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We’ll depart Anchorage by air, heading west over the massive Alaska Range on our way to Nome…
…where we’ll organize our substantial pile of supplies…
…before boarding our plane to Gambell.
It’s about an hour and one half’s flight over the typically ice-clogged Bering Sea…
…to the Inupik village of Gambell at the northwest tip of St Lawrence Island.
We’ll go straight to the Lodge…
…perhaps seeing White Wagtail on the way…
…check in to our rooms, take a quick peek at the dining area…
…and the kitchen…
…from which amazing Rich Hoyer creations flow…
…before going outside for the serious business of ATV use training.
Our first birding stop unless there is some compelling rarity will likely be the ‘Point’…
…which might possibly look more like this…
…but regardless of how it looks there will be masses of birds passing by…
…of all sorts.
The other places we’ll visit every day include the ‘boneyards,’ several of which run east from town.
In these boneyard, craters resulting from old ivory excavation shelter birds including the common Lapland Longspur…
…Hoary Redpoll…
…and perhaps something less common such as Wood Sandpiper or…
…even a stray from Asia, here a Brambling.
We’ll make multiple trips south along the east side of Troutman Lake where…
…marshy areas along the way and especially at the south end collect waders which might include the brilliant if common Dunlin…
…the less common Red-necked Stint…
…perhaps something rare like Lesser Sand Plover…
…and if we’re very lucky a vagrant such as Little Stint…
…or an ‘in our dreams’ bird not often recorded in North America like this Jack Snipe.
Birds aside, Gambell is a a fascinating place with the remnants of past whale harvests…
…air drying carcases of seals and seabirds, which are important local foods…
…and some wonderful local artistry…
…some of which will surely end up in our hands.
We’ll be sad to leave Gambell but Nome is another remarkable place…
…with remnants of the old gold rush still visible…
…and endless fabulous scenery.
The tundra will be full of superb birds such as American Golden Plover…
…and Long-tailed Jaeger…
…and flowers - here a willow…
…and azaleas can be everywhere depending on the season.
We’ll drive the roads out of Nome in search of birds such as…
…Arctic Warbler…
…and Bluethroat…
…and we may see Musk Ox…
…or even a Gyrfalcon on it’s nest.
We’ll spend much of one day driving to and climbing a remote hill where in the past…
…we’ve found Bristle-thighed Curlew…
…and most of another day at a lagoon where Aleutian Tern breeds.
No matter what the day, Nome is never more than completely spectacular.