birding never sleeps: ALASKA 2024 part 5: Nome (24-27 June)

ALASKA 2024 part 5: Nome (24-27 June)

Monday 24 June. We were taken from American's Best motel to the airport at 05:30, grabbing some breakfast as it was being put out. Our 07:45 flight was on time, arriving at Nome at about 09:15. Vaughan’s and one of James’s bags didn’t arrive. Alaska Airline promised they would be on the next flight (due in at 17:00) but wouldn’t deliver them to our hotel in town. We drove to the Aurora Inn where we dumped our bags in their storage room after extracting scopes and tripods (check-in wasn’t until 15:00). After some faffing we drove south down the coast to Safety Lagoon with several stops on the way. This was our only realistic chance of seeing Emperor Goose although this was far from guaranteed and we were probably rather late. This year visiting Nome before Barrow might have been a better option as there had been regular Emperor Goose sightings on the Safety Lagoon in early-mid June but none more recently. We saw distant Black Brant and Taverner's Cackling Geese (new for me but underwhelming as its the largest Cackling subspecies and wasn't strikingly different from Canada Goose, at least not at range). A very bleached immature large gull was seen briefly along the beach but flew away before we had a decent view of it, or any photos. The beach is mostly out of bounds so we couldn't really follow it up. After half an hour or so scanning from Bonanza Bridge near the river mouth a pair of Aleutian Terns flew up river towards us and continued over our heads and on to a marshy area where we watched them flying around at range for some time. They were not as dark as I was expecting and most obvious when head on. We returned to Nome for a late lunch at Subway which was on the coast across the road from our hotel I seawatched from outside seeing 2 fairly distant Crested Auklets and a Minke Whale. We checked in, then returned to the airport to collect the delayed bags, us waiting in the van outside for over 40 minutes although James came back after 20 minutes to update us on lack of progress. Next stop was the supermarket then after dropping purchases and Vaughan and Svetlana at the hotel we drove back south as far as Hastings Creek and saw a nice selection of waders, although most were fairly distant, and a Sabine's Gull briefly on the beach. Back at the hotel at about 20:30. Birds identified were 30 Black Brant, 16 Taverner's Cackling Geese, 130 Tundra Swans, American Wigeon, 25 Pintail, 2 Green-winged Teal, Canvasback, 40 scaup, 7 King Eider, 3 Long-tailed Duck, 18 Goosander, 17 Red-breasted Mergansers, 3 Sandhill Cranes, 11 Pacific Golden and a Semipalmated Plover, 2 Bar-tailed Godwits, single Ruddy Turnstone, Dunlin and Semipalmated Sandpiper, 2 Western Sandpipers, 4 Red-necked Phalaropes, a Wandering Tatler (in flight), 4 Arctic and 12 Long-tailed Skuas, 2 Crested Auklets, 80 Kittiwakes, a Sabine's, 20 Short-billed, a potential 2CY Slaty-backed and 20 Glaucous Gulls, 2 Aleutian and 20 Arctic Terns, 16 Red-throated and 2 Pacific Divers, Pelagic Cormorant, 2 Ravens, 5 Tree Swallows, American Robin, 2 Common and 2 Arctic Redpolls and 6 Lapland Buntings.

leaving Anchorage

arriving in Nome

Lapland Bunting at Nome

Aleutian Terns over Bonanza Bridge at Nome

Sandhill Crane at Nome

Pacific Diver at Nome

Sabine's Gull leaving the beach at Nome

dreadful light

Western Sandpiper at Hasting's Creek

Tuesday 25 June. 05:35 start and drive to km 72 along Taylor Highway (a dirt road!) to Coffee Dome/Pot and hiked up through tussock grass/willow bog to the shorter grass summit where we arrived at about 09:00. Despite wandering around for several hours it wasn’t until coming down that a Bristle-thighed Curlew flew over calling although not all of us saw it. Relief for me as it flew over my heard but hardly satisfactory for a bird we were expecting 'walk up to' views of (5 had been seen there a day or two before). We tried a bit further down the road as it had flown in a vaguely similar direction but the habitat didn’t appear particularly suitable. Paul, Pete, Malcolm and I returned to the site approaching from the east but spent another hour or two there without success. One the way back we stopped at km 27 for a distant Golden Eagle’s nest and km 25 for a pair of grey morph Gyrfalcons very distantly on a cliff but failed to see the three young or the nest that they had been a week or so earlier. Hopefully they’d fledged. We were back at 19:00 but despite some nice birds - decent views of a Rough-legged Buzzard perhaps the best of them - it had been a disappointing day. I'd seen 4 Taverner's Cackling Geese, a Tundra Swan, 10 Pintail, 40 scaup (2+ Greater), 3 Willow Ptarmigan, 8 American Golden Plover, a Bristle-thighed Curlew, 2 Hudsonian Whimbrel, 2 Western Sandpipers, 2 Wilson's Snipe, 2 Red-necked Phalaropes, 4 Short-billed and a Glaucous Gull, 3 Arctic Terns, 3 Red-throated Divers, Golden Eagle, Rough-legged Buzzard, 2 Gyrfalcons, 30 Ravens, a Sand Martin, Grey-cheeked Thrush, 2 American Robins, 4 Common Redpolls, 12 Lapland Buntings and a White-crowned Sparrow. Aloso 8 Snowshoe Hares,40 Muskox and 2 Moose.

