Temp in the 40s, mostly sunny, almost calm at sunrise changing to SE 10-15 mph in the afternoon. Rain starting at 5:30 PM

Perfect weather for dickey-bird hunting!

So i spent the morning scouring every spruce tree and willow bush that I could find.

To no avail!

I visited the High School Spuices (Naumann’s Thrush site) three times today. Nada…

However, during my rounds, I found the Gyrfalcon again.

Later in the day, I saw the Peregrine. So it was a two-falcon day.

In the afternoon, I headed to Clam Lagoon and walked the Peninsula and Marsh Edge.

The Peninsula was birdless, but as I was walking from the Peninsula across the flats towards the south end of the Marsh Edge, three shorebirds flew in and landed nearby.

Two plovers and a dowitcher.

The dowitcher was much more colorful than the three I saw in the 18th.

I believe this was a juvenile, while the others were winter adults.

The plovers were in different plumages. Here is the first one.

The second one I am not sure of and have put out feelers to my band of experts. It might be an American Golden-Plover… or not.

Along the Marsh Edge were the usual suspects, pectorals, sharp-tails, and dowitcher.

Over the last week, Aaron’s group had been seeing a Little Stint here as well. Examination of their photos show it to be a different one from the one we had on the 18th.

I did not see it today. Of course…

Over at the Seawall, not too many birds were sitting on Cormorant Rocks!

I then revisited the feeders, spruces, and willows. Still nada…

I checked Lake Leone and all of the ducks were gone (tufted and scaup).

Up at the Hilltop Quarry, I finally got my Snow Buntings for the trip.

The salmon are nearing the end of their run on Finger Creek, but the gulls are still having a feast.

And a Harlequin was in a hurry to get away from me as I drove along the creek.

Aaron’s group departed yesterday, so I am the lone birder on the island right now.

Birds that they saw that I did not include: Wood Sandpiper, Gray-tailed Tattler, Black Scoter, Red-throated Loon, Common Goldeneye, Barn Swallow (would have been an Adak bird for me), and Rough-legged Hawk.

The vagaries of birding. Being at the right place at the right time. For most of those birds, it was a one or two minute interval that made the difference between seeing and not seeing those birds.

My trip list is 52.

My eBird list is https://ebird.org/checklist/S119442450

PS: Steve (the owner of Adak Aleutians Experience, where I stay) just got Starlink! So now I have high-speed internet here!

Jumpin’ Jupiter!

Temp in the 40s to low 50s, mostly cloudy, wind NW 1-20 mph

As I was making the rounds filling feeders in the pre-dawn twilight, Jupiter (and several of its moons) were low in the western sky.

I have rarely seen planets (or stars for that matter) up here, as it is so often overcast.

It took me the better part of a week to see my first Laysan Albatross of the trip, and then this morning I had 4 within ten minutes or so as I was scanning near the Sweeper Cove breakwall!

Over the last several days, as I was approaching the Warbler Willows road, I flushed a snipe from beside the road.

Each time it was too quick to get a good enough view to determine the species.

Today, I saw it on the road before it flew and was able to get my binos on it as it flew off. I could see that it was a Wilson’s.

Where Airport Creek flows into Kuluk Bay (just north of the Landing Lights) a flock of mergansers and Eider were having a small feeding frenzy.

Among this flock was also an Common Loon.

Up at the Blue Building, I finally ran into a Brambling — although a very uncooperative one.

There appear to be several on the island, as Aaron has heard/seen at least two, and maybe three, others.

But the most excitement of the day was mid-afternoon (just before the flight arrived).

I had just returned to the town area when I got a call from Aaron saying that they just had a Naumann’s Thrush at the High School Spruces!

I arrived in a minute and got to see it and get one poor photo.

Aaron got many more photos (standing and in flight) and after reviewing them and then checking an ID reference while sitting at the airport, was confident it was that species and not a Dusky/Naumann’s hybrid.

He was going to do more research and reach out to other experts, so I will let you know the conclusion as he posts it.

See Aaron’s post at https://ebird.org/checklist/S119376470 for more info.

This is a lifer for me!

My trip list is 50 (average fall trips is 54).

My eBird list is at https://ebird.org/checklist/S119373836

Temp in the 50s, partly sunny, a shower at noon, winds W 15-20 changing to NW 20-30 mph in the afternoon

It was a difficult day for birding. The high winds drove many species to cover.

