In June 2018, Bill Gette led a natural history travel program to Saint Paul Island in the remote Pribilof Islands. The Pribilofs are located 760 miles west of Anchorage, Alaska, in the Bering Sea, north of the Aleutian Islands chain. Just getting to Saint Paul can often be a challenge due to a limited flight schedule and frequent bad weather. Once there, however, Saint Paul is a wonderland for naturalists. During his presentation, Bill will take you to the sea cliffs at Ridge Wall and High Buffs. These precipitous rock faces are the perfect nesting places for a variety of seabirds, including Common Murre, Thick-billed Murre, Least Auklet, Parakeet Auklet, Tufted Puffin, Horned Puffin, and Northern Fulmar. Bill will also show you Red-faced Cormorant and Red-legged Kittiwake. Red-legged Kittiwake, a small gull, is one of the most difficult birds to see in North America. They nest on the Pribilof Islands and at a few sites in the Aleutians and winter at sea close to their breeding colonies.

Bill will take you for a walk across the tundra to see a wide variety of wildflowers, including the ubiquitous Nootka Lupine, Whorled Lousewort, Weasel Snout, Arctic Poppy, and Chocolate Lily. Birds typical of the tundra include Snow Bunting, Lapland Longspur, Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch, and Rock Sandpiper. Bill will conclude his talk with a visit to Saints Peter and Paul Russian Orthodox Church, a distinctive landmark on Saint Paul. The church contains beautiful religious art and relics of both saints.

Please register for this meeting and you'll receive the zoom link in the confirmation and reminder emails - make sure to check your spam folder for them! Contact us at caryprograms@minlib.net with any questions.

This program is made possible by the generous donors to the Cary Library Foundation.