We headed to South Beach by way of Murder Point. The Smew was still absent from the pond near Murder Point. Beyond this, we walked along the shoreline, and Isaac found another Whooper Swan. It was just like the first: dead. This one was decayed more. I didn’t even bother giving this one CPR. A little further along, I was walking along the base of some bluffs and flushed a Brambling, the first Asian passerine of the trip. (Well, the Pine Grosbeak was likely of Asian origin, but no one is going to get excited about that one.) It must have been beat from the flight in because it allowed a close approach after the initial flush and was constantly feeding. (It was still feeding when we refound it on the walk back up the beach a few hours later.)

Brambling (photo by Doug Hitchcox)

There wasn’t much around the South Beach area. The only birds of note was a Rock Ptarmigan far up the hillside above the beach and a fly-by Vega Herring Gull seen by Isaac. On the walk back, several of us spotted a fly-by Slaty-backed Gull.

One of our group, Dr. Carl Sheely, didn’t make the bike/walk to South Beach. He stayed behind and birded around Casco Cove and the runways. When we got back in radio range, he told us he had found a Wood Sandpiper in a pond next to the E-W runway. It posed well for photos.

Wood Sandpiper (photo by Doug Hitchcox)

Everybody got to see the Wood Sandpiper except one person. He was back at the boat. We radioed him and Captain Bill brought him to shore to see the bird, which at this point had disappeared uphill at the west end of the runway. As we were looking for it, Isaac pointed out a male Snowy Owl on the side of Weston Mountain to our south. This is where we had been seeing an owl earlier, but now there were two. Maybe they’ll nest here.

The spot the sandpiper had flown to was just above the last (i.e., most westerly) revetment on the south side of the runway. I had been eyeing this spot as a place to look for passerines, so I circled around the edges on my bike and flushed three birds. Two disappeared over the top of the embankment, but the one that stayed, though only briefly, was an ORIENTAL GREENFINCH. It was just me, Isaac, and one group member here. Everyone else had returned to Lower Base to get a ride back to the boat. I radioed them, and of course, everyone was back on their bikes, headed our way.

When everyone was assembled, we walked to the top of the revetment, where the Greenfinch had flown. On the way, the Wood Sandpiper flushed. We walked about 200 feet when Doug Hitchcox saw the bird zip back down to the side of the revetment. We headed back down but could not see the bird. It then flew again, disappearing over the other side of the revetment, so we went over to the next one to the east. We formed a line and moved to where we thought it might be. No luck, but I flushed another three Brambling. Up to this point, I was thinking that maybe we should delay our trip to Etienne Bay, but now I was sure.

We got back to the spot where the Greenfinch was originally seen, and finally Isaac saw it at the base of the embankment. It feed in this spot for about five minutes, and I was able to get it in the scope.

Oriental Greenfinch (photo by Doug Hitchcox)

Oriental Greenfinch (photo by Doug Hitchcox)

I don’t know why our luck changed today. Sure, it may have been the weather, but I think I’ll put sunscreen on every morning now, just in case.

Not too much new today. We looked for the Smew again this morning with no luck. The only arrival has been at least 25 Pacific Golden-Plovers. The Common Snipe was seen again, too.

One bit of housekeeping: we did see 3 Short-tailed Albatrosses a few days ago. Studying the photos, Isaac saw that the first one was not banded while the third was (and the second one was undergoing primary molt while the others were not).

Just before lunch, Doug Hitchcox flushed a Common Snipe from a wet area next to the E-W runway. We called everyone over and as a group walked up to where he had seen it land. It flushed again before we could spot it on the ground, typical of my experience with this species in the Aleutians (well, it’s typical of all snipe everywhere). The white trailing edge of the wings, broader than on a Wilson’s Snipe, was apparent as it flew off. We tried to find it on the ground two more times with similar results, though instead of flying directly away on the last flush, it flew off to our left. A few got to see the underwings, whiter than a Wilson’s underwings.

