A foggy day in Adak town…

Temp in the 50s, mostly sunny (see below), SW wind 10-15 mph.

We have spent 165 days on Adak since 2005. In all of that time, we have not seen a ground fog like today. The cloud ceiling is often very low, only part-way up the surrounding mountains, but not at ground level.

Today was different. We awoke to a pea-soup fog, with visibility only a hundred yards or so. We usually get out about sunrise (which is 8:30 right now) and birding was difficult at first. However, by around 9:30, we had made it up to Contractor’s Marsh and the fog had dissipated there, but not over town.

Fog bank over Adak, Sept 18, 2013.

An hour or two later, it had rolled out of town and out to Kuluk Bay towards Mount Sitkin.

Fog bank rolling out towards Mount Sitkin, Sept 18, 2013.

It was really weird, as the skies were sunny and windy.

But, back to birding…

Not much to report today. We relocated the Red Crossbill (yes, it is confirmed) at the little spruce trees at the Blue Building up near Clam Lagoon. Although it remained in shadow, a little photo-tweaking shows the bird full side-on to show no noticeable wingbars that a White-winged Crossbill would have had. Thus confirming our initial identification as Red Crossbill.

Red Crossbill, Blue Building spruces, Sept 18, 2013.

The Brambling also remained at the Naval Administration Building feeder today.

Brambling, Naval Admin Bldg feeder, Sept 18, 2013.

Brambling and Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch, Naval Admin Bldg feeder, Sept 18, 2013.

Doris McGovern sent us the following link http://birdcast.info/forecast/special-forecast-bering-sea-18-21-september-2013/ showing a weather pattern bearing down on Adak the next few days that promises to bring all sorts of wondrous Asian birds to the island!

Unfortunately, we are leaving tomorrow and there will be no more birders left on the island to record this event.

Question. If an Asian bird arrives on Adak and there are no birders there to see it, did it happen?

This is our last post until we get home. Starting tomorrow around 5 PM, we will be in airports and planes and cars until we arrive home Friday afternoon.

If I am not totally exhausted by then, I will post the final summary. If not, it will have to wait until Saturday.

A good day for “dickey birds.”

Temp in the 50s, partly sunny, light winds in the morning, becoming S 10-15 by late afternoon.

It is a rare day on Adak without wind, but this morning was the exception.

Overnight, the rain stopped and the wind all but vanished. It must have been a good night for small birds to migrate, as the Lapland Longspur population on the island crashed. Instead of seeing hundreds, we were seeing teens!

At Sweeper Cove, we saw another dolphin–just one this time. It was not frantically hunting like the pod from the other day, but was gently rising to the surface and going back under. We only got glimpses of it three times before it disappeared (no photos). The dorsal fin did not appear bi-colored like the White-sided Dolphins, and we did not see the lower half of the body for other markings. We will look it up when we get home, but it is unlikely that we will be able to identify it.

At Contractor’s Marsh, a Gyrfalcon has taken up territory, much to the dislike of the ravens and the Peregrine that had already staked it out.

Gyrfalcon, Contractor’s Marsh, Sept 17, 2013.

Common Raven chasing Gyrfalcon, Contractor’s Marsh, Sept 17, 2013.

We proceeded up to Adak National Forest and found a threesome of Pacific Wrens.

Pacific Wren, Adak National Forest, Sept 17, 2013.

While photographing these erstwhile little birds, another bird flew around to a higher branch. It was not a wren! It was a crossbill–as you can see, aptly named.

Crossbill, Adak National Forest, Sept 17, 2013.

We both identified it as a Red Crossbill (juvenile–hence no red), but got equivocal when we studied the photos. It might be a White-winged Crossbill. We have solicited help from experts and will let you know the results.

Crossbill, Adak National Forest, Sept 17, 2013.

In any case this is a terrific record. A Red would be a first for Adak and a White-winged a second!

At Haven Lake, a flock of ducks included wigeons, Mallards, and Common Teal. We also heard a snipe there.

At Clam Lagoon, only a few Sharp-tails and Pectorals were out feeding on the flats–and scooted back into the marsh.

The seawall was quiet, except for 15 Red-necked Grebes, 20 turnstones, and a Pacific Golden-Plover.

Pacific Golden-Plover, Seawall, Sept 17, 2013.

.At Lake Shirley, we caught a Peregrine bathing. It flew up towards the seawall, where we caught up with it shortly.

Peregrine Falcon Seawall, Sept 17, 2013.

We went over to a marsh near the road to Lake Andrew, where I walked to see what I could find. All I kicked up was a Pectoral. But while I was doing that, Barb took this picture of a moth that landed on the windshield (Lepidopterists, feel free to chime in!).

Moth, Sept 17, 2013.

Back at Adak National Forest, we tried again for the crossbill. No luck. However, we enjoyed the aerial antics of some Common Ravens.

Common Ravens, Adak, Sept 17, 2013.

We started checking all of the conifers that had cones to see if the crossbill showed up elsewhere. As we approached the Naval Admin Bldg feeder (seed thrown on the sidewalk under a spruce tree), we saw it was just about out of seed. So we pulled up next to it and as I reached for the door handle to get out, I looked up to see a Brambling not ten feet away! It promptly flew off. I scattered some fresh seed and we went to check on another feeder. Nothing there, so we returned to the Naval feeder and the Brambling was back.

Brambling, Naval Admin Bldg, Sept 17, 2013.

As I said, a good day for dickey birds!

Our trip list is 61, just one off our best September list.

A day and a half to go.

Falcons!

Temp about 50, overcast, rain in late afternoon, SW wind 10-20 mph.

