Temps in the 50s, partly cloudy, Wind WSW 10-15 mph

Ivan and Brad found am Eyebrowed Thrush at the National Forest this morning.

There have been more Eurasian Skylark sightings around Clam Lagoon and at the Andrew Lake Rec Center. I seem to be the only birder on the island right now who has not seen a Skylark this trip…

I had 31 Rock Ptarmigan today. Many of them pre-dawn as I was out filling feeders.

I also saw a Short-eared Owl on my feeder rounds.

Here is the mandatory Bald Eagle photo for the trip.

The Sanderlings were on a small rock outcropping along Clam Lagoon today.

I found 4 Pacific Golden-Plovers on Redshank Drive. I have seen more of these birds at this location over the years than any other.

I walked the Clam Lagoon Peninsula and the Marsh Edge this afternoon, but only found Pectoral and Sharp-tailed sandpipers.

Flies are attracted to the heat of the car and often ride along on the windshield.

Today’s flight was cancelled due to a volcanic ash cloud from Russia. It has been rescheduled for tomorrow (the flight, not the ash cloud…). So the birders who were leaving today got an extra day of birding, while those arriving lost a day.

Also, the power went out last night (around 3 AM). Luckily, the Adak Aleutian Experience (where I stay) has an emergency generator, so we had power, while most others did not. The power was restored sometime in the afternoon.

The trip list is 42.

Today’s list can be viewed at https://ebird.org/checklist/S275327922

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

Just a little breezy…

Temps in the 50s, overcast in the morning, partly cloudy in the afternoon, Winds west 20-50(!) mph

Tough birding.

At one point I stopped at the National Forest to fill the feeder. I made the mistake of parking tail-end to the wind. When I opened my door, it swung open hard, but I was able to control it so it didn’t warp the hinges or frame. However, when I got back in the car, I didn’t have the strength to close the door. So I had to get in, turn the car around, and then I could close it!

The wind was picking up water from every body of water (lagoon, ponds, puddles) and spraying all over the place, making keeping clean car windows difficult.

Here are some photos of the wind spray.

The only bird of note today was Mottled Petrel. Before last September, I never had this species. However, last year, after a storm (and similar winds to today’s) we had thousands of shearwaters, many albatrosses, and a good number of Mottled Petrels in Kuluk Bay.

We only had a smattering of shearwaters today, but a few Mottled Petrels were mixed in.

Andy’s group had a Brambling in town this afternoon.

After this spring’s bountiful Rock Ptarmigan counts (up to 111 in one day), they have been much harder to find on this trip. A high so far of only 10. I assume the hunters have had a part in this…

I went down to Finger Bay this morning, but didn’t add anything new. However, it reminded me to measure the width of the bay when I got back home. When you drive down to the bay, it looks like a short distance across. However, it is one-quarter mile at the point where you first approach it, making birds that are large look tiny in perspective. I was fooled many times (in our early trips) into thinking I was looking at auklets, when they were in fact, murrelets or murres! I know better now.

The wind is supposed to be only in the 20s tomorrow. Much more manageable for bird-finding.

The trip list is 38.

Today’s list can be viewed at https://ebird.org/checklist/S275163238

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

Temps in the 50s, overcast, Rain staring around 10 AM, wind SSW building to 40+ mph by late afternoon

The day started off with a bang (but not for me…).

As I was leaving Warbler Willows, Aaron called about a pipit near the Landing Lights. I got to his location within a few minutes, but the bird was gone and we could not relocate it. It appearred to be a Siberian Pipit (recently split from American Pipit). I have seen three pipits on Adak, but they were all the American race. Oh well…

I have mentioned other rare birds being seen by the other birders on the island. It’s not like I have been shirking. The Siberian Sand-Plover (why didn’t they leave the name Mongolian Plover alone???) was seen by Andy’s group after an all-morning hike down and back to Shagak Bay. The Skylark was found while I was assembling and distributing bird feeders and was gone by the time I arrived there. The Garganey was seen by Aaron’s group after they flushed the teal flock ffrom its hiding ponds and photograhed the flock as it flew away (I usually do this once each trip).

