Temps in the low 50s, partly sunny, Wind SW 15-30 mph

Another nice day on Adak, but windy.

I usually start my day by going to the mouth of Sweeper Cove (at the base of the breakwall) and scan Kuluk Bay for alcids, etc. (still looking for puffins!).

No sooner had I raised my binos, than a flock of a few dozen Short-tailed Shearwaters filled my view. They were between me and the nearby rocky islands. I am guessing they were only about 1500 feet off shore. Very close for tubenoses.

They quickly ventured farther out in the bay. I went up to the Kuluk Bay overlook in hopes there were more, and there were, but they had moved much farther out. I watched for a while and saw more shearwaters, but no larger or smaller stiff-wings joined them.

I went down to the end of the closed runway to take my daily weather photo. I then scanned the runway and environs. Sitting in the middle of the runway were two Gyrfalcons, shortly joined by a third!

I had never seen three gyrfalcons at once before. So this was a treat.

At Sweeper Channel, the Belted Kingfisher, which had eluded me since I saw it last Saturday, was present.

The rest of the day was nice birding, but not for walking. I walked out the Clam Lagoon Peninsula (nothing new) but it was a slog walking back into 40 mph winds.

In the spring, Red-faced Cormorants are mostly seen off the Seawall, being careful to not get too close for decent photos… But in the fall, many of the young Red-faced have not yet learned that from their parents and venture elsewhere. My best Red-faced Cormorant photos are of young birds in the fall. They are very distinctive with white surrounding the bill (a feature not shown in most bird guides, by the way!).

There are always a bunch of cormorants roosting on the fuel dock — mostly Pelagics. Here is a young Red-faced mixed in.

No new trip birds today.

The trip list is still 60.

Today’s list can be viewed at https://ebird.org/checklist/S276923372

The Trip Report can be viewed at https://ebird.org/tripreport/413629?welcome=true