Temps in the 40s, Overcast in the morning, breaks of sun in late afternoon, Wind SE turning to SW 10-15 mph

At the Airport Ponds this morning, I had the two pair of Tufted Ducks. So they hadn’t flown north to be with the others up at Lakes Ronnie and Shirley! So there are at least 14 Tufted Ducks here!

Two Hawfinches were spotted today in town. After several groups fanned out, they were relocated next to the liquor store.

At one point this morning, one of them was seen outside my house, but I have not yet seen it at my feeder.

Two Brambling were also seen (at the Seal Drive and Kuluk Drive feeders). I had a nano-second look at them as they flew away from the Seal drive feeder.

However, a Pine Siskin was a little more cooperative.

Up at Clam Lagoon, the Bar-tailed Godwit was on the east flats.

A lot of birders left today and more arrived, including Jon Boone and Jim DeForge. I have birded with them out here before.

Jon needed the Garganey, so we stopped at the Marsh and Jon and Jim hiked over to the ponds where the bird has been reported. They saw it fly out. Success! Good way to start their trip.

The Trip List is 57.

Today’s List can be seen at https://ebird.org/checklist/S241093099

The Total Trip List can be seen at https://ebird.org/tripreport/372779

Temps in the 40s, overcast with on-and-off rain in the morning, some breaks in the clouds in the afternoon, wind SW 20-30 in the morning switching to NE 10-15 by afternoon.

Poor birding weather this morning changed by afternoon.

I picked up a few birds for the trip list, but nothing rare.

At Andrew Lake, there were a lot of passerines flitting about, but just Snow Buntings and longspurs.

At the Seawall, I found some White-winged Scoters.

Also there, I had several Short-tailed Shearwaters in the distance.

I drove out to the Loran Station in the fog and picked up Tufted Puffin and Pacific Wren.

Back at Clam Lagoon, I had a Black Oystercatcher.

After arriving home, showering, and eating dinner, I saw a post about a Lesser Yellowlegs at Clam Lagoon. That would be a new Adak bird for me. So I saddled up and headed up there.

When I got there, I scanned the flats and saw the Bar-tailed Godwit that others had reported since yesterday, but no yellowlegs.

I drove up to the peninsula and scanned from there. No luck.

So I walked the west marsh edge from north to south and back again. No yellowlegs.

Maybe tomorrow.

At the bridge over Sweeper Creek, a Bald Eagle posed for my phone’s camera. This is the full frame just to show you how tame the eagles are up here.

The Trip List is 55.

Today’s List can be seen at https://ebird.org/checklist/S240787944

The Total Trip List can be seen at https://ebird.org/tripreport/372779

Temps in the 40s, overcast, light rain late afternoon, Wind SW 10-20 mph

Another birdy day, but no lifers.

Just as I was setting out this morning, I heard Aaron talking about a Hawfinch. I called him and then joined him at the Seal Drive feeder. They saw the bird near there, but not directly at the feeder. We watched for a while and then I headed out. No on else saw it throughout the day, Maybe it will show up at my feeder like last year…

I went down to Sweeper Cove and was treated with two Harbor Porpoises that made a brief (but un-photographed) appearance.

Two Thick-billed Murres were new for the trip.

Down at Finger Bay, I found my first Red-necked Grebe for the trip.

At the Marsh, I found a Pacific Golden-Plover on Redshank Drive. I find them at this spot every year!

I worked my way up to Clam Lagoon where I found a Horned Grebe for the trip.

Although we had seen a few Arctic Terns yesterday, the floodgates opened last night and dozens of both Arctic and Aleutian terns were everywhere!

On the East Side of the lagoon, I found a pair of Northern Shovelers that Sam had mentioned to me. They are not seen here every year.

At Lake Shirley, among the Greater Scaup flock, I spotted a Lesser Scaup and one Tufted Duck. The waterfowl on this lake frequently flush when a vehicle drives by, but not today.

After enjoying the terns near Candlestick Bridge, I headed up to Lake Ronnie (my third favorite spot on Adak after Warbler Willows and the Peninsula).

I was blown away by seeing SEVEN Tufted Ducks! 4 Male and three female. I had not seen the two pair that were at the Airport Ponds this morning, so I assumed they had flown up here. I also assumed that someone drove past Lake Shirley after I did and flushed those birds up here.

Wrong!

When I went back down and headed up the east shore of the lagoon, I spotted another Tufted Duck out there with a flock of Greater Scaup. So the Lake Shirley flock moved over here.

