Alaska: Pribilofs Extension Recap
This year’s trip out to the Pribilof Islands was amazingly productive (as always) for the diverse and stunning complement of alcids, fulmars and kittiwakes that clog the island cliffs in the summer time. Views of breeding birds like these incredibly cute and yet still fierce Least Auklets, contemplative Tufted Puffin, graceful Northern Fulmar, flashy Ancient Murrelets and range-restricted Red-legged Kittiwakes were daily occurrences during our visit. Landbirds are generally less diverse out here in the central Bering, but the island resident species like Pacific Wren and Gray-crowned Rosyfinch have evolved to look quite different to their mainland cousins.
This year we also managed to connect with a nice set of vagrant species such as Tufted Duck and Eurasian Wigeon, Wood Sandpiper and Common Snipe and a couple of very nice passerine strays like Taiga Flycatcher, Hawfinch and a truly superlative Siberian Rubythroat that seemed to be trying to set up a territory in town. A couple of wayward birds from the eastern side of the Bering appeared too, with an Iceland Gull and a Blue-winged Teal being particularly noteworthy.
Birding out on the Pribilofs during Spring can bring a host of surprises!