The next morning Kevin had breakfast set out (cereal, juice, fruit, pastries, coffee, and cook-your-own toast; great stuff as far as I was concerned!), and afterwards we headed back out to The Point for seawatching. It was great! Right away we had Ancient Murrelets up close (rather unusual here, Kevin said), as well as Crested, Parakeet, and Least Auklet! We had great comparative views of both murres, and finally a Horned Puffin joined the Tufteds! A small flock of Steller's Eiders flew by close, which was great, especially in light of the fact that they were all but absent from Barrow this year, a scary sign. Kings flew by further out, as well as more White-winged Scoters. Yellow-billed Loons flew by way out there, but finally one flew overhead that I happened to catch as Kevin was starting one of his stories! (Even the far-off ones are no-brainers, as they're the only big, bulky loon with big, paddle-like feet trailing behind that's going to show up here...) My stool came in handy, although it would sink about halfway into the gravel when I sat on it, so I wound up with my legs stretched out in front of me! It came in handy for some of the other folks, too (this is rough walking), as we would spend several hours at a time seawatching (but the time just flew!). Kevin had to get back to start lunch, so I started back shortly after; some of the guys stayed behind, and before long I heard Walter shouting as he pointed out another Yellow-billed Loon flying overhead!
Ancient Murrelets
Somewhere in there I took a shower, during which a White Wagtail showed up; Jean told me about it on the fly, I thanked her, and continued to leisurely get dressed! When I waltzed into the dining area where Kevin was preparing lunch he nearly panicked thinking I didn't hear about the wagtail, but I assured him I had--I was just too beat to bother (besides having just seen tons of them in Scandinavia)! When the others finally came back we had a wonderful lunch, and during mealtimes the locals would routinely come in and spread out their wares for us to peruse: delicate little ivory carvings of various birds and animals, with baleen used for eyes and whatever else was black in coloration (some items were painted, however). They were costly (no item was under 40 bucks), but Kevin warned us that this was the place to get them, because once they got to Nome the price was jacked up, and then at Anchorage they were jacked up even more! The trouble was that I didn't have enough cash with me; I ended up borrowing money from Ray to get the two pieces I did get (and one of them I bargained down to $35), and I would have loved to have gotten their Yellow-billed Loon, even if it was over 100 bucks! That's definitely a recommendation I gave to VENT: tell the Gambell participants to bring lots of cash!!!
After lunch we went through the checklist and then headed out to the Far Boneyard and the marsh, where we had a Western Sandpiper and a Semipalmated Plover. We did quite a bit of sloshing through the gravel, and at one point Marshall kicked up a Brambling that didn't stay put, and a Wheatear and Bluethroat were also found (there were at least two other birding groups there as well: High Lonesome and a group from Minnesota led by a guy named Kim, whose last name I unfortunately forgot), but we couldn't find them, either. Walter thought he may have had a Common Ringed Plover up on the side of the hill, so a bunch of us trudged up there (at least it was more solid ground), but we were careful not to go too far up because that was their graveyard; not only did we want to be respectful of their burial sites, but because they really couldn't bury anyone very deep, the remains would often pop up and expose themselves! The bird flew and called, which clinched it as a Semipal, but since we were up there, Ray, Ruth, and I just sat and watched Marshall and the rest of the crew scour the Circular Boneyard from on high. I was really beat and had already decided that I was through with Boneyard Birding (the areas are so treacherous that you have to carefully watch your footing, meaning I'd probably scare off a rarity before even seeing it!), and knowing I'd never make the long walk back to the inn, the Covills, Alice, and I decided to ride back, so Marshall radioed back to the inn to send an ATV for us. The High Lonesome group (I think it was) rented their own ATVs for getting around in, and I swore that's what I'd do if I ever went to Gambell again; VENT discourages their use only for liability reasons, but many of us gave in and hitched a ride at one point (the joke was that all you had to do was wave a five dollar bill and someone would see it and come roaring in)! I was very tempted to take my friend Therese Clawson's advice and stick to The Point from then on; at least I could manage that far!
We tromp out to the Far Boneyard and The Marsh, a good two-mile hike through "the stuff"!
Walter thinks he has a Common Ringed Plover up on the (Turns out to be just a Semipal, so Phil pokes
hill, so we investigate around on his own...)
Alice and Ray take a breather after that climb, while Marshall leads the hardy ones around the Circular Boneyard looking for more vagrants
No luck, so we regroup to head back (L-R: Walter, Grace, Merrill, Ruth, Dorothy, and Marshall)
Kevin made us a wonderful dinner, at the end of which a report of a Red-throated Pipit came in and the place emptied, but I took five steps in that stuff and changed my mind! In fact, I was so shot I told Kevin I was gonna call it a night (he agreed that was probably wise; he said that it's not uncommon for people to knock themselves out the first day on Gambell, especially with the "white nights"). One of the participants (probably Ruth, I think) offered an ATV ride but I was already in my PJs, and later I got aroused out of a dead sleep by Marshall who needed an outside key (must have lost his). When I asked how the seawatching was going, there was a report of Dovekie, but I said, "Oh, well! That's the risk you take!" (Gambell was the only chance at that particular bird...)
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