However, it didn’t bother the pelagics flying offshore, so I finally saw a Laysan Albatross for the trip from the Seawall.

I found a nice flock (43) of Sanderlings clinging to the shoreline at the north end of Clam Lagoon.

Last May I highlighted the burn that took place near Lake Andrew.

I said it would be green by the time I returned.

In fact, it is greener than the surrounding area.

Aaron’s group leaves tomorrow (assuming the plane is able to land — the forecast is marginal).

So I will be on my own for the last week.

I will tally the birds found by him that I didn’t see this week on tomorrow’s post.

My trip list is 47.

eBird list at https://ebird.org/checklist/S119304028

Temp in the 50s, mostly sunny, Wind W 10-20 mph

I drove around and filled all of the feeders in and near town before sunrise.

As I was driving back, I saw a small gull down on South Kuluk Beach.

This is where I found a Short-billed Gull back in May 2018.

However, this bird was a juvenile and I am not familiar with differentiating between Common and Short-billed gulls in this plumage.

I took a bunch of photos and in the afternoon posted them to the IDFrontiers listserve for advice.

The consensus is it is a Short-billed (the North American version of what used to be called Mew Gull). So it was not an Asian stray.

It’s interesting, as the last one I had also followed several days of strong westerly winds!

Go figure…

Here is the mandatory Bald Eagle pic for the trip.

Up at the Seawall, a couple of Pacific Wrens put on a show.

They are really common this time of year, what with all of the young out and about.

I had 11 Ruddy Turnstones on Clam Lagoon and 20 Rock Sandpipers at Sweeper Channel.

The more exciting news played out in the afternoon, when Aaron’s group was watching a Gyrfalcon (which I later saw) and a Rough-legged Hawk flew in, eliciting a chase by the Gyrfalcon (to out of sight). It was a dark morph (only found in North America).

Upon hearing this, I spent the rest of the day scouring the area and saw the Gyr, but could not find the hawk.

It was on Sept 25, 2007 that I saw a dark-morph Rough-legged Hawk up near Candlestick Bridge. That bird was a one-day wonder. You can see a photo on the Sept 2007 blog.

I hope this bird stays around long enough for me to see.

By the way, the gull did not stay around for Aaron’s group to see.

My trip list is 46.

My eBird list can be seen at https://ebird.org/checklist/S119218678

Temp in the 50s, mostly cloudy, occasional light shower, Wind South 15-20 mph.

Here is the chick-pic for the trip…

The Tufted Duck is still here (not surprised…).

On the walk out the Clam Lagoon Peninsula, I found this octopus.

I picked up Black Oystercatcher and White-winged Scoter at the Seawall.

The Pectoral Sandpiper that I had there yesterday was at the same spot today.

A Red-faced Cormorant came close enough for a photo.

I had a bit of excitement at Janet’s Cove (on the Seawall) today.

I had just pulled in when I heard a loud call with which I was unfamiliar (There are a lot of calls in that category!).

So I pulled out my phone, and set Merlin to record. For those of you who may not know what Merlin is, it is an app from Cornell that records bird calls and tries to identify them (mostly successfully).

As soon as it recorded this mystery call, it flashed on the screen “Common Ringed Plover!!!” (without the exclamation points)

A very rare bird in the Aleutians There is one record for Adak and one was seen on St.Paul a few weeks ago.

So I grabbed my camera and jumped out of the car and worked my way down towards the beach. Not only couldn’t I find a plover, there were no shorebirds at all.

The bird was still calling out in front of me, but I had gotten to the edge of the beach and the only birds in front of me were a couple of Common Murres — an adult and a young-un.

I could not tell if they were making the sounds. I heard the typical ‘grunt/moan’ call several times, but never saw either bird open its beak to make any sound.

Nevertheless, the only answer was the murres.

The apps on my phone just had the standard murre calls, nothing like what I heard.

When I got back to the house, I went to eBird and brought up Common Murre recordings.

I finally found one whose sonogram looked similar to the Merlin recording.

It was a juvenile Common Murre!

I assume it is some kind of begging call.

This reminds me of last year when I was walking along a wooded trail near home and turned on Merlin to see what I was missing and it brought up White-winged Scoter!

Merlin is terrific, but you have to confirm visually what is making the call.

