September 12: Gavin Bieber on his just-completed tour, Alaska: The Pribilofs in Fall.
The fall tour to the Pribilofs took place during a week of warm and sunny weather.
A warm and sunny Pribilofs
Among seven species of Asian shorebirds were hordes of attractive juvenile Sharp-tailed Sandpipers and one lingering Marsh Sandpiper.
A handsome juvenile Sharp-tailed Sandpiper
The lingering Marsh Sandpiper
The Salt Lagoon hosted hundreds of shorebirds, including migrant groups of Pacific Golden-Plovers, and two Red-necked Stints. Flocks of Long-billed Dowitchers and Red Phalaropes popped up on the islands in many lakes. Our highlight passerine was undoubtedly a Pechora Pipit that we found as it walked along a muddy pond edge. Lapland Longspurs were beginning to flock up in preparation for their departure in late September, and often offered us excellent studies of their surprisingly intricate plumage.
Lapland Longspurs in a wide assortment of plumages were everywhere
Repeated checks of the Crab Pots eventually revealed a perky Boreal Owl that remained for our full stay, likely eating Snow Buntings and Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches in the nearby Quarry.
Needless to say, we didn't expect a Boreal Owl in a crab trap
The sunrises over the tundra here were often spectacular, with golden light setting the grass heads alight. All in all a great week in the Bering Sea!
A Pribilofs Sunrise
Posted: September 12, 2016