Such is birding on Adak.

After looking for the pipit, we all headed up to Clam Lagoon. A Bar-tailed Godwit was there and the Garganey was out on the mudflats with the teal.

I continued around to the Seawall while the others walked the peninsula and marsh edge. The group along the marsh edge flushed another (or the same) Skylark.

At the Seawall, I picked up some trip birds, including Pacific Loon, Ancient Murrelet, and Rock Sandpiper.

The rain started shortly thereafter and birding went downhill from there.

It just got rainier and windier as the day went on.

I stopped at the Thrush Feeder to refill it, but a young Rosy-Finch didn’t want to leave…

This photo was taken with my cell phone.

Sweeper Channel was somewhat sheltered from the wind and I got nice looks at Eurasian Wigeon and Rock Sandpiper.

A Brambling was also reported today up at Clam Lagoon.

The trip list is 35.

Today’s list can be viewed at https://ebird.org/checklist/S274992020

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

Temps in the 50s, partly sunny, wind SW 15-25 mph

A good day on Adakl!

Before I get to the birds…

On the flight from Anchorage to Adak, I always enjoy viewing the various islands along the Aleutian chain. When not totally overcast, the islands are visible, but even on a sunny day like Saturday, each has their own cloud cover.

Saturday night, we all got an early wake-up call. At 11:30 PM, we experienced a 5.5 magnitude earthquake that shook my bed for 10 or 15 seconds. No damage done…

Now to the birds…

The day started off great with my finding a Belted Kingfisher at Sweeper Channel!

An Adak bird for me.

There have been several reports in recent years, but most of them have been right before I arrived or right after I left. So it was nice to finally catchup with one.

Rosy-Finches and Song Sparrows have found most of the feeders already. Their community memory is getting stronger. It used to take several days. Now I had birds at the feeders the same day I erected them!

Remember this photo from last May?

Here is a close-up view of that “nest.”

Basically, just a cleared spot on a little mound. Quite different from the multi-ton behemoths in Sycamore trees that I see back home.

And, although it is not breeding season here, an adult Bald Eagle let me know that she didn’t like me snooping around her nest.

Up at the Seawall, I had a pair of Ruddy Turnstones.

Other birds found by the other birders the past two days include Gyrfalcon, Eurasian Skylark, Garganey, and Siberian Sand-Plover.

Today’s list can be viewed at https://ebird.org/checklist/S274818938

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

Temps in the 50s, partly cloudy, Wind SW 15-20 mph

My flights to Anchorage were on time.

After doing my shopping, I drove up to Arctic Valley, as I had never been up there in the afternoon. I will be pressed for time on Saturday morning, so I thought I would try something different (I usually go up there on Saturday morning).

Just the usual suspects, and few of them. The occasional drizzle didn’t help.

The flight to Adak left a little early, and arrived early, but it took an hour to get our luggage! With minimum staffing, the same crew that unloads the incoming luggage is the same that loads the outgoing luggage. And, since getting the plane back in the air is the priority, the incoming luggage sits in a baggage cart until the outgoing luggage is loaded.

This flight had a lot of hunters and fishermen on it (in addition to about twenty birders), so there was a lot of luggage to offload. And the area where it is offloaded is small, so they had to do it in two batches. Of course, one of my bag was in the second batch!

So I finally got to my house, stored the perishable foods and started assembling the bird feeders.

By the time I had put two of them together, it was already after 4 pm, so I decided to just put those two out this afternoon and the others tomorrow morning. I wanted to get some birding in before I collapsed…

Birds of note included a flock of Sanderlings. Sanderling flocks often attract other shorebirds, so that was encouraging. A lone Cackling Goose on the Seawall and a couple of Thick-billed Murres were also noted.

There was no activity at the various willow/spruce areas, but it was late in the day and windy.

Today’s brief eBird list can be seen at https://ebird.org/checklist/S274576376

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