Gyrfalcons

 One of our top four targets to see well in the Nome area was Gyrfalcon as it was unlikely we would see it elsewhere. Due to various circumstances, our views on the second day in Nome hadn’t been that good, so it was a priority to head back up the Council road to see the birds again.

Red-necked Stint

Since this route took us past Cape Nome and Safety Sound, we spent a significant amount of time checking the sea, the lagoon and a couple of suitable shorebird spots on the way. We did a bit better for seaducks and saw all thee of the regular scoters, with Black being the commonest, but had no luck with any of the rarer loons or eiders. Along the south shore of Safety Sound, Andy found three Red-necked Stints that posed well for photographs. Further along the lagoon we found a couple of Emperor Geese and while looking at these, I noticed two Pale-bellied Brants, which are very rare in this area. Interestingly they were feeding apart from the nearby Black Brant flock. We were able to get photos to verify the sighting.

Pale-bellied Brant

At the far end of Safety Sound, by the “Last Train to Nowhere”, the Hudsonian Godwit was still present. From there, we proceeded to the Gyrfalcon location, this time parking in a location much closer to the nest, where we could obtain excellent scope views of the female guarding the chicks.

Gyrfalcon at nest

While watching the Gyrfalcon, we had good looks at a pair of Wheatears, our first of the trip and a Say’s Phoebe. At that point, Carol Gates of Roam Nome (a very knowledgeable local bird and wildlife guide who I would consider using on a future trip) arrived with more birders and told us about another falcon nest further along the road. We decided to check this out and possibly head further on to bridge with some boreal forest habitat.

Female (Northern) Wheatear

By the time we reached the area for the second nest, the increasing wind speed put pay to the notion of any birding further along the highway. We spotted the nest, which had three fairly well-grown chicks. No adult was present, so headed a little further along the road to stop for lunch and saw the adult flying high above. After a brief lunch, we drove back along the road slowly towards the nest. The adult was present but immediately flew off, carrying what appeared to be a ground squirrel. We were able to get some brief but very good flight views but the Gyr then remained some distance away. We moved on to allow her to feed her young in peace.

Rock Ptarmigan

One species we had yet to see was Rock Ptarmigan. As the road passed through some alpine tundra habitat, we kept a sharp eye open and were eventually rewarded with a basic-plumaged bird right by the roadside, which gave excellent looks and photographic opportunities. A final stop by the first Gyrfalcon site revealing both members of the pair flying above the nesting area for prolonged good flight looks.

Gyrfalcon