Sandy-bellied Shuttercli

I just returned from a fantastic birding expedition to Nome. I must say that I am a horseman and a birder who sometimes takes pictures with a Sony Point and Shoot. I’m not a photographer, so I hope you don’t mind that I am piggybacking on my husband Dennis’s gallery.

Nate Chapell’s Trogon Tours gave me the opportunity to see the incredible, jaw dropping landscape of the Alaskan tundra.  While there I bagged dozens of species, to include many life list birds. These included Bluethroats, Long Tailed Jaegers, and Arctic Warblers.  Nome was filled with an irruption of an unusual species, one that I was informed by the incomparable Charlie Van Tassel is called the Sandy-Bellied Shutterclicker.

Here are three of them, intently watching a herd of musk ox on Anvil Mountain, Nome, AK.

If you’ve never encountered this species, they are easily identified. They can be found just about anywhere there is wildlife. They are usually seen carrying ‘big glass’.  Their plumage is usually some sort of camouflage. Their contact call is ‘itsrightthere!” and their song is a machine gun fast ‘clickclickclickclickclickclick’.