Known as one of the premier North American birding hotspots during the fall season, birders travel to Gambell hoping that favorable winds will blow wayward Asiatics onto their life lists. Fall migration is more protracted than spring migration, and overall bird numbers are lower, but several species that are difficult on our spring tours, including Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Gray-tailed Tattler, and Red-throated Pipit, are regular migrants in the fall. Arctic Warbler, Bluethroat, and White and Eastern Yellow Wagtails are also regular, and with persistence at the seawatch, we have good chances of seeing all of the eiders, Arctic Loon, Emperor Goose, local breeding alcids, and Slaty-backed Gull. The most exciting draw to birding Gambell in the fall, however, is the potential for some Asian vagrants, including a long list of Old World passerines.
Highlights from our previous fall tours include Baikal Teal, Black-headed Gull, Lesser Sand-Plover, Common Sandpiper, Brown Shrike, Eurasian Wryneck, Middendorff’s Grasshopper-Warbler, Pallas’s Grasshopper-Warbler, Blyth’s Reed Warbler, Willow Warbler, Dusky Warbler, Stonechat, Siberian Accentor, Pechora Pipit, Little Bunting, Pallas’s Bunting, Rustic Bunting, Yellow-browed Bunting, Common Rosefinch and Brambling.
Our Approach to Birding Gambell
Depending on the tour, we either stay in rented houses or in the community “lodge.” In both cases, the accommodations are basic but quite comfortable. The houses we rent are typically three or four-bedroom houses with one bathroom each, a kitchen, and a living room area. Both houses are sparsely furnished, with some of the rooms set up with beds and some set up with cots. If we use the lodge, there are up to 15 rooms with two twin beds each and shared bathrooms down the hall. There is a large kitchen, dining area, and lounge. When using the lodge we are often sharing the facilities with other birding groups.
We bring all of our food with us to the island and prepare all meals at our accommodations. Single accommodations may not be available on this tour. Gambell residents voted many years ago to make alcohol illegal in town. No visitor is exempt, and we absolutely comply with this law.
This tour involves a lot of walking. However, in 2010, Gambell built a road system, vastly improving the walking conditions around the village, and the harrowing tales of walking miles through the famous Gambell pea gravel are now longer part of the Gambell experience. We also use our custom-designed birding “bus” that we tow behind an ATV. The bus has the ability to carry six to eight birders comfortably and safely. We have found the bus to be the best way to travel between birding habitats quickly and safely.
Birding at Gambell is a unique experience, from the incredible birds to the location (you can see Siberia on a clear day) to the Siberian Yup’ik people who have made their living from the Bering Sea for thousands of years on this spot. It is truly unlike any other birding experience in North America.
The trip price includes: all flights from Anchorage to Gambell and back; lodging in Gambell in shared accommodations at a rented home or the community lodge; all meals in Gambell; WBA guides; permits. The trip begins and ends at the Anchorage airport. You are responsible for your Anchorage lodging, meals and other Anchorage arrangements. Single occupancy may not be available on our Gambell trips.
