Jul
15
Rufous-tailed Rock-Thrush in Utquiagvik; a first for North America and the Western Hemisphere.
On June 14th 2021 at roughly 11:00pm, a Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush was discovered near the borrow pit in Utquiagvik, Alaska by a birder named Knut Hansen.
On June 15th at 2:32am, St. Paul Island lead tour guide Sulli Gibson texted me about this bird.
When I woke up on this fateful morning and saw the message from Sulli, I knew we were on the verge of witnessing history. As timing would have it, 15 of us were scheduled on the flight from Anchorage to Utquiagvik less than 9 hours later. As long as we could get on our regularly scheduled flight from Anchorage to Utquiagvik we would have a good chance of re-finding this beauty.
On June 15th at 2:32am, St. Paul Island lead tour guide Sulli Gibson texted me about this bird.
When I woke up on this fateful morning and saw the message from Sulli, I knew we were on the verge of witnessing history. As timing would have it, 15 of us were scheduled on the flight from Anchorage to Utquiagvik less than 9 hours later. As long as we could get on our regularly scheduled flight from Anchorage to Utquiagvik we would have a good chance of re-finding this beauty.