Arctic Dispatch: Sandpipers Sing at Teshekpuk Lake

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Arctic Dispatch: Sandpipers Sing At Teshekpuk Lake
Written by Gerrit Vyn

Ariana Remmel: This is BirdNote.

In the summer of 2026, conservation photographer Gerrit Vyn visited a remote wilderness called the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska. He shared this audio postcard from Teshekpuk Lake.

Gerrit Vyn:

I'm sitting here in the middle of June on an Arctic night in Alaska. The sun is low, it's close to midnight, and the shorebirds have taken flight.

         [Black-bellied Plover calls]

The highly productive and vast pristine wetlands around Teshekpuk Lake host some of the highest densities of breeding shorebirds in the circumpolar Arctic. The fact that these birds come here year after year from around the world is a testament to how special these lands are. And the soundscape here is like nothing on Earth.

         [Sound break, featuring shorebirds and Lapland Longspur song]

In these vast open landscapes, getting in the air is key to being heard. Display flights are the norm — and these birds are announcing their territories and looking for mates.

Right now around me, I have three that are especially prevalent: the Dunlin, Semipalmated Sandpiper, and Pectoral Sandpiper.

         [Dunlin]

This beautiful little russet and black and white Dunlin that is flying by issues a harsh ringing scream as it returns to earth from its display flight.

         [Dunlin]

This tiny Semipalmated Sandpiper, the size of a sparrow, is highly territorial and spends many hours every day over its territory hovering and cruising and issuing this call we call the motorboat call.

         [Semipalmated Sandpiper]

Even more spectacular, the male Pectoral Sandpiper. This sandpiper inflates a large air sac on its chest, launches out over the tundra, and in a low, buoyant flight issues a long series of hooting calls over areas frequented by females.

         [Pectoral Sandpiper]

These three little sandpipers have come a long way to sing in this special place. The Dunlin here have come from coastal Asia, from Japan, China, and Korea. This little Semipalmated Sandpiper has likely flown all the way from northeastern South America. And the Pectoral Sandpiper flies here every year from the pampas of Argentina and Uruguay. And these are just three of about 25 species of shorebirds that nest in the wetlands, tundra, and foothills of America's Arctic.

         [Long-tailed Ducks]

When you experience a night like this, you realize you're in one of the most special places on Earth, where birds congregate from all over the world. This is the most important part of the yearly cycle for these birds. For many, the most important summer of their lifetime — when they find a mate and reproduce. And many of them will come here year after year after year.

It's hard to imagine that a place like this so far north could be so important to bird life. But this eruption of bird song every year in June is proof of just that.

         [Arctic soundscape]

I’m Gerrit Vyn for BirdNote.

Ariana Remmel: Hear more soundscapes from Gerrit Vyn’s expedition on our website, BirdNote.org. I’m Ariana Remmel.

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Senior Producer: Mark Bramhill
Producer: Sam Johnson
Managing Producer: Jazzi Johnson
Managing Producer: Ariana Remmel
Content Director: Jonese Franklin

Bird sounds provided and recorded by Gerrit Vyn.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2026 BirdNote September 2026
Narrator: Gerrit Vyn & Ariana Remmel

ID# VynG-03-2026-09-10        VynG-03