 |
Wilderness Birding Adventures 2008 |
1-907-694-7442
Site Map
|
1-907-694-7442 |
|||
|
Alaska Birding and Wildlife Adventures Since 1986 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Why WBA
|
GAMBELL I GAMBELL II If you are a birder, you’ve probably heard about the magnificent birding at Gambell on St. Lawrence Island. A spring visit to this Alaska birding hotspot is a must for any birder working on their North American list. Gambell, in the middle of the Bering Sea, is a nesting habitat for many difficult-to-see alcids and other specialties, a great perch to conduct a sea-watch as the northern migration in the Bering Sea passes close-by, and is a famous stopover (migrant trap) for Siberian migrants blown off course. We travel as a small group to maximize our birding agility in this great birding hotspot. Birding at St. Lawrence Island is a unique experience, from the birds to the location (you can see Siberia on a clear day) to the Siberian Y’upik Eskimo people who have made their living from the Bering Sea for thousands of years. We stay in the home of a village family whose stories and hospitality have always been a highlight for our groups. We generally start each day at the "sea watch" where huge numbers of birds stream by: Least, Crested & Parakeet Auklets, Horned & Tufted Puffins, Common & Thick-billed Murres, Pigeon & Black Guillemots, Dovekie, King, Common, Steller’s & maybe Spectacled Eiders, Arctic, Pacific, Red-throated & Yellow-billed Loons, Red & Red-necked Phalaropes, Pomarine, Parasitic & Long-tailed Jaegers, Northern Fulmars and Black-legged Kittiwakes...to name just some! The rest of the day is spent combing the boneyards, boatyard, marshes and ponds for passerines, shorebirds and whatever else drops in. On any given day, we may hike around the lake, visit the rookeries for close-up looks at auklets or hike up the mountain. All birding is on foot in Gambell’s famous pea gravel. We walk a lot and your enjoyment of this amazing place will be augmented by your readiness to pound the pea gravel for big birding rewards. Gambell is renowned for birding rarities. In addition to the birds mentioned, we may see Emperor Goose, Ivory Gull, Ross’ Gull, Common Ringed Plover, various Stints, Ruff, Common Cuckoo, Brambling, Bluethroat, Red-throated Pipit, Yellow & White Wagtails, McKay’s Bunting, and more. Note: On Gambell II, the optional use of ATV assistance will be available at additional cost. Note: All meals are included in Gambell and are home-cooked. GAMBELL I & II Combined Do you want a longer Gambell trip? You never know what may drop in from Siberia, or when. Vagrants are more weather-driven than calendar-driven. Combining Gambell I and Gambell II increases your odds of seeing the spring migration’s exciting highlights. Note: All meals are included in Gambell and are home-cooked. Spring Gambell Combination Packages:
Combine Gambell I and Nome I or combine Gambell II and Nome II in one trip! If you are a birder, you’ve probably heard about the magnificent birding at both Gambell on St. Lawrence Island and Nome on the Seward Peninsula. A spring visit to these two Alaska birding hotspots is a must for any birder working on their North American list. Gambell, in the middle of the Bering Sea, is a nesting habitat for many difficult-to-see alcids and other specialties, a great perch to conduct a sea-watch as the northern migration in the Bering Sea passes close-by, and is a famous stopover (migrant trap) for Siberian migrants blown off course. Nome, along the western shore of Alaska just south of the Arctic Circle, also gets many off-course migrants rare to North America and is perfectly situated to bird the nice variety of breeding resident birds of far northern Alaska. We travel as a small group to maximize our birding agility in these great birding spots. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Gambell III - Fall Alaska Hotspot Birding Tour This trip is for the hardcore birder. You’ve probably heard about the magnificent birding at Gambell, Alaska on St Lawrence Island. Gambell during the fall migration has become famous in recent years as a source for new North American first records as well as for great sightings in general of Asiatic birds which rarely get to North America. Birding Gambell in the fall is different than the spring. Although still impressive, the “sea watch” has many fewer alcids, many of the residents are gone, so there are fewer birds. We are much more at the mercy of the weather to produce birds, but the rewards are great. The excitement of birding Gambell in the fall is the unknown of what could fall out. If a first North American record drops from the sky, the only way to see it is to be there. In 2007 the highlights from our fall Gambell trip (and an additional week spent on Gambell by our guides) included: Gray-tailed Tattler, Lesser Sand-Plover, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Red-throated Pipit, White Wagtail, Dusky and Willow Warblers (two of each!), Siberian Accentor, Common Rosefinch, and Little Bunting. Previous WBA trips have turned up: Middendorf’s Grasshopper-Warbler, Pechora Pipit and Stonechat. Some of the “megas” that have been found over the years at Gambell in the fall include: Lesser Whitethroat, Yellow-Browed Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Tree Pipit, Eurasian Wryneck, Red-Breasted Flycatcher, Spotted Flycatcher, Yellow-browed Warbler, and Yellow-browed Bunting. We travel as a small group to maximize our birding agility in this great birding hotspot. We generally spend each day at the sea watch, combing the boneyards, boatyard, marshes and ponds for passerines, shorebirds and whatever else drops in. On any given day, we may hike around the lake. All birding is on foot in Gambell’s famous pea gravel. We walk a lot and your enjoyment of this amazing place will be augmented by your readiness to pound the pea gravel for big birding rewards. Birding at St. Lawrence Island is a unique experience, from the birds to the location (you can see Siberia on a clear day) to the Siberian Y’upik Eskimo people who have made their living from the Bering Sea for thousands of years. We stay in the home of a village family whose stories and hospitality have always been a highlight for our groups. If you think you'd like birding on the edge, this is the trip for you. Gambell, in the middle of the Bering Sea, is habitat for many difficult-to-see alcids and other specialties, a great perch to conduct a sea-watch as the migration in the Bering Sea passes close-by, and is a famous stopover (migrant trap) for Siberian migrants blown off course. Note: All meals are included in Gambell and are home-cooked.
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
BIRDING FOCUSED
WILDERNESS WILDLIFE & BIRDING
INTERNATIONAL
Birding Focused
