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Articles

Vol. 49 No. 2 (2018)

RIVER WARBLER (LOCUSTELLA FLUVIATILIS) AT GAMBELL, ALASKA: FIRST RECORD FOR NORTH AMERICA

DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21199/WB49.2.4
Submitted
September 17, 2025
Published
April 1, 2018

Abstract

 During the late afternoon on 7 October 2017 at Gambell, St. Lawrence Island, Alaska, local residents and bird photographers Sue Bryer and Clarence Irrigoo Jr., as well as visiting birder Ebbe Banstorp, were in the village’s “near boneyard.” The several boneyards at Gambell are midden sites that support a relatively lush growth of two species of Artemisia (wormwood), which provides food and cover for migrating landbirds. At the east end of the near boneyard, Bryer flshed a small passerine, which she was able to photograph only in flght. Shortly thereafter, visiting birder Monte M. Taylor also obtained brief views of the bird in flght. Upon reviewing Bryer’s photographs, Taylor saw enough detail to radio me that I should quickly come over to see a bird resembling a Blyth’s Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus dumetorum), an Asian species previously documented at Gambell twice in fall (Lehman and Ake 2011).

References