Birder’s Notebook: Gambell- bird-rich and full of surprises

It’s always fascinating to see eBird reports of the exotic birds found at Gambell. Less than 200 miles from the Seward Peninsula, the northwestern tip of St. Lawrence Island sees the migratory passage of species that we on the mainland only dream of seeing. It is no wonder that Gambell is one of North America’s most desirable birding locations.

St. Lawrence Island is situated in the Bering Strait only 45 miles from Russia’s Chukchi Peninsula, amid the shallow, biologically rich waters of the continental shelf. The village of Gambell at the island’s northwest tip is uniquely located to provide remarkable opportunities for birds and birding.

Windblown Asian strays seldom seen elsewhere in North America regularly drop in for a rest, but they are not the only attraction. The rich marine waters surrounding the island support multitudes of seabirds as they pass through in spring and fall or stay to nest on the sea cliffs just east of Gambell. The vast numbers and variety of species can be mind boggling!

Additionally, during migration birds such as blue throats, arctic warblers, northern wheatears and wagtails may stop over on the island when traveling between their wintering grounds in Asia and breeding areas on the Seward Peninsula and beyond.

Ancestors of the St. Lawrence Island Yupik people now living in Gambell have inhabited the immediate area continuously for about 2,000 years. The village is bordered by middens (referred to locally as “boneyards”) from past eras that are richly vegetated by stinkweed (Artemisia) that grows taller than the surrounding vegetation. Passing songbirds, including exotic strays, are drawn to the shelter provided by the lush plant growth and excavations in the middens.

Birds stray, especially during migration, for a number of reasons. Perhaps most often, wind and storms force birds off track. Young, inexperienced birds are more likely to go astray than veteran travelers and sometimes the internal mechanisms that guide birds during migration may go awry.

Spring and fall migration not only brings birds from distant lands to Gambell, but planeloads of enthusiastic birders, too. While adding birds to their life lists these birders send out reports of their unusual sightings on eBird. During the rest of the year, when the “migratory birders” are long gone, there are local Gambell residents with knowledge and interest who are on the lookout and report their tantalizing finds and share wonderful photos.

The birds featured here are just a few of the unusual sightings captured by local Gambell observers and talented bird photographers Clarence Irrigoo Jr. and Rodney Ungwiluk Jr.

Information about historical bird sightings at Gambell comes from The Birds of Gambell and St. Lawrence Island, Alaska by Paul Lehman.

What is eBird?

Begun in 2002 by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, eBird is an online record of bird observations that provide information about bird distribution and abundance throughout the world. eBird is the world’s largest citizen science program for collecting biological information and you too can be part of it. You can participate by sharing your bird sightings and photos. Or you can simply learn about what birds are being seen in your area. Check out eBird.org for more information.

Photo by Clarence Irrigoo Jr. Short-tailed Shearwaters Feeding Near Gambell – After finding carcasses of short-tailed shearwaters littering our regional beaches this past summer, it is very good to see them alive and looking well, feeding in the waves offshore of Gambell where Clarence Irrigoo Jr. photographed them last week. Unlike most migratory birds that come here to breed, short-tailed shearwaters nest in southern Australia and fly north during winter in the southern hemisphere. Typically, most spend the summer months in the southern Bering Sea, then move north in the fall to feed on krill in the northern Bering and southern Chukchi Seas. Numbers seen vary from year to year, but huge numbers (up to two million estimated on September 20, 2018!) of short-tailed shearwaters may pass by or feed in the plankton-rich waters of the Bering Strait near St Lawrence Island. By November, most shearwaters have departed for their southern breeding grounds.

Photo by Rodney Ungwiluk Jr. CHINESE POND-HERON– Rodney Ungwiluk Jr. came across this remarkable sight in July 2011 while heading to his hunting camp. Rodney said it was especially memorable because his nine-year-old son had just told him he’d be annoyed if they stopped to take pictures on the way to camp. Fortunately, he disappointed his son and got what may be the only photo taken of this rare bird in Gambell, establishing what remains the third Alaskan and North American record of this species. The previous two sightings were on the Pribilofs and Attu Island.There are no regularly occurring herons of any sort in Alaska outside of southeast Alaska, where blue herons are found. The Chinese pond-heron is an Asian species that lives in wetland habitats such as rice paddies, swamps and along stream banks. It is one of the most common herons in Eastern China, but was way out range at Gambell even though it looks at home in St. Lawrence Island’s wetlands. Their normal range comes no closer than northeastern China or southeastern Russia.

Photo by Clarence Irrigoo Jr. ORIENTAL TURTLE-DOVE– In October 2011, Clarence Irrigoo Jr. found this turtle-dove nestled by his house in Gambell. It was a bird unlike any he had ever seen before. He hurried inside for his camera and so began Clarence’s interest in photographing birds. The bird stayed in Gambell for 15 days. There are only six other records of this species in Alaska and a few others in western North America. The Oriental turtle-dove can be found across much of Asia in a wide variety of habitats from boreal to tropical forests, from lowland farmlands to habitats 13,000 feet up in the mountains of Nepal, to cityscapes in Japan. Typically they feed on the ground, eating seeds, grains, vegetable matter and snails.

Photo by Rodney Ungwiluk Jr. SIBERIN ACCENTOR– Rodney Ungwiluk Jr. photographed this beautiful, small songbird in the boneyard in Gambell in late September 2021. The Siberian accentor is one of the more regularly occurring Asian strays at Gambell. Between 1999 and 2018, 37 accentors were recorded, all during the fall. During the breeding season, this species is typically found along the northern limits of treeline across Russia as far east as the Anadyr River drainage. The entire population winters in central and eastern China and Korea. They feed on the ground, eating mainly insects in the summer and seeds and berries in the winter. Much about their life history is still unknown.

Photo by Clarence Irrigoo Jr. RED-BACKED SHRIKE– Clarence Irrigoo Jr. observed and photographed this rarity repeatedly near the village where it remained for 19 days in October 2017. Paul Lehman, a renowned expert on bird distribution, was in Gambell at the time and determined this was the first and only documented record of the species in North America. Like its relative the northern shrike which breeds and sometimes winters in our region, this little shrike is a predatory song bird that hunts insects, voles, shrews and small songbirds. Red-backed shrikes winter in eastern and southern Africa and breed no closer to North America than central Siberia.

Photo by Rodney Ungwiluk Jr. ROSS’S GULLS— Ross’s gulls are a beautiful sight, flitting buoyantly over the waves like dainty pink fairies. This small gull is truly a bird of the high arctic. Most of the population nests in wetland tundra areas along Russia’s arctic coast. They winter along the edge of the pack ice, feeding on marine invertebrates and small fish. Gambell residents report seeing small numbers of Ross’s gulls most years in November and December, often when ice from the Chukchi Sea is running by the point. Rodney Ungwiluk Jr. photographed this small flock of Ross’s gulls in late November 2017 along the shoreline by his camp about five miles southeast of Gambell.

Photo by Clarence Irrigoo Jr. EURASIAN BULLFINCH– This showy, plump finch is normally found across northern regions of Europe and Asia, breeding no closer than southern Chukotka. Strays occasionally show up on St. Lawrence, Nunivak and the Aleutian Islands and the coastal mainland of Alaska. They feed on a variety of seeds, buds, fruits and shoots. In October 2020, Clarence Irrigoo Jr. caught this beautiful male bullfinch feeding on scurvygrass (Cochlearia) in the far boneyard. Only 25 previous sightings of Eurasian bullfinches had been recorded in Alaska prior to 2019, and ten of them were at Gambell.