Temp in the 50s, overcast, rain, S wind 15-30 mph, increasing as the day went on.

Sweeper Cove and channel were pretty empty of birds. This was the highest tide we’ve had this trip, leaving little shorebird-attractive shoreline along the creek. The strong wind and rain didn’t help, either.

After checking the Warbler Willows, we drove out to Lake Andrew. As we drove along the shore, a Northern Harrier popped up and, with a 30 mph tailwind, quickly disappeared ahead of us. It was a female, but we never got close enough or photos to determine if it was the American or Eurasian race. The one we had in September 2009 was American.

After going back and forth on the road hoping the bird would circle back, we spotted three Eurasian Wigeon on the lake. So far this year, the wigeon have all stayed at a distance not suitable for photography, but these were much closer — albeit in lousy light conditions.

Eurasian Wigeon, Lake Andrew, Sept 30, 2015.

Eurasian Wigeon, Lake Andrew, Sept 30, 2015. Braving the wind-driven waves.

The wind was howling out at the Seawall, but the waves were smaller than yesterday. We finally found a Common Loon for the triplist. We also saw a parade of Albatrosses, just visible with binoculars, but just far enough out and with poor visibility as to make species identification impossible. We counted at least 8, and if we had scanned some more, we probably could have counted more.

The waterfowl flock on Lake Shirley continued with Greater Scaup, Eurasian Wigeon, Northern Pintails, Mallards, and were joined by two Northern Shovelers.

Nothing else of note today. We ended earlier than usual because the weather was getting worse.

We leave tomorrow at 6 pm (Adak time) and expect to arrive home Friday around 5 pm est.

The final wrap-up post will be posted Saturday morning (unless the Anhinga at Tinicum is still being seen and we run down to get it!).

Triplist is 55.

WARBLER! WARBLER! Well… let’s not  get too excited…

Temp in the 40s, sunny, south wind 10-15 mph

We woke up to something we had never seen on Adak — a clear sky! Not a cloud to be seen! Because of the clear skies and diminished wind, the temperature dropped to 32. We had to scrape the ice off the car windows. Mt Moffet received its first snow of the season — just a dusting, which melted off by midday. Mt Sitkin (1800 Ft higher) got more snow, which didn’t melt off.

While drinking her morning coffee and watching our birdfeeder, Barb saw a flock of 4 Redpolls come in briefly, but they moved on before I could get there.

At Sweeper Cove, just like yesterday, we found an immature puffin. Only this time it was a Horned.

Juvenile Horned Puffin, Sweeper Cove, Sept 29, 2015.

I walked much of Contractor’s Camp Marsh today and found exactly zero shorebirds!

The longspur numbers are diminishing rapidly.

We got up to the willows below Haven Lake (which we used to call the Boy Scout Cabins Willows — see below) around noon. As I walked over to the willows, I saw a bird flitting. I got on it immediately (while shouting to Barb “Warbler!”) and my first reaction was “Oh crap, a confusing fall warbler!”

Of course, we were hoping for a confusing Asian warbler, but it was not to be. It was an American warbler — a Blackpoll Warbler. Although common back home, this was not only a first record for Adak, but a first record for all of the Aleutians! Not bad.

Blackpoll Warbler, Warbler Willows, Sept 29, 2015.

Blackpoll Warbler, Warbler Willows, Sept 29, 2015.

Blackpoll Warbler, Warbler Willows, Sept 29, 2015.

Since this is where we had the Wood Warbler (4th North American record!) last September, we are christening these now the Warbler Willows.

The triplist is 53.

A day-and-a-half to go…

Temp in the 40s, N wind 10-20 mph, partly sunny.

No new birds today.

At Sweeper cove this morning, we found a juvenile Tufted Puffin. We have found them here on previous trips, but the lighting was always terrible. This morning, the sun was shining.

Tufted Puffin (juvenile), Sweeper Cove, Sept 28, 2015.

Tufted Puffin (juvenile), Sweeper Cove, Sept 28, 2015.

I walked the Clam Lagoon Peninsula and marsh edge and found only one Pectoral Sandpiper! I guess the cold front not only brought in a few birds, but pushed some out as well. On the walk out the peninsula, there were numerous jellyfish which had been stranded on the last high tide.

Stranded Jellyfish, Clam Lagoon, Sept 28, 2015.

Stranded Jellyfish, Clam Lagoon, Sept 28, 2015. Note the track made by the upper one.

