for a better birding and wildlife
experience. The main focus of my upcoming Holland America inside-passage
cruise is mostly a gift for my near 80 yr old parents, but I will be
spending both deck and some shore time searching for shearwaters, storm-
petrals, fulmars, shorebirds, and hopefully one of the albatross species
(a long shot, yes, I know!)

Denali is not possible on this cruise either, but in future plans. The
neat thing is that most any pelagic bird that I can i.d. will be a life
bird for me. And again, thank you to the numerous people who provided
wonderful advice from exactly where to stand on the ship to see the most,
to lists of expected species, and books to take for this mid-Sept cruise.

Armstrong's "Birds of Alaska" guide, the updated 2000 version, arrived
via amazon.com. This book gives a great overview with some quite
good photographs and specific seasonal/regional occurrences of most
anything I have a chance of seeing. So, Fork-tailed 'n Leach's
Storm-petrels and Sooty Shearwater are highly likely, but Buller's
Shearwater is probably not, etc., etc., etc. And, I'll be looking
intently for the Black-footed Albatross anyway, even though our ship will
not be optimally far enough offshore to have a good chance.

Cheers to all and thank you, me2
****************************************
Maureen Ellis, PhD, Research Scientist
Toxicology Group at Roos 1, 284A
Lab/Office phone: 206-685-1938
Dept of Environmental Health, Mailstop 354695
School of Public Health and Community Medicine
University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98115

Personal Financial Representative
Primerica division of Citigroup, Inc.
VoiceTell: 206-213-7430

E-Mail: me2 at u.washington.edu
****************************************
"Why are we now traveling into space? Why, indeed, did we trouble to look
past the next mountain? Our prime obligation to ourselves is to make the
unknown known. We are on a journey to keep an appointment with whatever
we are."_____Gene Roddenberry