September 20: Gavin Bieber from his recently completed tour, Alaska: Fall Migration at Gambell
Our fall tour to Gambell, with a one-day extension to Nome, just wrapped up and was as always unpredictable (and exciting). The day in Nome included a suprising female Spectacled Eider and extremely photogenic family of Red Foxes, along with throngs of staging Whimbrel and Cackling Geese, and an active Arctic Loon.
A surprise female Spectacled Eider in Nome
A beguiling Red Fox
Once on Saint Lawrence Island we (especially those who had visited the town in spring) marveled at the lush vegetation in the boneyards. Trans-Beringian migrants such as Red-throated Pipit, Arctic Warbler, and Bluethroat abounded in the patches of Arctic Wormwood.
The very lush "Boneyards..."
...in which we found Arctic Warblers
A still downy young Snowy Owl was found along the side of the mountain, and the seawatches allowed us to watch thousands of passing alcids and Short-tailed Shearwaters, often at ridiculously close range.
A very young Snowy Owl
Seawatching from the northwest tip of St Lawrence Island
The fall tour often highlights Asian passerines, perhaps more likely here than anywhere else in the accessible United States. This year we found Common Rosefinch, Siberian Chiffchaff, and Little Bunting, as well as the locally breeding White Wagtails.
Siberian Chiffchaff...
...and Little Bunting
With the generally calm and often even warm(ish) conditions it was even possible to see clear across the Bering strait to the Russian mountains of the Chukotka Peninsula!
(Thanks to Gil Ewing for the images of the Siberian Chiffchaff and Little Bunting.)
Posted: September 20, 2015