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Long-tailed Jaegers were downright common in Nome, and watching these nimble aerialists glide over the endless tundra never got old. Photo by guide Doug Gochfeld.
Few combinations of destinations exemplify the vastness and the wildness of Alaska as well as Nome, Seward, and Barrow. Between the pristine mixed forests and glacial beauty of the Kenai Peninsula, the endless tundra hills of the Seward Peninsula, and ice-locked, snow-laden Barrow, with life bursting from every seam of land that was free of snow, our trip around some of the extreme reaches of Alaska was truly fantastic.
Our trip to Nome saw weather that was just about as perfect as you could ask for, including the stunning lenticular cloud formations that dotted the sky during our full day trip out the Kougarok Road. Nome delivered on the rarity front, with a gaudy Red-necked Stint, a couple of Slaty-backed Gulls, and a most excellent Lesser Sand-Plover, but it was most remembered for the extravaganza of breeding birds that we experienced, from Rock Ptarmigans and Long-tailed Jaegers, to Northern Wheatears, Bluethroats, and Arctic Warblers, and all with a constant background din of Gray-cheeked Thrush song. Bohemian Waxwings were a welcome surprise here as well. The unquestionable highlight for many, however, was the abundance of loons in full breeding regalia. As a bonus to the already phenomenal loon show which we bore witness to, we also scored all five species of loons in the world in just one hour!
Our boat trip out of Seward was touched by lady luck herself, with seas calm enough to allow us out to the Chiswell Islands, and a sky that had enough cloud cover so that we didn’t burn up and so that viewing conditions were optimal all day in all directions. Tanya and Calley were great at getting us in position to see all the wildlife you could dream of, and they even dropped a hydrophone into the water while a pod of Orcas were transiting under the boat, allowing us a window into the lives of these amazing creatures which are usually hidden under the veil of the deep blue sea. In addition to other mammals (including Mountain Goats, Steller’s Sea Lions, and lunge-feeding Humpback Whales), there were indeed birds on the boat trip as well. These were highlighted by great looks at Kittlitz’s Murrelet, good numbers of Rhinoceros Auklets, a few each of Parakeet Auklets and Ancient Murrelets, and about gazillion Tufted and Horned Puffins buzzing around the beehive in the Chiswells.
Heading to Barrow in mid-June this year was like heading to a different planet, with sea ice extending from shore as far as the eye could see, and a layer of snow blanketing most of the arctic tundra. Despite the wintry conditions, the breeding birds were very much on site, with scores of Red Phalaropes and Pectoral Sandpipers already on site and displaying. The Eider show this year was magnificent- we saw almost 100 (!!!) Steller’s Eiders and a handful Spectacled Eiders on our very first afternoon, and King and Common Eiders were out and about as well, giving us yet another sweep! A displaying Buff-breasted Sandpiper, vagrant Little and (2) Red-necked Stints right next to each other, a Yellow-billed Loon, and a couple of phenomenally white Snowy Owls were even more icing on the cake.
Thanks for joining us for our journey through some of the remote and wild places of the final frontier. It was a true joy for both Chris and I to travel with such a fabulous group of folks, and the conditions cooperated for us wonderfully. So long, until next we meet somewhere afield in this great big bird-verse!
-Doug
KEYS FOR THIS LIST
One of the following keys may be shown in brackets for individual species as appropriate: * = heard only, I = introduced, E = endemic, N = nesting, a = austral migrant, b = boreal migrant
Sabine's Gulls were around in good numbers this year, and we saw them in both Nome (where we had more than a dozen all told!) and Barrow. This individual was one of a couple who showed no fear of us, and went about their business foraging just a few feet off shore as we stood gawking at them from the water's edge. Photo by guide Doug Gochfeld.
This Harlequin Duck took us by surprise as it careened around a bend in the stream where we were watching an American Dipper family, and swam right in front of us at point blank range. We apparently took it by an equal amount of surprise, because as soon as it saw us, it turned right back around, and went upstream. Photo by guide Doug Gochfeld.
Sometimes the Sea Otters of Seward looked cute and cuddly as could be, but lest we forget, there's always a ravenously hungry savage below the surface. Photo by participant Pieter Poll.
We saw several confiding male Rock Ptarmigans very well in various places around Nome, but by far our most memorable encounter with the species was a female sitting very well camouflaged on a nest. After observing her for a while, you could look away for just an instant and be totally confounded when trying to re-find her. Another true wonder of nature. Photo by guide Doug Gochfeld.
Not only does Nome have a fantastic array of arctic and subarctic breeding birds, but it is a great spot to try and find vagrant birds from Asia. Despite this reputation, it was still a pleasant surprise to see this Lesser Sand-Plover (formerly called Mongolian Plover) on our first full day of birding. Photo by participant Pieter Poll.
Wonderful Whimbrels were one of our prizes on our tundra hike seventy miles north of Nome. Photo by guide Doug Gochfeld.
As if we hadn't already had our share of rarities, we got word of this Little Stint (normally found in Eurasia) on our final evening in Barrow, and we raced out right after dinner to find it still on-site and being spectacularly confiding. Photo by guide Doug Gochfeld.
We were awed by the deft footwork of this Mountain Goat as it went about its everyday business on a cliff overlooking Resurrection Bay. Photo by guide Doug Gochfeld.
Much of people's puffin attention in Alaska is often reserved for their big and showy tufted cousins, but with views like this, it was impossible to overlook the classy elegance of the many Horned Puffins that we saw in Seward. Photo by guide Doug Gochfeld.
Aleutian Terns may have some vocalizations that sound like House Sparrows, but that's where the similarities end. We were treated to plenty of these graceful masters of the ocean winds during our time in Nome. Photo by guide Doug Gochfeld.
Kittlitz's Murrelet were one of the many prizes on our boat trip out of Seward. We were graced with a very tolerant pair, who allowed us to circle them for good views. This was one of the last North American breeding bird species to have its nest described to science, and with good reason: they nest on inaccessible scree slopes of coastal mountains and volcanoes! Photo by guide Doug Gochfeld.
The landscape along the Kougarok Road is always guaranteed to awe, and in addition to that, our day along the Kougarok also featured a jaw-dropping cloudscape, with batallions of layer-cake-like lenticular clouds filling the sky for miles. Photo by guide Doug Gochfeld.
Bluethroats were performing their wonderful parachuting aerial displays with vigor along some of the willow-lined creeks that we drove through just outside of Nome. Photo by guide Doug Gochfeld.
These beauties, likely of the genus Dryas of the Rosaceae family (and probably either D.integrifolia or D.octopetala), were just one species of the dizzying array of blooming flowers that carpeted the landscape (including this tundra setting) through our travels. Photo by participant Jean Rigden.
Our Orca experience in Seward was definitely one of the more memorable episodes of the tour, from the undersea communication which we had the privilege of eavesdropping on by means of a hydrophone, to their playful cavorting around the boat. Photo by participant Pieter Poll.
MAMMALS
This Red Fox ended up being fairly curious about us on one of our evening voyages out to Safety Sound in Nome. Photo by participant Pieter Poll.
We didn't let the mounds of snow stop us from trying to get a good look at Steller's and Spectacled Eiders. In fact, not only were we looking at both those species, so iconic to Barrow, but we also saw King and Common here, giving us a clean sweep of the eider species in the world from one spot! Photo by guide Doug Gochfeld.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
Totals for the tour: 147 bird taxa and 19 mammal taxa