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WINGS Birding Tours – Photo Gallery

Alaska: The Pribilofs in Fall

After some local birding in Anchorage we’ll board our midday flight out to Saint Paul Island.
The island supports a small (400 people) but pretty town…
and often in fall the weather is bright and cheery.
Shorebirds abound here in early September, with many juveniles, like this Red-necked Stint…
…and this attractive Sharp-tailed (which can be common here in September).
Gray-tailed Tattler are regular…
…and occasionally we’ill detect rarer species like Buff-breasted Sandpiper…
…Solitary Sandpiper…
…Wood Sandpiper…
…or even something truly rare like this Marsh Sandpiper.
Although the cliffs are quieter in the fall there are still breeding birds to look at…
…as well as Horned and…
…Tufted Puffins should still be feeding young, and…
…Common and Thick-billed Murres should still be around in good numbers…
…and the Northern Fulmars will still be soaring.
We’ll have ample opportunity to study both species of Kittiwakes…
…which are readily identifiable even without obvious feet.
The volcanic island of Saint Paul is beautiful in the fall…
…and as we explore the island we’ll encounter its breeding passerines…
…like this subtly attractive Lapland Longspur…
…the resident subspecies of Pacific Wren…
…and the giant local race of Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch.
In the clusters of Crab Pots we might…
…be lucky enough to stumble across almost anything, such as this 2016 Boreal Owl.
Vagrant passerines are always much desired, and birds like Brambling…
…Oriental Cuckoo…
…and Gray-streaked Flycatcher from the old world…
…and we might come across new world strays like Red-breasted Nuthatch or…
…Fox Sparrow or even…
…a truly wayward bird like this 2015 Purple Finch.
Mammals like this Arctic Fox liven up the birding…
…the world’s largest colonies of Northern Fur Seals.
…at a time when the pups are beginning to enter the ocean and…
…often attract some serious attention from roaming Orcas.
In short, the Pribilof Islands are simply gorgeous in fall, and a weeklong visit here in September can offer some of the most exciting birding in North America.

 

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