Seawatching at Gambell is rewarding, with migrant shearwaters, alcids, and waterfowl rounding the point at every hour of the day. Photo: Greg Greene
Birding on the Bering Sea outposts during the early autumn offers a 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 Asian landbird strays. In contrast to the spring migration period, fall migration is protracted and full of glorious uncertainty, but some of the plumages, to say nothing of the species, are rarely seen on 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 of course good luck!
We’ve timed the Gambell portion of the tour to coincide with the movement of trans-Beringian migrants heading back to their Old World wintering grounds. Usually we detect numbers of Arctic Warblers, Eastern Yellow Wagtails, Northern Wheatears, Bluethroats, and Red-throated Pipits heading west. Here too a multitude of alcids will be present in sometimes mind-numbing numbers, and the seawatching from the point is perhaps unsurpassed in North America.
After we return to mainland Alaska, a morning of birding in the Nome area will give us a chance to catch up with some of the regular Alaskan birds, and with luck, perhaps some specialties such as Arctic Loon, Willow Ptarmigan, Gyrfalcon, and Bar-tailed Godwit.
On the companion tour to Saint Paul Island we’ll find more comfortable surroundings, with many ponds and wetlands that attract shorebirds such as Ruff, Little and Red-necked Stints, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Common Snipe, and Gray-tailed Tattler. The cliff birds will likely be mostly finished nesting, although numbers of Tufted and Horned Puffins and Common and Thick-billed Murres should still be feeding young, and Red-faced Cormorants and Red-legged Kittiwakes will be on display. Over the past decade increased interest in birding the Bering Islands in fall has resulted in the recording of an impressive array of strays.
Day 1: The tour begins in Nome around lunchtime with the midday arrival of the Alaskan Airlines flight from Anchorage. We’ll gather and make ready for an afternoon flight to the Yupik village of Gambell at the northwest tip of Saint Lawrence Island. Our quarters will be in the simple but comfortable Sivuqaq Inn, which offers private rooms, shared toilets and showers, and a large kitchen. We’ll use ATVs for transport. Weather is always a factor in this part of the world. Early fall temperatures at Gambell are normally milder than in the spring with highs in the high 30s to low 50s F. It is common, though, for wind, fog, and drizzle 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 2–7: At the end of August and in early September there are still 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 equally large numbers of Short-tailed Shearwaters and many loons, eiders, phalaropes, jaegers (including Long-tailed), and other migrants. We’ll hope to see Yellow-billed Loon, Emperor Goose, and Ancient Murrelet, as well as Spectacled and Steller’s eiders. Migrant shorebirds include good numbers of Pacific Golden-Plovers, Red Phalarope, a few Rock Sandpipers, and usually one or more Gray-tailed Tattlers and small numbers of Sharp-tailed Sandpipers. Lesser Sand-Plover and other Old World species are also possible. A variety of “trans-Beringian” passerine migrants, including Arctic Warbler, Bluethroat, Northern Wheatear, Eastern Yellow and White wagtails, and Red-throated Pipit, are moving back in numbers west into Asia through the first week of September. Other landbirds include many Snow Buntings and at least a few of each redpoll species.
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 only one or two… or many more, depending on the year. The list compiled between 1996 and 2021 includes multiples of Oriental Cuckoo, Fork-tailed Swift, Eurasian Wryneck, Brown Shrike, Middendorff’s Grasshopper-Warbler, Dusky Warbler, Willow and Yellow-browed Warblers, “Siberian” Common Chiffchaff, Lesser Whitethroat, Spotted Flycatcher, “Siberian” Stonechat, Siberian Accentor, Pechora and Olive-backed Pipit, Little, Yellow-breasted, Reed, and Pallas’s Buntings, Brambling, and Common Rosefinch. Asian strays recorded during visits later in the season include Sky Lark, Sedge Warbler, Yellow-browed Warbler, Taiga Flycatcher, Siberian Rubythroat, Red-flanked Bluetail, Siberian Accentor, Eye-browed Thrushes, Pechora Pipit, and Yellow-browed Bunting, with the list growing every year. We’ll hope for winds from the west or southwest, and at least some rain, to increase our chances for Asian vagrants. A variety of far-flung North American strays have turned up during this entire period as well. Nights in Gambell.
Day 8: We’ll depart Gambell today for Nome, hopefully arriving in time for lunch before we head out for some afternoon birding around the city. Migration is already in full swing at this time of year, and many specialties have already departed, but we’ll keep an eye out for Arctic Loon, Black Brant, Gyrfalcon, Willow and possibly Rock Ptarmigan, Bar-tailed Godwit, Slaty-backed Gull, Northern Shrike, American Tree Sparrow, and Hoary Redpoll. No matter what birds we see, the landscape around Nome this time of year will provide a spectacular colorful backdrop as the tundra vegetation prepares for winter. Mammal possibilities include Grizzly Bear, Muskox, Moose, and Porcupine. Night in Nome.
Day 9: We’ll have time for some morning birding before we return to the Nome airport, where the tour concludes before a flight back to Anchorage.**
THE PRIBILOFS
Day 9: The Pribilofs tour begins this evening with an introductory meeting and dinner at our hotel in Anchorage. Night in Anchorage.
Day 10: For those continuing on for our week on the Pribilofs we’ll bird a bit around our hotel in Anchorage where we will pick up a few species that are unlikely to reach the islands (such as Black-capped and Boreal Chickadees, Black-billed Magpies and Golden-crowned Kinglets). We’ll then take a late morning flight to Saint Paul Island in the Pribilofs. Night on Saint Paul.
Days 11–13: We’ll spend our days on the “Pribs” alternately scanning and walking around the islands many small lakes and wetlands, scouring the secluded and sheltered sides of hills and patches of taller vegetation for passerines, and, if conditions are advantageous looking out to see for passing seabirds. 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, and we’ll certainly see Red-legged Kittiwake and Red-faced Cormorant, the former at its only accessible site in North America. The cacophonous Northern Fur Seal rookeries will be bustling with masses of pups, and spending time with these remarkable pinnipeds gives credence to Saint Paul’s title of the “Galapagos of the North.”
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 sift through the throngs of Rock Sandpipers 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, Wood Sandpiper, Little Stint, and Ruff are possible. Waterbird mega-rarities at this season have included Black-tailed Gull, Marsh Sandpiper, Jack Snipe, and North America’s first Solitary Snipe.
Asian landbird vagrants are unpredictable, but early to mid-September has produced Sky Lark, Willow, Dusky and Yellow-browed Warblers, Gray-streaked and Taiga Flycatchers, Red-flanked Bluetail, Olive-backed and Pechora Pipit, Siberian Accentor, and Brambling. Nights in St. Paul.
Day 14: We’ll take an early afternoon flight back to Anchorage where the Pribilofs extension concludes.
Updated: 05 October 2021
Prices
- 2023 Gambell/Nome Tour Price : $5,550
- Gambell/Nome Single Supplement : $430
- Pribilofs Extension : $5,890
- Pribilofs Extension Single Supplement : $760
Notes
Questions? Tour Manager: Matt Brooks. Call 1-866-547-9868 (US or Canada) or (01) 520-320-9868 or click here to email.
* Tour invoices paid by check carry a 4% discount. Details here.
** The Nome to Anchorage flight between the Gambell tour and the Pribilofs extension is not included in the tour cost and is most economically purchased as part of your flights to Alaska.
This tour is limited to 10 participants with one leader; 18 participants with two or more leaders.