Paul Lehman, in residence again this autumn at Gambell, reports from the weekend:

Yes, the Gambell wind is still from the north. At least we had about 24 hours or so with lighter north wind a few days ago, and a couple of mainland wanderers arrived. A Swainson’s Thrush, only casual in the Bering Sea region, was here September 10. The other mainland bird was a Ruby-crowned Kinglet the following day; we get 1-2/season on average of this rare migrant.

Larger and “cooler” are the two Gyrfalcons now frequenting the village area, one of which is a nifty WHITE Gyr (the other bird is pale gray).
We average 2-3 Gyrs each September, and a white bird about every other year.

There are now also up to 4 Snowy Owls locally, putting on a nice show, plus 1-2 Short-eareds.

Spectacled Eiders are in residence on a local pond and along the beach, and some 9 Steller’s Eiders are south of town. Other miscellanea include 2-5 Slaty-backed Gulls daily, 3 more japonicus American Pipits, 6 White Wagtails, and a couple more Sharp-tailed Sandpipers.

A great murrelet show was had September 13 at the seawatch, with an all-time record one-day count of 144 Ancient Murrelets. Seems as though this “rare” post-breeding disperser from the south is becoming more and more numerous in the northern Bering Sea at this time of year.

Also in the murrelet department, we’ve had 5 Kittlitz’s in the past two days, with three birds a one-day record, and the season’s total of 7 birds so far also a record.

–Paul