Today was an amazing day! We finished setting up most of the field station and arranging our items. We watched a few orientation videos and
did a lot of birding! There is a really serious birder here on our crew, so it is nice to rip around Barrow. I was extremely surprised at the birds
we found today. It started off with 2 Red-necked Stints RIGHT off the road. One is a little more drab than the other. Here is a picture of the brighter one.

There was another shorebird in with these two Red-necked Stints, and I feel comfortable with my ID, but am consulting a few experts who have actually seen the species before making the announcement, so sit tight on that one.

I saw the Varied Thrush again in the same place as yesterday, but there was also another surprise in the area. A Yellow Wagtail! I was not expecting to see one in Barrow, as I hear they are pretty rare here. There is also a White-crowned Sparrow singing outside our station.
My friend Drew and I went out again tonight because he has to do Gull counts every other day (of course, I'll be there too!). We saw some British
birders and gave them a lift to the Stints. Out on the tundra, we saw Pomarine Jaegers, including a dark morph adult. Other species were Brant,
Northern Pintail, American Wigeon, many Red Phalaropes right off the road, our first Long-billed Dowitchers, and a few Dunlin. White-rumped and Baird's Sandpipers continue to be seen. We haven't actually done any work out on the tundra yet. We get to do snow surveys on the tundra tomorrow, so I expect to see some new birds soon.

The weather continues to be very cold, especially with the strong winds. It should start warming up soon, and the ocean will start rapidly thawing.
Then its time for sea-watching!

Back to Barrow, Alaska!     Home