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INSTITUTE FOR FIELD ORNITHOLOGY

2005 IFO Arctic Breeding Bird Ecology Report

Instructors: Wayne R. Petersen and Paul J. Baicich . 21-28 June 2005 . Nome, Alaska

Paul Baicich and Wayne Petersen Digiscoping. Photo by Peter Bente.

Once again the experienced team of Wayne Petersen and Paul Baicich teamed up to host what proved to be another highly successful week in Nome, Alaska, studying Arctic Breeding Bird Ecology. From Red-necked Stints to Bluethroats, the wonders of Beringia once again managed to keep an enthusiastic group of 12 participants enthralled (if not awake) for as many hours as people were willing to keep birding. With daylight nearly 24-hours a day, the challenge is always knowing when to stop birding, not when to start!

With much appreciated cooperation from the University of Alaska Fairbanks Northwest Campus (at Nome), indoor lecture sessions were comfortable and well equipped for both the power point and slide presentations that offered the reinforcement and background necessary for a workshop dealing with breeding bird ecology. In addition Peter Bente, biologist with the Alaska Fish & Game Department, provided invaluable expertise and fine fellowship throughout the week. Since the inception of the IFO workshop held in Alaska four years ago, Peter has been a stalwart in helping to make the workshop a success, both by sharing his extensive knowledge of local wildlife, but also by his service as a lecturer and field companion on several days during the workshop. Many thanks, Peter!

2005 Nome Group. Photo by Peter Bente.

This year the group hailed from Alaska, California, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Oregon, once again providing an enjoyable cross-section of geographical perspective combined with varying degrees of birding experience. Particularly appreciated this year was the participation of Josie Stiles, a Nome resident who heads up the Nome Visitor's Center and who is active in promoting birding in the Nome area. Hopefully the perspectives gained through her participation in the IFO workshop will prove useful to Josie as she continues to work with the local community to make Nome an increasingly birder-friendly destination.

Throughout the week the instructors offered a mix of indoor lectures and extensive field experience. Lecture topics included an introductory presentation on Wild Alaska, followed by more specific topics on North American Breeding Bird Biology, the Natural History of Shorebirds, Seward Peninsula Birdsong (including general information on birdsong and accompanying sound recordings), the Biogeography of the Seward Peninsula, and special presentations on the Caribou and Muskox of the Seward Peninsula (by Peter Bente) and ABA's Birders' Exchange program (by Betty Petersen). Collectively these topics covered many of the themes that were observed and reinforced on the daily field trips. Besides concentrating on the themes listed above, field time was spent pointing out and describing some of the many arctic wildflower and butterfly species that seemed especially prolific this year.

Long-tailed Jaeger. Photo by David Weaver.

In addition to the regular lecture and field trip schedule, interested participants also had the opportunity to take part in a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) as an example of one of the most important ways of monitoring North American breeding birds. Even though it meant getting up at 3 AM in order to be at the start location at 4:05 AM, those who participated agreed that it was worth it in order to record such goodies on a BBS route as Tundra Swan, Willow Ptarmigan, Rough-legged Hawk (at a nest), American Golden-Plover, Long-tailed Jaeger, Arctic Warbler, Bluethroat, Northern Wheatear, Yellow Wagtail, and Hoary Redpoll. In addition to contributing to this valuable breeding bird monitoring project, the BBS group also recorded 13 Muskox, 2 Moose, and a Grizzly Bear!

As the week unfolded, all three of the primary roads leading out of Nome were systematically investigated. The Teller Road, especially, gave everyone a chance to practice their birdsong learning skills, in addition to allowing access to the coastal plain shorebird nursery at Woolley Lagoon. At one of the more important study sites that led to the split of Lesser Golden-Plover into Pacific Golden-Plover and American Golden-Plover, the group had a chance to carefully compare Pluvialis plovers, in addition to finding handsome examples of Bar-tailed Godwit, Ruddy Turnstone, Dunlin, and Western Sandpiper. Also, the opportunity to closely compare the differences between Parasitic and Long-tailed Jaeger was better here than practically anywhere else during the workshop. A final highlight here was an assembled herd of approximately 1000 Reindeer, the largest single gathering that either of the workshop leaders had ever encountered.

Red-necked Stint. Photo by David Weaver.

The 70 mile-long Council Road leading to tree line and the village of Council was covered in entirety, or in part, on several occasions. In the vicinity of Safety Sound and the famous Safety Sound bridge, the group was stunned to find a tight group of ten (and possibly as many as 13) Red-necked Stints together with a small group of Dunlins. Although a rare breeder on the Seward Peninsula, a flock of stints this size undoubtedly approaches the largest single gathering of this Siberian species ever seen in North America. At least one individual was well photographed (see accompanying image), and several other stints during the work were conservatively thought to be part of this aggregation. Elsewhere along the Council Road the group had ample chance to study the many and various gull plumages typical of Nome in June, including at least one second-year Slaty-backed Gull and several Herring Gulls of the Siberian (vegae) race. Unfortunately one of the traditional Aleutian Tern colonies along this road had been at least temporarily displaced by over wash from a large ocean storm in October of 2004. In the boreal forest at treeline near Council the group successfully added Boreal Chickadee, Gray Jay, and Blackpoll Warbler to the trip list, in addition to a Northern Shrike on its way to a nest that was carrying a vole in its feet.

Scanning for curlews. Photo by Peter Bente.

Travel along the 80 mile-long Kougarok Road produced a number of birding thrills, most notable the chance to see a pair of Bristle-thighed Curlews at close range. Breeding exclusively in western Alaska and with a population of approximately 10,000 individuals, this regional specialty was justifiably one of the target species most wanted by several members of the group. Besides the curlews and spectacular scenery, the Kougarok Road provided nice studies of Gyrfalcons at a cliff, Bluethroats on territory, and a good variety of waterfowl and shorebird broods. This 75-mile journey into the Seward Peninsula's interior has to be one of the most beautiful stretches of road in North America.

Raptors are always a feature in remote areas of Alaska, and the IFO experience this year was no exception. Nests observed included those of Rough-legged Hawk (3), Golden Eagle (2), Gyrfalcon (3), and Peregrine Falcon, in addition to sightings of Northern Harrier, Merlin, and Short-eared Owl. Peter Bente confirmed for us that the robust brood sizes of several species (e.g., Rough-legged Hawk) this year indicated local vole populations were higher than usual. Besides the various hawk and owl species, Common Ravens were conspicuous and entertaining, especially the young seen in several of the nests observed.

Kamchatka Rhododendron. Photo by Peter Bente.

If raptors were conspicuous, equally so were the songs of tundra passerines and thicket nesting species. Lapland Longspurs were actively displaying in many areas along the coast, while background noise in the willow thickets regularly contained the refrains of Arctic Warbler, Gray-cheeked Thrush, Orange-crowned Warbler, Northern Waterthrush, Wilson's Warbler, American Tree Sparrow, Fox Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Golden-crowned Sparrow, and Common Redpoll. Most notable among the recorded passerine species was a singing Lincoln's Sparrow located near the Snake River on the Teller Road. This species is a rare nester anywhere on the Seward Peninsula, and could have represented a first record for Nome.

As the workshop wound down over a delicious and specially prepared Alaskan King Crab farewell dinner at Josie Stiles' home, participants were unanimous in agreeing that, "There's no place like Nome!"

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ABA Institute for Field Ornithology, ABA
4945 N 30th St, Suite 200, Colorado Springs, CO 80919
719/578-9703 x235 . fax 719/578-1480 . ifo@aba.org

With thanks to the NorthWest Campus for the University of Alaska at Fairbanks for their cooperation.