We then had lunch at this spot. As we were finishing, Jake the bike mechanic, who had just left to return to the boat, started waving at us and pointing from across the runway. Jake forgot he had a radio, but Isaac did not. Isaac radioed to him, asking what was going on. Jake said there was a bird with “red on the head and black and white wings” near him. I thought maybe it was a redpoll, but soon it flew to a spot where we could partially see it. It was too big for a redpoll, and from what we could see, the red was not only on the head but also on the breast. I hurried to get my scope, but while I did that, it flew again. Isaac saw enough to think that it was a Pine Grosbeak.

We formed a line and walked towards the spot it disappeared. It flushed again and few toward the ponds at the end of the runway. When we got there, it popped up on the side of a bank, giving most of us excellent though brief views. It was a Pine Grosbeak, likely of the subspecies found in eastern Russia. Definitely not a bird I was expecting to see here, though there are previous records.

Later in the afternoon, I stopped by the bridge over Kingfisher Creek and did a quick scan of the upstream side. I didn’t find anything, but when I brought my binocular down, a tattler flew upstream. Based on habitat alone — a rocky, fast-flowing stream — I thought it was probably a Wandering Tattler, and that’s what it proved to be when the group refound it.

I thought that the tattler story would be the end of today’s post, but after dinner, I went back on shore to make a few adjustments to some of the bikes. Captain Bill came along, and we went for a short bike ride first. We made it over to near Murder Point. There’s a pond between the road and the point, and I noticed a few ducks: four Greater Scaup (two males and two females), two female Red-breasted Mergansers…and one female Smew. Everyone else was on the boat, so Captain Bill went back and got most everyone. We went back to the pond, and now there were just five ducks: the four scaup and one Red-breasted Merganser. [insert downward slide whistle sound f/x]. We looked at a few other ponds with no luck. Disappointing, yes, but now I know where to start birding tomorrow.

Truth be told, today wasn’t particularly birdy. Around sunrise, there were 3 Vega Herring Gulls with a flock of Glaucous-winged Gulls in Casco Cove. While Jake (our deckhand/bike mechanic) and I were getting the bikes ready, Isaac took the group for a walk and found a Snowy Owl on a hill south of the E-W runway. Later, we flushed two male Eurasian Wigeon on the south shore of Casco Cove. That was about all the excitement there was today, other than the fact that we are on Attu.

Things got even more interesting after we passed the island. We continued to encounter sperm whales (we saw about 15 or more by the end of the day), and there were occasional pods of Dall’s porpoises. Then we found a tight pod of whales that may have been a species of beaked whale. We have photographs and will be doing some research in the next few days to see if we can identify them. We also crossed paths with a small pod of orcas. There were only about five in this pod, including a very small young one. (We encountered a larger pod last night est of Little Sitkin Island after I wrote yesterday’s blog post. That pod had about 20.)

A short time after that, Carl Sheely, Pat Moynahan, and Marian Zimmerman spotted the first Short-tailed Albatross of the trip, a young bird with a little white starting to appear on the belly and around the eye. It zipped by us on the starboard side and disappeared behind our stern. I ran back and started chumming. At first it attracted only Laysan Albatrosses, then a Black-footed, and eventually the Short-tailed made an appearance. Like other Short-taileds I’ve chummed in, it came back but never approached the boat very closely. While we were watching the Short-tailed, a flock of six Bar-tailed Godwits flew past.

We spent the next few hours on Mottled Petrel watch but couldn’t turn one up. Eventually, Isaac spotted another immature Short-tailed Albatross approaching us from behind, coming up our port side. Again, I ran to the stern and started chumming. Almost immediately an adult Long-tailed Jaeger showed up to inspect the chum. The number of Laysan Albatrosses began to build as well. Soon there were two Red-legged Kittiwakes along with Black-legged Kittiwakes. Then finally the Short-tailed Albatross made an appearance. And then it disappeared again. And then it showed up again, or so we thought at first. It was actually another Short-tailed. This one’s primary feathers were all fully grown. The previous Short-tailed was undergoing primary molt. We need to study the photos of the first and third Short-tailed to make sure they aren’t one and the same.