Wrong!

When I got to Lake Shirley, there were TWO male Tufted Ducks there!

So — 7 on Lake Ronnie, 1 on Clam Lagoon, and 2 on Lake Shirley. Ten in all!

Previous recorded high numbers for Adak (from Birds of the Aleutians) include 17 (16 May and 20 May 2004, Adak, P. Davis and D. MacKay+), 21 (23 May 1974, Amchitka, C. M. White), and 22 (13 May 1987, Adak, E. V. K).

These are the highest numbers I have ever seen in my 20 years of coming to Adak.

I’ll close today’s post with a Rock Sandpiper photo.

The Trip List is 50.

Today’s List can be seen at https://ebird.org/checklist/S240435241

The Total Trip List can be seen at https://ebird.org/tripreport/372779

Temp in the 40s, overcast with drizzle in the morning, a few breaks of sun in the afternoon, wind east 5-10 mph

All of the feeders now have some activity.

As I headed out this morning, Sam saw me and alerted me to a flock of Pine Siskins he was watching. They weren’t very photo-cooperative for me.

Here is the Annual Mandatory Bald Eagle Head Shot.

Today was a good day, although there were no surprises.

There is a flock of ten Aleutian Cackling Geese hanging around near Palisades Lake.

I had two Wood Sandpipers at the Marsh and two pairs of Tufted Ducks at the Airport Ponds.

I had both Common and Wilson’s snipes.

The interesting thing about this sighting is that it was calling the entire time I was there (only 10 or 15 feet away) and I recorded it on Merlin, yet Merlin couldn’t identify it!

The Red-necked Phalaropes are back.

I had several flocks of Ancient Murrelets, which were hard to find last year.

Of course, the elephant in the room are those rarities that showed up this past winter (Two (TWO!!!) Eurasian Sparrowhawks, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Hen Harrier, Eurasian Bullfinch, Rustic Bunting, and more…).

So far, they are not to be found. One or more of the accipiters were still harassing birds at the Kuluk Drive feeder just a couple of weeks ago!

The best birds so far this trip include at least 5 Tufted Ducks, Barrow’s Goldeneye (male), at least 6 Wood Sandpipers, Pine Siskins, Garganey (not yet seen by me), and Gyrfalcon (ditto).

The Kuluk Drive feeder reported Bramblings recently, but they have not yet been seen by the current crop of birders.

I’m beginning to wonder if that Garganey has become resident. It is a female and one or more Garganeys have been seen here every trip during the last two years. They were a one-in-ten-year bird prior to this run.

Today’s List can be seen at https://ebird.org/checklist/S240024043

The trip list is 43.

The Trip List can be seen at https://ebird.org/tripreport/372779

Mostly cloudy, temp in the 40s, wind light SSW

First, my travel travails…

I arrived at the Philly airport in plenty of time, boarded the plane and we taxied out.

We came to a stop and, after several minutes, were informed by the pilot that there was a light on that needed maintenance’s attention.

We sat there for another 15-20 minutes while that got resolved.

As we were about to get going again, we were informed that the whole airport was being shut down due to a line of thunderstorms.

Three hours later (!!) we headed to Chicago.

Of course we arrived an hour or so after my flight to Anchorage had left.

However, by the time I got there, United had already rebooked me on the next flight to Anchorage (Yay!).

However, that flight was also delayed. Irony of ironies, the plane that was coming in to fly to Anchorage was another delayed flight from Philly!

It finally arrived, I got to Anchorage (8:30 PM), and flew to Adak today.

Getting in so late on Friday, I was too tired to go out birding.

I did do a little birding this morning, getting a nice Barrow’s Goldeneye at Lake Spenard.

The flight to Adak was uneventful.

I went about assembling and erecting my feeders and did a little birding along the way.

Birds of note included a Tufted Duck on Lake Shirley along with a male Barrow’s Goldeneye. I have seen Barrow’s out here before, but always females. So it was nice to finally get a male here.

Unfortunately, the waterfowl on Lake Shirley flew away before I could get better close-ups.

Mount Sitkin has been spewing gas for several years now and today was no exception.

I’m not sure if this new sign at the Anchorage airport was directed at Robert F. Kennedy, jr,…

There are lot of Rock Ptarmigans here this spring (numbers can vary wildly from year to year.)

A lot of birders arrived today (at least a dozen or so) and there was already a group of three that arrived this past Wednesday. So a lot of eyes and ears.

My trip list is 23 and viewable at https://ebird.org/checklist/S239508548