Birding Alaska

From October 6-8th I was in Barrow leading a trip for Wilderness Birding Adventures. While bird diversity in Barrow at this time of year is low, we were interested in quality, not quantity, and hoped to be there to witness the Ross’s Gull migration. Going to Barrow in early October is without a doubt the best way to find this high arctic breeder. The quality of birding was indeed high on this trip and we also tallied a surprising trip list of 26 species! Below are a few photo highlights. Click on any photo to enlarge.

Ivory Gull Pagophila eburnea, (with Glaucous Gull Larus hyperboreus in the last shot) Barrow, 6 October 2011.

Although this was a trip to find Ross’s Gulls, this Ivory Gull on the first day of the trip stole the show and gets top billing on this page. It spent much of the morning on the beach in front of us feeding in the froth. We found it again the next day at the end of Point Barrow feeding with a flock of Ross’s Gulls and three Sabine’s Gulls.

Continue reading

I’m a bit late on this post, but thought it worth posting just the same. A few weeks ago I returned from leading two trips to Gambell with Wilderness Birding Adventures September 1-13. Gambell is on the northwest tip of St. Lawrence Island in the northern Bering Sea and is a hotspot for Asian vagrants and Beringian specialties. Below are a few photo highlights.

Pallas’s Bunting Emberiza pallasi, Gambell, 3 September 2011.

The bird of the trip was cooperative Pallas’s Bunting at the south end of Troutman Lake. It is the eighth North American Record (all from Alaska) and the fourth fall record at Gambell.

Stonechat Saxicola torquatus, Gambell, 3 September 2011.

This is the third Stonechat to be documented at Gambell in the fall and about the twelfth for Alaska. The two specimens of Stonechat from Alaska are of S. t. stejnegeri which is in the maura sub-species group, “Siberian” Stonechat. After everyone in the group got excellent scope views of this cooperative Stonechat I got set up for digiscoping and was looking forward to getting some good pictures. I clicked off this poor photo when the radio crackled, “Dusky Warbler in the far boneyard.” So we packed up the scope and made for the far boneyard. While heading there the far boneyard the radio crackled again, “Pallas’s Bunting at the south end of the lake!” The Stonechat was never seen again so I’m left with only this photo.

Continue reading

Update, 22 November 2010: Further study of this bird and images and consultation with experts have shown that the identity of this bird is most probably a Blyth’s Reed Warbler Acrocephalus dumetorum, which would be a first for North America. A manuscript detailing the sighting and identification of this bird has been submitted to the Alaska Checklist Committee for review.

This very skulky bird eluded birders at Gambell for several hours on 9 September 2010 before several people were able to get a few photos. We initially thought this bird to be an adult Middendorff’s, but several features argue against that ID and point to an Acrocephalus warbler.  Unless noted in the caption all photos are posted here as shot. The images have been cropped, but no adjustments to exposure, contrast, sharpening, etc. have been made. Click on any photo to enlarge.

Photo 1.

Continue reading

Below are a few pictures of brown bears from Brooks Falls, Katmai National Park, on the Alaska Peninsula. I had the great fortune of going to Brooks Camp on 23 July while leading a birding and natural history trip for Wilderness Birding Adventures, in conjunction with The Nature Conservancy.  At least 14 bears were fishing for sockeye salmon while we were there and we saw another seven or eight on the walk to and from the falls. Click on any of the photos to enlarge.

I’ve just returned from three weeks (June 13-July 2) in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge where I led two birding trips for Wilderness Birding Adventures.  Below is a brief photo tour through some of the many highlights.

Fledgling Gray-headed Chickadee Poecile cincta, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, 16 June 2010.

The large white cheek patch, gray crown and contrasting sooty mask help identify North America’s rarest chickadee. This year we found a family group that included four fledged young.

Continue reading

I just returned from leading two birding tours in Nome for Wilderness Birding Adventures. The two days that I get to spend each spring looking for Bristle-thighed Curlews are two of the best of the entire year. Here are a few shots of North America’s most beautiful shorebird.

Bristle-thighed Curlew Numenius tahitiensis, north of Nome, 8 June 2010.

Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus (left) chasing a Bristle-thighed Curlew, north of Nome, 8 June 2010.

Caspian Tern Hydroprogne caspia, Safety Lagoon, near Nome, 1 June 2010.

Caspian Terns have been expanding their range in recent decades and have now colonized several areas in southcoastal, southeast, and western Alaska.  There are a very few records for the Seward Peninsula, all of which come from Safety Sound/Lagoon near Nome and represent the northernmost records of the species in Alaska.  These two Caspian Terns were resting on an island in Safety Lagoon near milepost 18.5 on the Council Road on June 1st.

From May 13-20 I was on Adak Island in the central Aleutians leading a birding trip for Wilderness Birding Adventures. The Asian rarity highlights from the trip were a female Smew and a Hawfinch. Least Sandpiper and Northern Wheatear were very good finds from an island perspective. Rarities aside, Adak has an interesting list of subspecies endemic to the central Aleutians, a diversity of seabirds and the ever present feeling of anticipation that something truly rare might blow in.  Below are some photos from the trip.

Northern Wheatear Oenanthe oenanthe, Adak, 15 May 2010.

Casual in the spring in the central Aleutians, this male is only the third spring record for Adak Island.

Smew Mergellus albellus (foreground) with female Common Goldeneye Bucephala clangula, Shotgun Lake, Adak, 16 May 2010.

Gray-crowned Rosy-finch Leucosticte tephrocotis griseonucha, Adak National Forest, 14 May 2010.

The Aleutian Gray-crowned Rosy-finch, griseonucha, is larger than littoralis, the breeding race from south coastal and southeast Alaska and approaches umbrina (from the Pribilofs) in size. It is slightly browner overall than umbrina. These three races of Gray-crowned Rosy-finch share the gray crown and completely gray cheek of coastal varieties of the species.

Turner’s Rock Ptarmigan Lagopus mutus atkhensis, Adak, 18 May 2010.

Turner’s Rock Ptarmigan is endemic to the islands of the Central Aleutians.

Pacific Golden-Plover Pluvialis fulva, Contractor’s Camp, Adak, 17 May 2010.

A flock of six at Contractor’s Camp were the only that we saw. The species is a regular migrant at Adak.

Wandering Tattler Tringa incana, Finger Cove, Adak, 17 May 2010.

Wandering Tattler is a regular migrant on Adak in small numbers. This individual is separated from the similar Gray-tailed Tattler by it’s darker gray upperparts, coarse barring on the lower belly, dark forehead, and nasal groove (not nostril) which extends for greater than half the length of the bill. The call is also diagnostic.

Hoary Redpoll Acanthis hornemanni, Adak National Forest, 16 May 2010.

A rare visitor to Adak, this species has nested in the central and western Aleutians. Up to four Common Redpolls were also present on Adak during our stay.

Least Sandpiper Calidris minutilla, Sweeper Creek, Adak, 20 May 2010.

When Birds of the Aleutian Islands, by Gibson and Byrd was published in 2007 there were no records of this species from the central Aleutians. It has since been recorded at least 5 times at Adak.  We had a flyby at Clam Lagoon on 13 May and this bird at Sweeper Creek on 20 May. The overall dark plumage, compact build, all black lower mandible and white forehead separate it from the similar Long-toed Stint C. subminuta.
For photos of the elusive Hawfinch Coccothraustes coccothraustes, probably the “best bird” of our trip see Isaac Helmrick’s blog.