Muskox

inland from Nome on the Taylor Highway

Coffee Dome area of the Taylor Highway

American Golden Plover at Coffee Dome

American Golden Plovers were very approachable

female Lapland Bunting near Coffee Dome

male Lapland Bunting

back on the top of the hill again

another male Lapland Bunting

nesting Glaucous Gull by the Taylor Highway

Gyrfalcon cliffs (left end)

not obvious even when looking directly at it

Gyrfalcon cliffs (centre)

Taylor Highway

Wednesday 26 June. Vaughan and Svetlana had hired a car to concentrate on photographing waders allowing Richard, our best spotter, to sit in the front and giving the rest of us a bit more space in the back. We were out at 06:00 starting with a quick dip on a local White Wagtail that few of us had much interest in then on to Nome river mouth. A few geese appeared to be moving and a flock of Aleutian Cackling Geese kept our hopes of an Emperor alive while we had better views of Aleutian Terns but most birds remained distant or were unapproachable. I seawatched from 13:00-14:00 while some were lunching, but little was moving apart from a southward passage of 670+ Kittiwakes. We left soon after for a second try at the White Wagtail, thankfully successful this time as it was in an uninspiring part of town that I had no desire to return to! We continued on to km 34 of the Teller Road where at 15:50 we drove up a rough track onto a ridge to look for breeding Rock Sandpipers. They were a distinctively different race to those common on St. Paul (our next and final destination) and so worth putting effort into seeing even if they hadn't been new for me. We spread out and gave it a couple of hours with no success although American and a Pacific Golden Plover were nice. We were back at the hotel at 20:20. A long but not particularly productive day during which I saw 15 Black Brant, 20 Aleutian and 6 Taverner's Cackling Geese, 60 Tundra Swans, 20 Pintail, 40 scaup (4+ Greater), a male King and 6 Common Eider, 9 Long-tailed Duck, 5 Red-breasted Mergansers, 2 Sandhill Cranes, 2 American and a Pacific Golden and a Semipalmated Plover, Black Turnstone, single Semipalmated and Western Sandpipers, Wilson's Snipe, 3 Red-necked Phalaropes, 2 Arctic and 4 Long-tailed Skuas, 37 Guillemots, 670 Kittiwakes, 15 Short-billed and 3 Glaucous Gulls, 20 Aleutian and 10 Arctic Terns, 6 Red-throated, 6 Pacific and a Great Northern Diver, 5 Ravens, 4 Tree Swallows, 2 American Robins, 2 Eastern Yellow and White Wagtail, 5 Common Redpolls, 10 Lapland and a Snow Bunting, single White-crowned and Savannah Sparrows, 32 Rusty Blackbirds and a Northern Waterthrush.

Aleutian Tern at Nome

Gold Mine Dredge on our way back into Nome

Tundra Swans at Nome

Taverner's Cackling Geese at Nome

Aleutian Cackling Geese at Nome felt more like a new bird than the Tavener's seen before

Long-tailed Skua at Nome (taken through the bus window)

auto focus not working too well

White-crowned Sparrow at Nome

American Golden Plover above the Teller Road

searching for Rock Sandpipers

Thursday 27 June. I seawatched from 06:05-06:30 then we drove to Safety Lagoon (mile 20). We returned to the Aurora Inn at 10:30 to pack, check-out and put our bags into store. I seawatched again to 11:30 while some were in Subway. We then drove back to Safety Lagoon and on to Bonanza Bridge for a final look around. We were back at the Aurora Inn at 15:15, me to repack my tripod into my rucksack, before leaving for the airport at 15:30. The morning seawatches produced 20 White-winged Scoter, 3 Pomarine Skuas, 2 Sabine's Gulls, 2 Pigeon Guillemots and a Horned Puffin. Highlights from our two visits to Safety Lagoon were a Snow, 5 Aleutian and increase in Black Brant (but sadly no Emperors in with them). Also some very smart Eider and Harlequins on the beach/sea, an Aleutian Tern and a Long-tailed Skua not through bus windows. We also had marginally better views of a large immature gull, possibly the bird seen on our first day? I managed a few poor pics as it flew away but am uncertain about its identity. We returned to airport, our flight left on time and arrived in Anchorage with all our bags. We only had to wait 5 minutes for America's Best shuttle bus but weren't back much before 21:00, a bit late to visit Spenard Lake again. During the day I saw a Snow, 34 Black Brant and 5 Aleutian Cackling Geese, 32 Tundra Swans, 2 American Wigeon, 25 Pintail, Green-winged Teal, 9 Canvasbacks, 20 scaup (1+ Greater), a male King and 18 Common Eider, 14 Harlequins, 20 White-winged and a Black Scoter, 5 Long-tailed Duck, 19 Red-breasted Mergansers, 5 Sandhill Cranes, 11 a Pacific Golden Plover, Hudsonian Whimbrel, 2 Bar-tailed Godwits, Black Turnstone, 6 Semiplamated and 10 Western Sandpipers, Wilson's Snipe, 6 Red-necked Phalaropes, 3 Pomarine, 7 Arctic and a Long-tailed Skua, 70 Common and 2 Pigeon Guillemots, Horned Puffin, 100 Kittiwakes, 2 Sabine's Gulls, 30 Short-billed, a/the presumed 2CY Slaty-backed (or hybrid) and 30 Glaucous Gulls, an Aleutian and 30 Arctic Terns, 20 Red-throated and 18 Pacific Divers, 10 Pelagic Cormorants, 3 Tree Swallows, 10 Common Redpolls, 8 Lapland Buntings and 4 Savannah Sparrows.

bleached moulting immature large gull as it flew off

black bill suggests 2CY although tail, rump and mantle don't appear to fit most possibilities at that age (Glaucous-winged, Vega and American Herring)