A Yellow-browed Warbler, one of several North American firsts from Gambell in fall. Photo: Paul Lehman
Birding at Gambell during the early autumn provides the opportunity to see a good variety of western Alaska specialties, an incredible seabird spectacle, southbound shorebirds that include small numbers of Old World species, and a good chance of finding one or more Asian landbird strays. The fall migration is protracted and full of glorious uncertainty, but some of the species and plumages seen are unique among North American birding tours. Although rare passerines can be expected to occur between late August and early October, the number, composition, and timing of their occurrence vary from year to year, depending on such factors as the weather, that year’s nesting success, and just dumb luck! The species that have occurred to date at Gambell, however, include a sizable list of “mega-rarities” with at most a handful of records in North America; few or none of these autumn megas have ever been recorded in spring. Mainland North American strays also occur regularly in small numbers. You can read Paul’s detailed analysis of fall birding at Gambell as published in Western Birds, Vol 36, No 1 as a PDF file here. An unpublished analysis updated through 2007 can be reviewed here.
A short pre-tour extension in the Nome area will search for a number of mainland specialties and migrants.
Nome Pre-Tour Extension
Day 1: The pre-tour extension begins at 9:30 pm in Nome. Night in Nome.
Day 2: Our day in the Nome area will visit coastal lagoons as well as interior rivers and ridges, and will concentrate on finding western Alaska specialties and several species unlikely to be found at Gambell. These include Arctic Loon, “Black” Brant, Gyrfalcon, Willow and possibly Rock Ptarmigan, Sandhill Crane, Bar-tailed Godwit, Slaty-backed Gull, Northern Shrike, American Tree and Golden-crowned Sparrows, and Hoary Redpoll. Snowy Owl is possible. No matter what birds we see, the landscape around Nome at this time of year will provide a spectacular backdrop of a mix of colors, as the tundra vegetation prepares for winter. Mammal possibilities include Grizzly Bear, Muskox, Moose, and Porcupine.
Main Tour
Day 2: The main tour begins at 9:30 pm in Nome. Night in Nome.
Day 3: On the morning of day 3 we’ll fly to the Yupik village of Gambell at the northwest tip of St. Lawrence Island. Our quarters will be in the comfortable Sivuqaq Inn, which offers private rooms, toilets, showers, and a large kitchen. Weather is always a factor in this part of the world. Fall temperatures at Gambell are normally slightly milder than in the spring with highs in the high 30s to low 50s F. It is common, though, for wind, fog, and rain to occur in rapidly changing combinations, so a certain amount of flexibility has been programmed into our schedule to compensate for any delays. Night at Gambell.
Days 4-12: At the end of August and in early September, there are still hundreds of thousands of alcids of eight species flying by the point: Thick-billed and Common Murres, Pigeon Guillemot, Parakeet, Least, and Crested Auklets, and Horned and Tufted Puffins. These birds are joined by hundreds of thousands of Short-tailed Shearwaters and good numbers of loons, eiders, phalaropes, jaegers (including Long-tailed), and other migrants. We should see Yellow-billed Loon, Emperor Goose, and Steller’s Eider, and we have a good chance of seeing Spectacled Eider and Ancient Murrelet. Migrant shorebirds (including good numbers of Pacific Golden-Plovers, Red Phalarope, and a few Rock Sandpipers) usually include one or more Gray-tailed Tattlers and small numbers of Sharp-tailed Sandpipers, and Lesser Sand-Plover and other Old World species are possible. White Wagtail breeds most years at Gambell. A variety of “trans-Beringian” passerine migrants, including Arctic Warbler, Bluethroat, Northern Wheatear, Gray-cheeked Thrush, Eastern Yellow Wagtail, and Red-throated Pipit, are still moving back in numbers west into Asia through the first week of September. Other landbirds include many Snow Buntings and at least a few Hoary Redpolls.
The list of landbird strays recorded at Gambell in late August and the first half of September is a heady one, although any one visit may produce from only one or two upwards to a nice haul, depending on the year. The list compiled between 1996 and 2007 includes two Oriental Cuckoos, Fork-tailed Swift, Eurasian Wryneck, three Middendorff’s Grasshopper-Warblers, eight Dusky Warblers, five Willow Warblers, Yellow-browed Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, Spotted Flycatcher, “Siberian” Stonechat, six Siberian Accentors, eight Pechora Pipits, Olive-backed Pipit, ten Little Buntings, Reed Bunting, nine Bramblings, and four Common Rosefinches. Other possibilities include Gyrfalcon and McKay’s Bunting (more likely in late September). For those interested in possibly staying on their own into the latter half of September, Asian strays recorded then during visits in 1999 and 2001-2007 include three Sky Larks, another Middendorff’s Grasshopper-Warbler, Sedge Warbler, three additional Dusky Warblers, another Yellow-browed Warbler, Taiga Flycatcher, Siberian Rubythroat, another seven Siberian Accentors, two Eye-browed Thrushes, another four Pechora Pipits, Yellow-browed Bunting, another ten Little Buntings, two Pallas’s Buntings, and another eighteen Bramblings. We will hope for winds from the west or southwest, and at least some rain, to increase our chances at Asian vagrants. A variety of far-flung North American strays have turned up during this entire period as well.
Day 13: We’ll depart Gambell in the morning for Nome, where the tour concludes.
Pribilofs Post-Tour Extension
Day 13: The post-tour extension begins this evening in Anchorage.
Day 14: We’ll fly this morning Saint Paul Island, in the central Bering Sea. After nine days at Gambell the relatively lush tundra, myriad wetlands, cliffsides, and sandy beaches will provide a very different backdrop to our daily birding. We’ll spend the first afternoon here searching for any known rarities and also watching at close range Red-legged Kittiwake and Red-faced Cormorant, two species that do not occur on Saint Lawrence.
Day 15-16: In mid-September the Pribilofs are still mostly green, and often a good diversity of shorebirds can be found on their southbound passage. We’ll spend some time sifting though the throngs of Rock Sandpipers (a larger and paler subspecies than that occurring at Gambell) and Ruddy Turnstones for rarer shorebirds. Gray-tailed Tattler, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Red-necked Stint, and Common Snipe are all regular migrants in early September, and species such as Lesser Sand-Plover, Little Stint, and Ruff are possible. The seabird cliffs will be less crowded than in the summer, but we’ll be treated to very close eye-level views of Horned and Tufted Puffins and Common and Thick-billed Murres. The cacophonous Northern Fur Seal rookeries will be overflowing with masses of pups, and spending time with these remarkable pinnipeds gives credence to Saint Paul’s title of the “Galapagos of the North.” Landbird vagrants are irregular here, but mid-September has produced such Asiatic vagrants as Sky Lark, Yellow-browed Warbler, Gray-streaked Flycatcher, Red-flanked Bluetail, Olive-backed Pipit, Siberian Accentor, and Brambling.
Day 17: The post-tour extension concludes with an early afternoon flight back to Anchorage.
Updated: 11 March 2008
Prices
- 2008 Main Tour about $4,430
- - Single Occupancy Supplement $350
- With Nome extension about $4,780
- - Single Occupancy Supplement $440
- With Pribilofs extension about $7,320
- - Single Occupancy Supplement $670
- With Nome and Pribilofs extensions about $7,670
- - Single Occupancy Supplmenet $760
Notes
This tour is limited to 10 participants with one leader; 18 people with two or more leaders.
All-terrain vehicles (ATVs) will be available at Gambell for use during the tour.
Participants wishing to extend their time at either Gambell or the Pribilofs may do so. Contact the WINGS office for details.