June 12, 2018. Birding Trip Day 5. Nome.

On our second day in Nome, we took the road east along the coast. Much of this area is sandy barrier islands with open Arctic Ocean to the south and enormous tidal marshes fed by rivers and backed by high, snowy mountains to the north. Except for the mountains, this is much like the Cape Hatteras seashore area.

The shoreline and marshes held shorebirds, gulls, loons, waterfowl, and Arctic Terns. We saw Bar-tailed Godwit, Long-tailed Ducks, Eastern Yellow Wagtail, and even Arctic Ground Squirrels! We stopped for a picnic lunch where Sandhill Cranes lunched nearby.

The end of the road turns north into a broad river valley with rolling hills leading to higher mountains. Here, along a willow-lined river, we found a Gyrfalcon on a nest, and did we ever get the evil-eye. We also saw a pair of Willow Ptarmigans defending their nest from an Arctic Fox. We stopped to watch, and our presence seemed to convince the fox to move on. We were happy to help save the nest -- at least for today.

Night in Nome (Aurora Inn).

Trip Map.