As we were driving north on Bayshore Drive this morning, I spotted a falcon flying over the Water Towers Bluff. It “looked funny,” so we drove up to the bluff to try to get a better look. It had flown off by then, so who knows?

At the Elfin Forest, we were excited when a few ducks swam out of the nearby pond, as this is where the Baikal Teal hung out last September. Alas, it was not to be–just Common Teal and Mallards.

At Clam Lagoon, the Sharp-tail/Pectoral flock was again feeding out on the flats. I walked the marsh edge, but didn’t find anything new.

On the east side of Clam Lagoon, I spotted a Peregrine Falcon sitting out on the flats and then saw a larger falcon about 40 yards away, also standing on the flats. It was a Gyrfalcon–our first for this trip.

Gyrfalcon, Clam Lagoon, Sept 16, 2013.

Gyrfalcon, Clam Lagoon, Sept 16, 2013.

They both took off and interacted briefly over the nearby bluff.

Peregrine Falcon (left) and Gyrfalcon, Clam Lagoon, Sept 16, 2013.

On our return trip past the seawall, I noticed a falcon flying over the sea. It was hunting–what, I do not know. It would hover over a spot like a Kestrel and then dive at something on the surface. As far as I could tell, it came up empty-handed every time. It was not diving at birds, but some other sealife. We watched it for about ten minutes, and it never caught anything, but was very determined. It appeared to be the Gyrfalcon.

Gyrfalcon hunting over Sitkin Sound, Sept 16, 2013.

We continued north along the seawall, and while scanning the almost completely calm sea, spotted 20(!) Red-necked Grebes. A new high for us. Obviously, they were on the move last night.

Red-necked Grebes, Seawall, Sept 16, 2013.

The wind is forecast to be from the south, southwest, and west the next few days. The fallout last week came during a rain storm with strong south winds. Here’s hoping!

Lifer! Lifer! (well, not an avian lifer, but a lifer nonetheless!)

Temp in the 50s, partly sunny, SW wind 10-20 mph.

At Sweeper Cove this morning, we found a pod of about 10-11 Pacific White-sided Dolphins! A lifer for us. Trying to get photos was difficult to say the least. Trying to anticipate where they would next breach and snap the photo before they submerged was a real treat! However, I did manage to get one identifiable photo and a picture of them as they swam away into Kuluk Bay.

Pacific White-sided Dolphin, Sweeper Cove, Sept 15, 2013.

Pacific White-sided Dolphins, Sweeper Cove, Sept 15, 2013.

In Kuluk Bay, near Navfac Creek, we spotted a Common Loon, Oldsquaw, and both White-winged and Black scoters. Waterfowl is starting to move, as we are seeing new species and some birds in breeding plumage, not just eclipse.

At Clam Lagoon, a flock of 14 Sharp-tailed and 10 Pectoral sandpipers were out feeding on the flats. There was nothing out on the peninsula, but a nice juvenile Pectoral Sandpiper was joined by a “Songpiper.”

Pectoral Sandpiper and Song Sparrow, Clam Lagoon, Sept 15, 2013.

The Song Sparrows on Adak spend as much, if not more, of their time along the shoreline–both of the lagoon and the sea. We affectionately refer to them as Songpipers.

At the seawall, the sea was calm. The four Horned Grebes were still here, as was the Red-necked Grebe.

Horned Grebe, Seawall, Sept 15, 2013.

At Candlestick Bridge, the Harbor Seals were out sunning.

Harbor Seals sunning at Clam Lagoon, Sept 15, 2013.

Our trip list stands at 56, just six shy of our best September list.

Keep ’em comin’!

Lifer! Lifer!

Temp in the 50s, mostly sunny, west wind 10-20 mph.

After the usual Sweeper Cove/Creek/Feeders route, we headed up to White Alice (a hill west of town where the communication towers are located) and picked up a number of Snow Buntings.

We then headed to Clam Lagoon, where I decided to walk the marsh edge. I kicked out a number of Pectoral and Sharp-tailed sandpipers, some of whom landed on the flats, fed awhile, and then flew back to the marsh.

About halfway up, Barb called me about a few birds closer to her position up at the northwest corner of the tidal flats. She had three Pectorals and a peep and possibly the Mongolian Plover (I know! Its called Lesser Sand-Plover now, but Mongolian is way cooler!). Barb has nicknamed the plover “dumpy” as that is how it looks when first seen through the scope. I was still too far away to see them. They flew off and then appeared to return, but now it was a different mix of birds. There were still three Pectorals, but now there were two peeps–a small one and a larger one.

I finally got close enough to start photographing them and trying to identify them through my binos. The larger peep was an obvious Baird’s Sandpiper–one of the easier peeps to identify.

Baird’s Sandpiper, Clam Lagoon, Sept 13, 2013.

The other (smaller) peep looked gray. As I got closer, I saw it had yellow legs! Now I new it was a Temminck’s Stint! A lifer! I photographed the heck out of it, and we studied the photos very carefully when we got back, and confirmed my initial impression. I know from past experience how faulty field observations and first impressions can be. However, the photos confirmed it as a juvenile Temmincks Stint.

Temminck’s Stint, Clam Lagoon, Sept 13, 2013.

Temminck’s Stint, Clam Lagoon, Sept 13, 2013.

I circled around the stint and headed out to the peninsula. Shortly after I rounded the bend, I saw movement ahead. It was the Mongolian Plover. This time, not so wary. The photos I got are still not Nat Geo quality, but much better than yesterday.

Mongolian Plover, Clam Lagoon, Sept 13, 2013

We also saw a Red-necked Grebe today to bring our trip list to 51.

Not a bad start to our second week.