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WINGS Birding Tours – Photo Gallery

Alaska: Gambell

If Boreal Owls are present in the Anchorage area, we’ll look for them on our first evening. We often we see nesting Northern Saw-whet Owls, too. A view of Gambell, a native village of some 600 people at the northwest tip of St. Lawrence Island; Siberia is visible in the background. Seawatching is one of the highlights of a Gambell visit. Four species of loon, four species of eider, up to five species of geese, and many other waterbirds are all regularly noted from the Point. Every day hundreds of thousands of alcids of up to 13 species pass by the Point. Some, such as this Crested Auklet, feed just offshore. With Siberia roughly 40 miles away, it’s not surprising that the birdlife at Gambell has a distinctly Palearctic flavor. In North America, Common Ringed Plover is regular only at Gambell and some remote areas in Arctic northeastern Canada. In most years we see one or more Red-necked Stints, an Asian species which is an uncommon migrant in the Bering Sea region and an occasional breeder on the mainland of western Alaska. Resembling a pale Wandering Tattler, Gray-tailed Tattlers from Asia occur on a little more than half of our visits. In addition to Red-necked Stint, other Palearctic stints turn up from time to time. This resting Long-toed Stint is one of about a half dozen of this species we have seen here in spring. A real prize was this Jacksnipe on our 2008 tour, one of only 3 or 4 ever seen in Alaska. The breeding range of Western Sandpiper is limited to northwest Alaska and northeastern Siberia. Westerns are numerous at Gambell, where they can be watched in display flight as they utter a song heard only on the breeding grounds. In addition to Eurasian shorebirds, a wide variety of passerines have occurred over the years. One of the rarer ones was this male Eurasian Bullfinch of the northeast Asian subspecies <em>cassinii</em>, identified by the extensively bright pink underparts. Accommodation at Gambell is now more than adequate. Here our group devours some of our cook’s nourishing and tasty preparations. After experiencing often frigid weather at Gambell, it can be surprisingly warm upon returning to Nome. In some years it’s been warm enough to celebrate with a barbecue along the Snake River! Birding the high tundra near Nome… …and the Teller Road west of Nome. The hike to look for Bristle-thighed Curlew is one of the high points of a Nome visit. When conditions permit, we’re often successful in finding this species, one of the world’s rarest shorebirds. Credit: Otto Plantema A frequent sight along the roads is Willow Ptarmigan (usually males), the state bird of Alaska. By early June the males already have the rufous-brown head and neck. Rock Ptarmigan is more local but still numerous most springs. Smaller and with a smaller bill than Willow Ptarmigan, the male is still largely white in early June. Note the black lore-line, diagnostic of male Rock Ptarmigan all year. In the Nome area we occasionally see Northern Shrike, a scarce summer resident of the Seward Peninsula. Along the way to Pilgrim Hot Springs off the Kougarok Road we pass a rocky outcropping… …where Northern Wheatears regularly nest. This is the nominate race, which breeds in northwestern North America and winters primarily in eastern Africa. Birding at Safety Sound just east of Nome… …we should see Aleutian Tern, a local breeder in western and southern Alaska and in Russia. Safety Sound is a favored breeding location. This second-calendar-year Ivory Gull was a surprise at Safety Sound. With global warming and the disappearance of ice earlier in the spring, sightings are infrequent, and there is now global concern for the species. On the east side of Safety Sound near Solomon is the “Train to Nowhere,” a by-product of the gold rush of the first decade of the 20th century. Here our group relaxes on this relic before a final dinner in Nome and our evening flight back to Anchorage.

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