Arrive in Anadyr and transfer to the ship. Be on deck as you depart as there is some great habitat with the possibility of Sabine’s gull and Aleutian tern.

The Gulf of Anadyr should be an ideal opportunity to look for an interesting selection of seabirds. Key species could include short-tailed shearwater, red-throated and Pacific divers, common eider, long-tailed and harlequin ducks, northern fulmar, Arctic, long-tailed and pomarine skuas, glaucous-winged and Vega gulls, and with a bit of luck Kittlitz’s and ancient murrelets and fork-tailed storm-petrel.

Penkigeny Fiord is renowned for its rich flora and as a result, is a great place to look for passerines including bluethroat, grey-cheeked thrush, common and Arctic redpolls, red-throated and buff-bellied pipit, Siberian rubythroat and Lapland and snow buntings. Out on the tundra, search for peregrine falcon, Pacific golden plover, red-necked stint, Baird’s sandpiper, grey-tailed tattler, and sandhill crane. A number of vagrants from Alaska have also been recorded here including savannah, fox and American tree sparrows. At Getlyanen Lagoon have an opportunity to land and explore the habitat where there is potentially some great birding (see species list from Mechigmen Spit, Day 8, as these two locations are close together and have similar habitats).

Ratmanova is strategically important to Russia and there has been a Border Guard base here for many years and, as a result, landings are not permitted, so very little is known about the island’s fauna. What is known comes from several coastal Zodiac cruises (which are generally allowed) and the island has some of the largest seabird colonies in Chukotka with good numbers of tufted and horned puffins, common and Brunnich’s guillemots, as well as crested, parakeet, and least auklets.

This lagoon is typical of much of the northern coast of Chukotka and is renowned for the abundance of birdlife. It is, for example, one of the few places in the Palearctic where both western and least sandpipers have been recorded breeding and there are reports of American golden plover and semipalmated plover nesting here too. Both black turnstone and hermit thrush have also been seen, with these being the only Russian records of both these species. Neskan Lagoon is likely to be your best opportunity to find the critically endangered spoon-billed sandpiper. Six pairs were recorded breeding here in 2002 but since then no ornithologists have visited, so nobody knows if they are still present.

The habitat on Belyaka Spit is not dissimilar to Neskan Lagoon, but this site is much better known as Russian Ornithologists have worked here on a regular basis. Species which have been recorded include rock sandpiper, Temminck’s stint, red-necked stint, pectoral sandpiper, dunlin, ruddy turnstone, common ringed plover, red-necked phalarope, red (or grey) phalarope, western sandpiper, long-billed dowitcher, emperor goose, common eider, long-tailed duck, tundra swan, white-billed (or yellow-billed) diver, red-throated diver, and Pacific diver. There are non-breeding records of a number of other species including king eider, Steller’s eider, white-fronted goose, red-breasted merganser, northern pintail, northern shoveler, and Brent goose.

On the bird cliffs at the western end of the island it is possible to get magnificent views and photographs of puffins (both species), guillemots, kittiwakes and pelagic cormorants as they come and go from their nests. The beauty of this site is that you are on the same level as many of the birds.

There is some good birding around this area and on a previous visit in 2013, the species found included white-billed, black-throated, Pacific and red-throated divers, tundra and trumpeter swans, white-fronted, Brent and emperor geese, pintail, Eurasian wigeon, greater scaup, common, king and spectacled eiders, harlequin duck, long-tailed duck, white-winged scoter, goosander, red-breasted merganser, common ringed plover, Pacific golden plover, grey plover, dunlin, red knot, rock sandpiper, red-necked stint, western sandpiper, Temminck’s stint, ruddy turnstone, red-necked phalarope, Arctic and long-tailed skuas, glaucous and Vega gulls, Arctic tern, Kittlitz’s murrelet, crested auklet, and buff-bellied pipit. During a Zodiac cruise around Nuneangan Island this evening, hope to see horned and tufted puffins, Brunnich’s, common, black and pigeon guillemots, pelagic cormorant, and black-legged kittiwake.

Your course takes you reasonably close inshore, so you should get good views of a range of auk species, including the endangered Kittlitz’s murrelet.

Visit some inland habitats including wetlands, lakes and braided rivers. Asian rosy finches breed in this area and other possible species include rough-legged buzzard, sandhill crane, peregrine falcon, Temminck’s and red-necked stints, red-throated and buff-bellied pipits, great knot, grey-tailed tattler, Mongolian plover, common ringed plover, and snow and Lapland buntings.

Sightings could include Brent, bean, white-fronted and emperor geese, all four species of divers, sandhill crane, tundra swan, pintail, long-tailed duck, dunlin, red-necked stint, red-necked and red phalaropes, ruddy turnstone, grey plover, pectoral sandpiper, Vega gull, Arctic and Aleutian tern, and Lapland bunting.

Your cruise finishes with transfers to town and/or airport.