June 13, 2018. Birding Trip Day 6. Nome.

Today we took the road north into the interior of Alaska where we had another amazing day with mostly great weather. We drove over a snowy mountain range where spring had barely arrived, crossed a major river valley, and drove up onto the next mountain range. Along the way, we saw Musk Ox, Snowshoe Hare, Arctic Ground Squirrel, Northern Shrike, Rusty Blackbird, Siberian Bluethroat, Arctic Warbler, and familiar birds from home like Semipalmated Plover and American Robin.

We spent much of the day hiking in the tundra looking for Bristle-thighed Curlew, but we didn't see any. We did see Whimbrel (including a nest), American Golden Plover, Rock Ptarmigan, and Lapland Longspur (including a nest).

This was a wonderful day hiking in high, arctic tundra that confirmed memories of walking in wet tundra (it is hard) and brought back long-silent memories of my Alaska trip in 1978.

Night in Nome (Aurora Inn).

Trip Map.