Senior Leader Paul Lehman writes from Alaska:

The last couple of days here at Gambell have had rain, drizzle, and fog and mostly ENE winds.

The best bird here over the past several days was certainly the Rhinoceros Auklet flying by the point  on August 28–the first record for the northern Bering Sea. This species nests north only to the Aleutians, and is a very rare but annual visitor to the Pribilofs in the southern Bering Sea, with a single record for St. Matthew Island in the central Bering Sea.

Photo: Gavin Bieber (Washington State).

Also well out of range was a Warbling Vireo on August 29, surprisingly enough the fifth autumn record at Gambell for a species that nests no closer than southeast Alaska. Also casual in the offshore Bering Sea region was a juvenile Red Knot on August 30, only the third I’ve ever seen here in fall.

Other miscellanea the past several days included a total of 4 Snowy Owls (rare this early), 19 Sharp-tailed Sandpipers knocked down by yesterday’s rain, 2 Ancient Murrelets (a rare but annual visitor from the south) right along the beach, 18 more Steller’s Eiders, 5 Slaty-backed and 2 Sabine’s Gulls, and 5 more Red-throated Pipits.

Recent news from other islands includes a Ruff and a Buff-breasted Sandpiper at St Paul and 2 Ruffs at Shemya.