Grand Alaska: Nome & Gambell

Few places in North America offer the exhilarating blend of Bering Sea specialties, Eurasian vagrants, breeding shorebirds, and dramatic wilderness that define Nome and Gambell. With late May and early June bringing peak migration and the start of the Arctic breeding season, this tour positions participants at two of the most productive vantage points for Asian strays and northern breeders.

We begin with three-and-a-half days in Nome, where the landscapes of the Seward Peninsula—tundra valleys, alpine ridges, coastal lagoons, and scattered boreal thickets—host an exceptional array of birds. Council, Kougarok, and Teller Roads allow access to rich habitats where Rock and Willow ptarmigan forage near the roadsides, Aleutian Terns feed along Safety Lagoon, and Bar-tailed Godwits and Pacific Golden-Plovers defend breeding territories. Bluethroats skylark against snowy hillsides, Eastern Yellow Wagtails hover over tundra hummocks, and Gyrfalcons range across the higher ridges. Our visit coincides with prime timing for Emperor Goose, Sabine’s Gull, Red Phalarope, Black Turnstone, Rock Sandpiper, and other migrants that surge through the region. Asiatic vagrants—such as Siberian Sand-Plover, Great Knot, Wood Sandpiper, and Gray-tailed Tattler—have been recorded frequently at this season. Mammals add to the excitement, with Muskox, Moose, and Grizzly Bear regularly encountered.

Gambell, perched on St. Lawrence Island at the edge of the Bering Sea, offers one of the world’s great seawatching sites. Tens of thousands of murres, puffins, auklets, and kittiwakes stream past daily, joined by loons, eiders, and migrating waterfowl. This is also a legendary hotspot for Siberian vagrants—species such as Stonechat, Taiga Flycatcher, Siberian Rubythroat, Dusky Thrush, Eurasian Bullfinch, and many more have appeared here. With simple but comfortable accommodations and access to an improved network of gravel roads, Gambell provides exceptional opportunities for both rarity hunting and breathtaking seabird spectacle.

The Nome and Gambell regions encompass a mosaic of Arctic tundra, alpine ridges, coastal lagoons, and scattered boreal outliers that together form one of Alaska’s richest ecological crossroads. Tundra plateaus support Rock and Willow ptarmigan, displaying shorebirds, breeding Bluethroat, and Northern Wheatear. Coastal wetlands such as Safety Lagoon host Brant, loons, Aleutian and Arctic terns, and vast concentrations of migrating shorebirds. Boreal thickets along rivers and foothills harbor Arctic Warbler, Northern Shrike, Gray-cheeked Thrush, and redpolls. At Gambell, the Bering Sea edge delivers continuous movements of auklets, puffins, murres, and eiders, with frequent appearances of Eurasian vagrants. Large mammals—including Muskox, Brown Bear, and Moose—add to the wild, frontier character of this remarkable region.