Utqiagvik (Barrow), Alaska - Part 2 (Oct 9-10, 2025)

Oct 9

Today started like every other day would, with a seawatch at first light. Very windy today, but still the wrong direction. 25mph sustained from the SW. Brief snow squalls moved through regularly. The watch began with a parade of GLAUCOUS GULLS down the beach, westbound. Among them were a few THAYER'S, a HERRING, a couple NELSON'S, and a couple funky ones that might also have been Nelson’s.

Sea ducks were represented by KING and COMMON EIDER and LONG-TAILED DUCKS, per usual. There was another strong westbound YELLOW-BILLED LOON flight, this time 44 birds counted plus a handful of PACIFIC LOONS. SHORT-TAILED SHEARWATERS continued abundantly today, but further offshore this time. Our only RED-NECKED GREBE of the trip flew by. A SNOW BUNTING was briefly seen flitting through the cabins (any passerine here this time of year is good!). An adult JAEGER was well offshore which looked quite good for Parasitic, but it was just far enough to not trust our assessment of central rectrix shape. A tally of 330 BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE was solid, but no pink gulls were spotted. One POLAR BEAR continued from across the lagoon!

Yellow-billed Loon

Black-legged Kittiwake

Black-legged Kittiwake

King Eider

Later in the afternoon we decided to check out the former NARL (Naval Arctic Research Lab) site, which has a history of harboring wayward passerines. Basically the move is to check the [rather limited] vegetation adjacent to the buildings. You also want to check the lee of the buildings themselves, which might provide shelter and warmth for landbirds. The dog cage area is a particularly well-known spot for finding birds.

It didn't take us long to spot a warbler next to a building on stilts that was next to a lagoon. Further investigation revealed two "WESTERN" PALM WARLBERS that were alternating between foraging in the low grasses and underneath the building itself. That's a good bird for Barrow, and all of Alaska for that matter, though it is one of the more expected vagrants at this time of year.

"Western" Palm Warbler

A return to the whale butchering site, where large gulls continued to congregate, provided an interesting first cycle AMERICAN HERRING-type gull with a stark black tail band, invoking thoughts of Vega Gull. The mostly smooth chocolate brown underparts down through the flanks and belly, the rather dark and unpatterned greater coverts, and the bill already paling at the base seem to favor AHGU. The tail band, however, is rather thin and very set off by lots of white in the base of the rects, especially on r6 which is impressively white-based. It goes unidentified for now, but a tail-banded American Herring feels most likely.

At the very least, it gave us something to ponder as our day came to a close.

Oct 10

Today was the first day we felt optimistic about witnessing some Ross's Gull migration. As forecast, there was a major wind shift overnight. After two days of SW, winds at dawn were 20mph out of the NNW. In other words, onshore! We were thinking that some ROGU might be pushed against the shoreline as they migrated eastward.

This morning's flight was very different for sure. Today, most of the loons were coming overland (from the direction of Elson Lagoon). There were actually a bunch of shearwaters in the lagoon itself.

A cloud of Short-tailed Shearwaters over Elson Lagoon

Short-tailed Shearwater

Black-legged Kittiwake

One of the earlier birds of the day was a juv POMARINE JAEGER, also coming from the direction of the lagoon.

Pomarine Jaeger

Dan picked up on a couple small gulls offshore that were approaching us and did not appear kittiwake-like. Yep, our first ROSS'S GULLS! We counted 74 during the 4+ hour vigil. All were eastbound. Most were medium distance offshore, though a flock of 19 gained altitude and flew directly overhead towards the lagoon behind us. Super cool.

overhead Ross's Gulls

Otherwise, highlights included several YELLOW-BILLED LOONS in full alternate plumage, and a movement of 52 PACIFIC LOONS (a few also in alternate). We also had our only few NORTHERN FULMARS of the trip in the distant line of shearwaters.

Yellow-billed Loon

It was back to NARL after lunch, where a "SLATE-COLORED" JUNCO had joined the continuing "WESTERN" PALM WARBLERS.

"Slate-colored" Dark-eyed Junco

continuing "Western" Palm Warbler

One of our goals this week was to get out to the tip of Point Barrow, which could only be done by permit with a local driver. There is a tour operator called 71 North Tours that will take folks out during the warmer months, but they had closed for the season as of Oct 1 this year. Finding someone to take us out there proved a bit of a challenge, but some Facebook sleuthing turned up a young guy named Ben Elavgak who was happy to take our business. If you want to get in touch with Ben, the best way is via Facebook Messenger.

Ben picked us up at the King Eider Inn at 3pm in his very capable pickup truck. He had no issues maneuvering the soft sand out there. We had hopes of closer views of Polar Bear or Ross's Gull, or some rare large gull. With the whale carcass having been moved out there, we knew we stood a chance at seeing scavengers. We did not turn up any more pink gulls, but we did see another POLAR BEAR, again from a distance. This big guy was spooked at the sight of the truck and headed into the water.

Polar Bear

We spent time sorting through the hundreds of GLAUCOUS GULLS out there, but only managed to turn up one adult NELSON'S among them. Still, the sight of these birds covering the carcass seemed a bit surreal. You can't argue with the beauty of the Arctic Ocean at this time of year.

A highlight for us was seeing a few white ARCTIC FOXES at close range. They had eluded me during prior arctic visits.

Arctic Fox

On the drive back to town we skirted the lagoon, checking the eider carefully for Dan's lifer Spectacled. None of those, but we did turn up one THICK-BILLED MURRE.

After having the area mostly to ourselves for a few days, no fewer than three birding groups arrived this afternoon for a brief tour targeting, of course, Ross's Gulls. We all exchanged contact info for sharing of sightings, which would come in quite handy over the weekend!

-NB