In addition to the influx of Eurasian Wigeon, the number of Northern Pintails has also risen. As we were counting the number of pintails and wigeon on Lake Shirley, an immature Bald Eagle swooped in and sent everyone flying. Once airborne, the flock attracted the attention of a nearby Peregrine who almost got one of the pintails, but the duck zigged when the hawk zagged, and escaped. The ducks returned to the lake and the Peregrine took a few more unsuccessful passes at them and then moved on.

We’ll keep looking…

Temp in the 50s, but going down to the 40s, mostly cloudy, intermittent light showers, N wind 10-20 mph

The cold front certainly brought some birds to the island and allowed us to see some that we had missed earlier.

The north winds changed the flight path of the masses of shearwaters going by the Seawall, making them visible again. So we were able to watch them for a while and pick out both Black-footed and Laysan albatrosses.

As we were going by the north end of Clam Lagoon, hundreds of Kittiwakes flew in and settled on the water. We had seen this behavior before, down at Sweeper Cove. They do not appear to be feeding, just resting.

Black-legged Kittiwakes, Clam Lagoon, Sept 27, 2015.

Up until today, we could only find 11 Eurasian Wigeon, and they were on Haven Lake. Last night, several dozen arrived. We found 24 on Lake Shirley and another dozen or so on Clam Lagoon. Isaac had told us they start arriving en masse in late September, and so they did…

The numbers we saw today probably equals all of the Eurasian Wigeon we have seen on all of our trips out here, as we only see a few pairs in May and never have stayed this late in September to see the larger numbers.

We kicked up more Pectoral Sandpipers today, 5 along the road going out to Lake Andrew and a couple in Contractor’s Camp Marsh. I plan to walk the marsh and/or Clam Lagoon tomorrow to see what else dropped in.

There are still a couple of flocks of Ruddy Turnstones hanging around.

The bad news is that one of the runways (north/south) has been declared unfit and is not going to be repaired. This leaves just the NE/SW runway for all landings and takeoffs. This may mean more cancelled flights, as certain wind and weather conditions will preclude landing there.

Fred left today, leaving us as the only birders on the island for the next four days.

The triplist is 52.

Temp in the 50s, S wind 5-15 mph, mostly cloudy, occasional shower.

We finally caught up to a Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, but it wouldn’t sit still long enough for a photo. Unlike these turnstones.

Ruddy Turnstones, Landing Lights Jetty, Sept 26, 2015.

There were 15 turnstones and 7 Rock Sandpipers at the Landing Lights Jetty.

A lone White-winged Scoter off the Seawall takes our triplist to 50.

After a few days of Peregrines only, we found a Gyrfalcon at Contractor’s Camp Marsh. The number of longspurs appears to be declining, they are starting to leave.

The Crested Auklet is still hanging around the Fuel Pier, but disappears from time-to-time.

We saw dolphins (porpoises?) in Sweeper Cove this morning, but too far away and too briefly to identify. We have been seeing marine mammals frequently this trip, but rarely well enough to identify or photograph.

By the way, gas is down to $6.49 out here (down from $6.81 in May)!

Northwest winds are predicted tomorrow. Come on, birds!

Temp in the high 50s, S wind 10-20 mph mostly cloudy.

We are getting Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches, Song Sparrows, and Lapland Longspurs (collectively known up here as Rosy Long-Sparrows!) at the feeders, but nothing else so far.

It rained last night, so we weren’t eating dust all day. Some of the small wet areas got wetter…

Fred (the recently-arrived birder) and I walked the Clam Lagoon marsh edge in hopes that two people might find more birds than one. We did, but not by much. We found 3 Long-billed Dowitchers (as opposed to 2) and 2 Pectoral Sandpipers (as opposed to 1). Still no Sharp-tails.

The Taiga Flycatcher was last seen on Wednesday, 9/23.

The change in weather may have brought in some loons. We had one Pacific and 4(!) Yellow-billed — 2 in breeding plumage and two in non-breeding — at the Seawall.

We also spotted a couple of Kittlitz’s Murrelets, to bring our triplist to 48.

As we came around a bend on the west side of Clam Lagoon, a young Bald Eagle attempted to fly away from the shoreline, but misjudged his takeoff and fell haplessly into the lagoon! Not very suave…

He tried to swim, then tried to take off again, then just swam back to shore — suitably embarrassed.

Embarrassed Bald Eagle, Clam Lagoon, Sept 25, 2015.

Embarrassed Bald Eagle, Clam Lagoon, Sept 25, 2015.

Embarrassed Bald Eagle, Clam Lagoon, Sept 25, 2015.

We saw a Stellar’s Sea Lion at the Seawall and a Minke Whale was giving brief views there as well.

Not a bad way to start our second week.