2008 Tour Narrative
In Brief: This year’s trip to Gambell and Nome produced all of the regular species. These included Emperor Goose, all four species of eiders and four species of loons including Arctic and Yellow-billed, all of the regularly occurring alcids including Dovekie, Common Ringed Plover, Slaty-backed Gull, Northern Wheatear, Bluethroat, and Red-throated Pipit. More unusual were a Gray-tailed Tattler, multiple cooperative Ivory Gulls, a male McKay’s Bunting, and a briefly seen Siberian Rubythroat. No doubt the best birds were a Little Bunting, the first in spring for Alaska, and a cooperative Jack Snipe, only the second or third for Alaska. At Nome we had good views of Bristle-thighed Curlew. Other highlights included Willow and Rock Ptarmigans, Bar-tailed Godwit, Aleutian Tern, and singing Bluethroats and Arctic Warblers.
In Detail: Our tour began with dinner and a meeting at the Coast International Hotel. A few of us checked Lake Spenard, where we compared Greater and Lesser Scaup and studied an adult male Barrow’s Goldeneye.
We left very early the next morning for Kotzebue, then Nome, and after a brief delay Gambell. The excellent weather of our first few days meant a timely arrival. After lunch we headed to the point area, where we were quickly rewarded with an Ivory Gull, one of several birds we were to see in our first few days. No doubt the great quantity of inshore ice still present led to a few of these birds lingering (or still passing through). This very distinctive species is believed to be imperiled by global warming, and I always consider it fortunate to see any. I’ll long remember that one bird perched at the point on a piece of seemingly hand-sculpted ice.
We spent a lot of time at the point and eventually saw all of the regular species. These included Emperor Goose, all four species of eider including two male Spectacled, Arctic and Yellow-billed Loons, multiple Sabine’s Gulls (normally rare here), and all of the regular alcids including a good scattering of Black Guillemots. One morning we counted seven Dovekies high on the nesting cliffs.
Apart from “point sitting,” we regularly checked the marshy areas and the boneyards, where we had a good variety of species including multiple Common Ringed Plovers including birds in display flight, two Red-necked Stints, Gray-tailed Tattler, a second-summer Slaty-backed Gull, Bluethroats, a female Northern Wheatear, a single Red-throated Pipit, both North American pacificus and Asian japonicus American Pipits, White and Eastern Yellow Wagtails, and a male McKay’s Bunting. And of course it was a treat to see the regular nesting species, particularly such displaying shorebirds as Western Sandpiper, Dunlin (pacifica subspecies), Rock Sandpiper (tschuktschorum subspecies), Long-billed Dowitcher, and Red-necked Phalarope. And Hoary Redpolls were numerous this spring.
More unusual species from the Alaskan side included a Cackling Goose, a hudsonicus Whimbrel, four Red Knots (which could have come from Asia), Wilson’s Snipe (two in territorial display: perhaps a nester here?), two Mew Gulls that appeared to be of the North American subspecies brachyrhynchus, a Hermit and a Varied Thrush, and an American Tree Sparrow.
Mammals of note included both Spotted and Bearded Seals and Arctic Fox. Our best birds were a briefly seen male Siberian Rubythroat (fewer than 10 previous spring records for Gambell), a Little Bunting (first spring record for Alaska, though Paul Lehman and others have proved that they are regular here in the fall), and a Jack Snipe that remained for nearly all to get excellent studies one snowy evening. This species has been recorded roughly half a dozen times in North America (mostly by hunters with dogs!), including once or twice from St. Paul Island in the Pribilofs. Both the Little Bunting and the Jack Snipe were well documented and photographed.
Our good weather at Gambell during the first few days changed dramatically with the arrival of storms with snow and sleet and strong winds. Indeed, Gambell looked much like winter again, with a good carpet of new snow when we departed.
Our Nome extension produced all of the hoped-for species, including two Emperor Geese, both Willow and Rock Ptarmigan, Gyrfalcons at a nest site, a pair of calling Arctic Loons just offshore, Pacific and American Golden-Plovers, Bar-tailed Godwits (baueri subspecies), Black Turnstones, another Slaty-backed Gull, Aleutian Terns, singing and displaying male Bluethroats, Northern Wheatear, and Arctic Warbler. And best of all, we had prolonged and relaxed views of a Bristle-thighed Curlew across from Coffee Dome.
There was, of course, much more to Nome, with so many waterfowl and displaying shorebirds to study. An adult Northern Goshawk gave some of our group brief views. The incubating Pacific Loon trying to escape detection at the “Train to Nowhere” was certainly memorable, as were the pair of Merlins that seemed to be catching bumblebees! We had excellent comparisons of multiple Common and Hoary Redpolls at a feeder in Nome.
Among there rarities noted were a Stilt Sandpiper and a Greater Yellowlegs. I continue to be puzzled why Stilt Sandpiper occurs casually anywhere in western Alaska, since it is scarce even in northern Alaska—and yet this was probably at least the fourth I’ve seen between Nome and the Pribilofs. We also had a pure-appearing male Eurasian Green-winged Teal at the mouth of Hastings Creek, and here and at Safety Sound we encountered a few Red Knots. Mammals of note included Muskox and Moose, a well-studied Ringed Seal, and a single Grizzly Bear.
After one beautiful day in the Nome area, our winter weather continued, with several inches of snow accumulating on the hills just above Nome. Our final afternoon was spent dodging rain showers at Safety Sound, but the weather from the west improved gradually, and it was a beautiful flight back to Anchorage.
- Jon Dunn
Updated: July 2008