Temps in the 40s, overcast, light to moderate rain most of the day, Wind SSW 10-20 mph

It rained most of the day today, making birding uncomfortable.

We saw at least 18 Wood Sandpipers today in multiple locations.

The rain made photo ops rare today.

We (very briefly) saw the Hawfinch at the Seal Drive feeder, but had better looks at the Brambling that was hanging nearby.

The Emperor Goose was still on Goose Rocks this morning.

Both Wilderness Birding Adventures and High Lonesome tours left today, but nine new birders arrived.

Just as the plane was leaving Adak, Sam called to report a Siberian Sand-Plover (I still prefer Mongolian Plover!) at Contractor’s Marsh. We, and some of the new birders, scoured the marsh, but could not relocate it.

We headed up to Clam Lagoon, and received a report from there of a Common Greenshank. We couldn’t find that one either, although others did.

The winds continue to pour in from the southwest, bringing new birds every day (even if we are not seeing all of them).

So the next few days (as the rain and wind diminish) look encouraging.

Our Trip List is 52.

My Trip List can be seen at https://ebird.org/tripreport/243576

Temps in 40s, mostly cloudy, occasional light sprinkle, wind NW 15-25 mph

New birds keep showing up!

Both Hawfinch and Brambling were found today and the number of Wood Sandpipers keeps growing.

We did not see the Brambling, but I got a quick glimpse of the Hawfinch (Don did not), and we are seeing Wood Sandpipers everywhere.

One of the tour groups had 27 today! Back in 2015, we had probably a hundred on the island. It looks like one of those years.

Rock Ptarmigans are abundant this year, but we have not seen a single Common Raven!

In addition to the Long-toed Stints, Aaron found a Red-necked Stint today.

The Taiga Flycatcher is still being seen, but not very cooperative.

As we approached the Airport Ponds this morning, the three previously-reported Tufted Ducks were there, but flew off immediately.

We went up to the Loran Station this morning and had a lot of Short-tailed Shearwaters, Fulmars, and Laysan Albatrosses. Not real close, but identifiable.

We later saw shearwaters and albatross from the Seawall as well.

Just after the last overlook before getting to the Loran Station, we had the resident Pacific Wren.

At the north end of Clam Lagoon, we finally picked up some Marbled and Kittlitz’s murrelets.

And finally, we had a couple of rainbows this morning.

Nine more birders are arriving tomorrow, but ten are leaving…

The trip list is at 51 (average Spring trip is 63)

Temps in the 40s, mostly cloudy, a few sprinkles in the afternoon, wind west 15-25 mph

Nothing new at the feeders, yet.

We headed straight up to Clam Lagoon to look for the Long-toed Stint. Sam Brayshaw joined us.

We started at the south end of the marsh edge where it had last been seen and started walking north.

About a third of the way up, it flushed and flew back a hundred yards or so behind us.

We tried several times to approach it without it flushing it so we could see it on the ground, but with no success.

It always saw us before we saw it and flew away each time.

However, I was still able to get some diagnostic photos.

Note the long toes trailing behind the tail and the bold eyeline.

This was the last stint I needed for my lifelist!

Subsequent groups of birders had the same experience as we (and Aaron’s group the previous day) had — only flight views.

After the stint chase, we walked out the peninsula and a small shorebird flushed, but none of us were able to get on it to identify it or see where it went. Just another one that got away…

We saw five Wood Sandpipers at three different locations today, including this one at Contractor’s Marsh.

We had an errant Emperor Goose sitting on Cormorant Rocks instead of its namesake Goose Rocks…

Other new birds for the trip list included, Black Oystercatcher, Snow Bunting, American Wigeon, and Parasitic Jaeger.

The trip list is 41.

Temps in the 40s, mostly overcast, wind wsw 15-25 mph

Within 20 minutes of erecting the feeder out side my house, the Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches found it! And most of the other feeders are active as well. In the past, it often took several days for the local birds to rediscover the feeders. I guess they are finally learning…

Our first interesting birds of the day were several Common Snipe performing at Wood Sandpiper Drive.

The separated outer tail feathers are nicely evident here.

At Contractor’s Marsh, we got to see two Wood Sandpipers. Other groups have seen as many as 5 so far.

Down on Redshank Drive, we found three Pacific Golden-Plovers. Redshank Drive is THE place for this species every year.

As we were approaching Warbler Willows, a Gyrfalcon swooped by chasing the teal we had flushed. It quickly flew away, giving me poor photo ops.

We had a lone Bar-tailed Godwit on Clam Lagoon.

At the Seawall, there were 5 Pacific Loons ad Don got his life Red-faced Cormorant.

As we were starting the return trip around Clam Lagoon, we got a call from Sam Brayshaw that there was a Tiaga Flycatcher at Warbler willows! We had been down there earlier in the day, but had nothing…

We raced around the lagoon (‘raced’ being a relative term considering how pothole-ridden the road is) and eventually got there and saw the bird.

Unfortunately, it was very distant and across a stream that had no easy crossing. So I got photos, but they are terrible.

Barb and I had a Taiga Flycatcher up at the Blue Buildings back in September 2015. It was the first Fall record for the Aleutians! All others had been in Spring.

Late in the afternoon I got a call from Aaron Lang that they had a Long-toed Stint at Contractor’s Marsh! This is the last stint I need. However, the bird had disappeared into an inaccessible reedy island and was no longer visible.

Later, he emailed me that they had another one up at Clam Lagoon!!!

That will be my first priority tomorrow morning. I’m too tired to go back out tonight…

The trip list is 34.

My flights were uneventful. The plane from Chicago to Anchorage was on a 787-900 Max and not a single door blew off…

Don Aldredge from Roanoke, Virginia is joining me for ten days. He lived on Adak as a child for a couple of years (1960-61).

I didn’t have time to do any birding on Friday, but we did some this morning before the flight to Adak.

We drove up to Arctic Valley and had a flock of Pine Sikinms and Common Redpolls.

We headed back to town and had a cooperative pair of Barrow’s Goldeneyes on Lake Hood.

The flight to Adak was on time, but because there were so many birders on board (20!), they had to unload our luggage in three sessions while uploading the outgoing luggage to get the plane out on schedule.

So we had to wait almost an hour…

But we finally got our stuff, got to the house, and set out to put up the bird feeders and look at a couple of birds.

Aaron Lang found a Black-headed Gull at Clam Lagoon (which we also saw) and then we went down to Contractor’s Marsh, where we found a Wood Sandpiper.

Aaron also reported three Tufted Ducks on the Airport Ponds, but we did not see them when we went by.

The washed out culvert up at Clam Lagoon has been partially filled in but is VERY rough. We will try driving over it tomorrow.

More details tomorrow.