13.0°

As part of the Kenai Birding Celebration this weekend, the Kenai Watershed Forum will be offering birding trips in the Skilak Wildlife Recreation Area, and while the trip is still several days away, the time to book it is now.

"The Skilak tour is brand new this year and should be really cool," said Josselyn O'Connor, special projects director for KWF.

The boat-based tour of the area has already filled up, and spots are going quickly for the land-based tour. Led by Todd Eskelin, a biological technician at the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, participants of this tour will take a van excursion around Skilak Loop Road to see and hear what feathered creatures might be around.

"Great Alaska Adventures Lodge has been generous enough to provide a big, comfortable 15-passenger van for the day. We'll meet in Sterling and bird around the Moose River, then head up to Skilak where we'll drive the whole road and make numerous stops along the way, hitting highlights and going off to some of the lakes," O'Connor said.

Numerous species are often encountered while driving the 19-mile road, including bears, coyote, grouse and hare, and as to the amount of birds in the Skilak area, O'Connor said the destination is a birding hotspot.

"It's one of the 65 sites in the Kenai Peninsula Wildlife Viewing Trail Guide, so we're hoping to see song birds and shore birds, unlike at the Kenai Flats where its mostly shorebirds. Skilak should also be a good opportunity to see a variety of ducks, loons and grebes on the lakes, and possibly some swans coming through," she said.

O'Connor said KWF is asking people to pre-register for this trip, since space is limited to 13 people and several seats are already spoken for. The cost of the event is $15 per person, and children must be accompanied by an adult.

"Children are more than welcome, but parents should remember that it will be an all-day trip," she said.

KWF will provide spotting scopes and binoculars, but participants should bring their own birding books, and a lunch or snacks.

For more information on this event, call the Kenai Watershed Forum 260-5449.

Joseph Robertia can be reached at joseph.robertia@peninsulaclarion.com.