The second Short-tailed Albatross (photo by Isaac Helmericks)

We finished the day with three albatross species, three jaeger species, both kittiwakes, five species of auklets (Cassin’s Auklet was new for the trip), and a few other seabirds. Tomorrow when we wake up, we should be in Casco Cove at Attu.

We just went through a large concentration of Least Auklets south of Semisopochnoi. Crested Auklets were scattered in with them. In the early morning, we also had a few Parakeet and Whiskered Auklets, giving us the Aethia grand slam. We also had a few Thick-billed Murres, our first of the trip.

We’ll probably pass Kiska Island sometime tonight in the dark, Buldir around 2 PM tomorrow, and make it to Attu about 12 hours later. But travel time is always dependent on the weather, so we shall see.

The area where I have my gear stored has a lot of moose. There’s usually one hanging around the yard. I didn’t even notice this one at first:

I could tell you all about the assembly of the bikes, the careful adjustments of the derailleurs, making sure all the tires were properly inflated and all the tools were there, but it was as exciting as it sounds. The pinnacle of excitement was when the front derailleur cable went out whack (I apologize for the use of bike jargon), and I had to use a rope to make up for my lack of a proper work stand.

I’ll momentarily jump forward to the end of the bike work. Here’s the fleet, ready to be loaded on the Puk-uk:

Enough about the bikes. I also snuck in some birding time on the Homer Spit and nearby spots. Some of the best birds were two Yellow-billed Loons and a few distant Steller’s Eider. My usual camera was in the shop, and my attempts at digiscoping didn’t come out, so sorry no photos of those birds. But here are a few not-too-blurry shots:

Finally, I’ll leave you with my favorite street sign in Homer. It’s a perfectly fine nautical term, but my maturity level makes me find humor in it.

In a few days, I’ll be traveling yet again. The ultimate destination of this one is Attu. No, Attu is not closed. Never has been. It just became nearly impossible to fly there. And it’s been really difficult to find a boat.

The late Denny Hodsdon had been bugging me for years to find a way out there. I just couldn’t find a suitable boat for the longest time. I would’ve given up had he not continued sending me the occasional email asking how the search was going. Serendipity finally struck during a visit to Adak in the spring of 2009. I was talking to a biologist about the difficulty of finding a boat. He told me about a new boat in Homer, AK and that the owner was interested in doing charters for scientific work and nature tours. It sounded too good to be true, but lo and behold everything worked out, and my company, Zugunruhe Birding Tours, ran a trip to Attu on board the Puk-uk in 2010. (You can read the eight-page trip report here.)

We didn’t do a trip in 2011, but we’re going this year, so I went up to Homer a few weeks ago to make sure the bikes and the rest of our equipment were in working order. I flew to Anchorage from Seattle (I recommend sitting on the right side of the plane – the views are better) and then drove to Homer.

The drive takes a little over four hours, but it’s a bit deceiving. The first hour takes about 50 minutes, the next hour takes about 1 hour, the third hour clocks in at 1.25 hours, and the final one lasts at least 90 minutes. Well, that’s what it feels like. The drive was largely uneventful. I saw 3 Harlan’s Hawks and about the same number of Moose. I arrived in Homer just after sunset around 10 PM.

Soon after arriving in Homer, I visited Wilderness Birding Adventures’ super guide Aaron Lang. I had last seen him on Adak 2 years ago. It was good to catch up. He had just completed putting in a new floor in his house:

It was bedtime after that…Check back for part 2 of the prep work very soon.

As far as I know, this is the first video of it’s kind — an original music video by birders for birders.  (But I’m probably wrong, and I’m sure you’ll let me know in the comments.)  I thought I was scooped by Gyr Crakes, but since I’m not hip to hip music, I didn’t realize the music was taken from an existing track.  I guess I gotta start hanging out with young Brits to educate myself about such things.

FYI, it looks better at 720p (you can select that on the bottom right corner of the screen after you hit “play”), especially if you watch it on YouTube (it’s bigger on there).  And just in case anyone is wondering, no, Brian St. Clair didn’t have a part in this.  I mention this protect his reputation.