So, a learning experience, rather than a mega-bird…

Later on, I decided to take a drive up to White Alice. I hadn’t seen any Snow Buntings yet and that is a good place to get them.

No luck on the buntings, but on a pond just before White Alice, I found three Greater Scaup — two adults and one somewhat-downy young. It must have been a very late nesting.

Just a side note. I have had Mallards and Northern Pintails with young in May up here.

The trip list is 43.

My eBird list can be seen at https://ebird.org/checklist/S119170970

Temp in the 50s, partly sunny, almost calm at dawn, growing to South wind 20-25 mph by sunset

Too nice…

I have been out to the Loran Station with winds from every direction and have never had much luck (at least compared to the stories I hear from other birders about all of the close pelagics streaming by!).

So I decided I would try on a day with no wind.

Same result. Although I did pick up a Black-footed Albatross.

But everything was way out — no closer than the birds I see at the Seawall.

Oh well…

When I got back to the lagoon, Aaron told me they had a Brambling out on the peninsula. So I hoofed it out there and, of course, no Brambling! Unlike the rare birds I find (which stay put so the other birders can come and see them) the birds Aaron’s group find don’t stick around for my arrival!

In addition to the albatross, the highlights of my day were a Pine Siskin at the National Forest and three Sanderlings on the lagoon.

The Sanderlings are important because in the past, flocks of Sanderlings (is three a flock?) usually attracted other shorebird passers-by.

We will see over the next few days.

It is often the case this time of year that Pectoral Sandpipers are common on the island and can pop up almost anywhere.

This one was on the side of the road at the Seawall.

Another abundant bird this time of year is immature Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches. Very different-looking than the colorful adults.

This one was at the Seawall.

The trip list is 41.

My daily eBird list can be seen at https://ebird.org/checklist/S119121708

Heavy rain and wind expected tonight. Maybe it will knock something out of the sky for us…

I got one right!

Temp in the 50s, partly sunny, occasional (very) light shower in the morning, Wind WNW 5-10 mph

I decided to do Finger Creek this morning, to look for tattlers, etc.

No luck on the tattlers, but at the North Quarry, on Lake Leone, I found a Tufted Duck! This is awfully early for this species, so I suspect that the lingering Tufted Duck I had in the spring, lingered on…

Distant, but identifiable photo.

I radioed Aaron about it and his group came down and saw it. A lifer for one of them.

I checked numerous spots (at a leisurely pace), but found nothing new.

I met up again with Aaron at Haven Lake around noon. He was taking his group back for lunch, while I headed up towards Clam Lagoon. I was going to walk the peninsula, while they were later going to walk the marsh edge.

I walked out the peninsula and three quarters of the way out spotted a peep hiding behind a rock.

As I approached, it flew over to an exposed sand island and then let me photograph it to my heart’s content.

I wasn’t sure at first (with my history of misidentifying stints), but thought it might be a Little Stint.

I took a lot of photos, then headed back to the car. Once there, I reviewed the photos and convinced myself that it was indeed a Little Stint.

I got on the radio to call Aaron and, amazingly, they had just crested the hill coming down to the lagoon and were within range.

They arrived at my location in a few minutes and we walked back out the peninsula.

The bird was still there and Aaron confirmed my identification.

It was a lifer for most of the group, including Aaron Bowman, the co-leader!

I finally got one right…

The bird was most cooperative and they all got umpteen photos.

They went to walk the marsh edge while I continued elsewhere.

Further up the lagoon, I found a Pelagic Cormorant that was unusually close. Most of the cormorants up here are wary.

I found nothing else of note, but on the way back down the lagoon, Aaron radioed me that they had seen another (or the same) Little Stint at the south end of the marsh edge. However, all the birds in the area were flushed by a patrolling Peregrine, so there was no way to determine if this was the same bird or not.

The Peregrine soared over me as I was receiving this news.

So, a good day for all.

The trip list is 39.

You can see the eBird list at https://ebird.org/checklist/S119069590

Temp in the 50s, mostly cloudy, rain at dawn, occasional very light sprinkles later, Wind WSW 5 mph

No rarities, but lots of photo ops…

The usual alcids were in and near Sweeper Cove: murres, murrelets, puffins, guilemots, etc.

Kuluk Bay (and later, the Seawall) had tons of alcids way out. I don’t care much about looking a dots, so I concentrate on the closer birds. If I really tried, I could triple (or more) all of my alcid counts on eBird.

No birds at the town feeders so far.

Had a few Rock Sandpipers at Sweeper Channel. Here’s a photo from later in the day.

When I got to Contractor’s Camp Marsh, Aaron’s group was already there. While they walked the marsh, I checked the Thrush Feeder and other nearby areas.

The Thrush Feeder was alive with activity, with many Rosy-finches, Longspurs, and Song Sparrows feeding away.

On the fence nearby, were two Pine Siskins. If you read my bog from May, you already know that siskins have been wintering on Adak in recent years. Well, this year they stayed and nested! So no surprise to see these two today.

Aaron’s group had both Common and Wilson’s snipe and a Wood Sandpiper in the marsh.

Neither Warbler Willows nor Adak National Forest produced any birds.

At Clam Lagoon, I walked out the peninsula and then down the marsh edge.

Nothing on the peninsula, but the marsh edge was active.

There were at least four Long-billed Dowitchers, two Sharp-tailed Sandpipers, and an unknown number of Pectoral Sandpipers (I’m guessing six).

The birds were constantly flushing (although I was trying to avoid that) and circling around, some landing behind me, some in front. So it was difficult to keep track of the actual numbers.

Also, Aaron’ group spotted a Pacific Golden-Plover on the flats, but I missed it.

At the Breaches, there were three Ruddy Turnstones.

At the Seawall, I found two Horned Grebes (a species I missed in May) as well as several Red-necked Grebes. There was a steady stream of hundreds and hundreds of Short-tailed Shearwaters going by (scope-birds), but I couldn’t pick out any albatross.

There were several flocks of Common Eider in various plumages.

A Pacific Wren looked angrily at me…

A flock (one of three today) of Aleutian Cackling Geese flew over.

There were Eurasian Wigeon, Greater Scaup, and Northern Pintails on Lake Shirley

The east shore of the lagoon was the same as the other side: gulls and ducks.

Up at the Blue Building, a Peregrine Falcon zipped by. No activity at that feeder, yet.

Heading back towards town I found a skate washed up on the beach at Landing Lights./

And a Song Sparrow posed nicely.

Winds have been westerly since we arrived and are forecast to be so the rest of the week. That should bring in some new birds.

My trip list is 36.

My day’s list is at https://ebird.org/checklist/S119006883

Temp in the 50s, partly cloudy, wind WSW 15 mph

The flights on Friday were early. I got my rental car, checked in to the hotel and then went food shopping.

I then did a little birding. Just the usual suspects, but a couple of nice photos.

Saturday morning, I got up early in a race to be first up the Arctic Valley Road in hopes of finding a grouse or ptarmigan out on the road.

I got there just before “first light,” so it was still pretty dark.

As I drove past the golf course at the bottom of the road, I noticed a cop in a patrol car sitting off the roadside. I continued driving slowly up the mountain and about halfway up, I saw headlights coming up from behind me. So I pulled off to let the car go by, but instead it pulled up next to me. It was the cop (rather curious about this slow-moving car in the dark…).

He asked me what was happening and I flashed my binos (as all good birders do) and explained my mission of being first up the road looking for grouse, etc. Not only did he buy that, but he said “Okay, I will turn around instead of going to the top.”

I have had a number of birder/cop interactions over the years — most of them positive.

I am adding this one to that positive list.

I didn’t see any chickens, but I had several Varied Thrushes feeding on the road in the dark. It was so dark, this was the best my camera could do.

Nothing else of note, but I had some Common Mergansers down on Ship Creek.

I went to the airport and met Aaron Lang who is leading a Wilderness Adventures tour out here this week. Two leaders and six birders.

The flight left on time, but was fighting strong headwinds all the way resulting in a late arrival. It then took an hour to get our luggage (don’t get me started!).

So it was after 4 pm before I got out to do any birding.

Unfortunately, the typhoon that passed through here Thursday and Friday did NOT leave the trees (what few there are) dripping with Asian vagrants.

So it looks like we will have to find our rarities the hard way, as usual…

I had a flock of 6 Ruddy Turnstones at Clam Lagoon and Aaron reported some Laysan Albatrosses and Short-tailed Shearwaters out in Kuluk Bay, but that was about it.

We both started putting seed out at the various feeders.

We will have a more through and leisurely pace tomorrow.