Just a short update as it was a very long day: We hiked from Alexai Point to Navy Town with a detour up West Massacre Valley for reported Oriental Greenfinches, which we missed. We then moved the boat down to Casco Cove for a reported Mongolian Plover, which we also missed. What we _did_ see today included a Long-toed Stint, first spotted by Mike “Tooch and Go” Toochin on a pond at Alexai Point, and a Rustic Bunting along Gilbert Ridge.
Attu, May 25
May 26th, 2010Attu, May 24 – a “first” North American record
May 25th, 2010Today was our first visit to Alexai Point. Like elsewhere, it was very slow at first. The only bird of any note was a fly-away Red-necked Stint found by Mike “Magic Tooch” Toochin. Most of the group then moved down the beach towards Gilbert Ridge. Near the base of the point, Kirk Zufelt flushed another male Rustic Bunting. Moving on, we watched a Glaucous-winged Gull fly over carrying an urchin. The gull dropped it on the rocks near one of us.
While looking up at it, Hermina Kramp and Rich MacIntosh spotted a snipe flying in overhead from behind. It landed along the beach in front of us and then disappeared into the grass. We flushed it back up to the road and then flushed it several more times before we could get a decent look at it, though each time it flew, it looked _very_ interesting…
By now, we were strongly suspecting it was a Solitary Snipe. Finally, we saw it on the ground, though it still wasn’t the best look. I was able to sneak up a hill and get a photo looking down on it. The photo is probably diagnostic though largely irrelevant now — researchers on the island were nearby and they were able to collect it. The specimen should be enough to put Solitary Snipe on the ABA and AOU North American checklists (assuming that identification is correct, of course).
I put “first” in quotes in the title because there was a report of Solitary Snipe from St. Paul island a few years ago. Even though it was photographed, the record was not accepted, though I hear it may be re-evaluated soon.
The winds are forecasted to remain from the north for the rest of our stay, but we have new hope for finding a few more birds before we have to leave.
Attu, May 21-23
May 25th, 2010Our first three days at Attu were by all accounts slow. There have been north winds for several weeks now with no real break. But there have been a few Asian birds, just no where near as many as we would have liked or expected. On May 21, there were 2 Wood Sandpipers in the runway ponds. On May 22, Mike “The Tooch” Toochin found a male Rustic Bunting in West Massacre Valley. We received word early on May 23 that a Hawfinch was seen briefly the night before along the Henderson River. It was refound this morning while two clients and myself were biking up to look for it. We got a look at it, but it didn’t stick around for the rest of the group to see it.
After birding, we moved the boat over to Alexai Point.
Cruising to Attu
May 25th, 2010Sorry for not keeping up to date. As expected, we had some problems with e-mail. Everything seems to be up and running now. I had been writing daily reports, but they were lost so I’ll combine days and just give a short wrap-up of what’s been going on.
We were at sea on May 19 and most of May 20. On May 19, we saw most of the expected pelagic species but nothing out of the ordinary (though we did see 5 species of auklets, including Whiskered). The highlight of the day came at dusk. We stopped to watch the massive Least and Crested Auklet colony at Sirius Point at Kiska. The sky was covered with thousands and thousands of birds. You can actually smell them — they have a citrus scent we could smell from the boat.
We woke up on May 20 near Buldir. We soon saw our first of eight Red-legged Kittiwakes, and again we saw five species of auklets. Later in the day we saw many Fork-tailed and Leach’s Storm-Petrels. A few Mottled Petrels were spotted throughout the afternoon. The oddest sighting of the day was a male Brambling that was going to land on the stern rail but then saw four of us, including my two co-leaders Rich “The MacInator” MacIntosh and Mike “Toocher” Toochin, sitting on lawn chairs.
Later, we stopped at Ingestrom Rocks and soon had over 40 Laysan Albatrosses swimming around the back of the boat. There was also a fly-by Black-footed. A Slaty-backed Gull was seen south of Shemya, and then we finally arrived at Attu and set anchor in Casco Cove.
At Sea, May 18
May 19th, 2010Our ship has finally come in. We headed out to bird this morning after breakfast, and the first thing we saw was the Puk-uk on the horizon. So we are now on the way to Attu.
The seabirding has been fairly good. On the southend of Little Tanaga Strait, we saw thousands of Whiskered Auklets. We also saw the other three _Aethia_ auklets to complete the grandslam. There was also a few possible Cassin’s Auklets, but we didn’t get confirmation on that.
We began to pick up Laysan Albatrosses along the south side of Kagalaska Island. At times 4 or more were flying around the boat. Then approaching Adak Strait, the number of tubenoses, particularly Fulmars began to build. It was dinner time, so most of us were down below when Kirk Zufelt started shouting something unintellegible. We wondered if it was an emergency or a good bird and decided he was yelling too loud for it to be an emergency. It had to be a good bird, and it was. Kirk saw a near-adult Short-tailed Albatross pass near the back end of the boat. By the time the rest of us got up there, it was pretty far behind the boat. It then passed us very far off the port side. Identifiable looks, but the rest of us are hoping for something better.
All in all a good day. Even Mike “Toochie” Toochin got 2 lifers.
Adak, May 17
May 17th, 2010Yes, that’s right. Adak. We should be on our way to Attu now, but the north winds that have been continuing the past several days — and today’s were the strongest yet — has slowed our boat’s progress. It should be arriving sometime tomorrow, probably in the morning.
No new Asian birds today, but Eurasian Wigeons were in several locations, and other groups reported that the Smew is still here. Another new bird today was a drake Common Merganser (i.e., not a Goosander) found by Mike “Tooch” Toochin. A few shorebirds were around, too: a male Pacific Golden-Plover at Contractors Camp, and a Sanderling and four Bar-tailed Godwits (probably the same that have been around for awhile) at Clam Lagoon. Clam Lagoon also gave us our first terns of the trip: two Aleutian Terns and at least four Arctic Terns.
Due to grocery shopping duties, I missed out on one of the most bizarre bird sightings on Adak. While checking out a report of a possible Common Ringed Plover this afternoon, Rich MacIntosh spotted a Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel flying up Sweeper Creek, giving great looks to about 20 birders. After that, Susan Clark found a Short-eared Owl hiding on a roadside cut bank.
p.s. The possible Common Ringed Plover turned out to be a Semipalmated.
Adak, May 16
May 17th, 2010I was able to see the Northern Wheatear last night around 10 PM. We tried looking for it this morning, but didn’t find it. Instead we found one Common and one Hoary Redpoll. Late today I heard the wheatear was found in a different spot today, so maybe there’s hope for tomorrow.
The Tufted Duck has returned once again to Smew Pond, plus more Eurasian Wigeons appeared to have arrived today. Also apparently arriving today was a Goosander (the Old World Common Merganser), found on Lake Andrew by Isaac Helmericks, and a Smew on Shotgun Lake found by Forrest Davis’ group. The Smew was too far away for a photo, but here’s a shot of Adak’s biggest twitch. Luckily, just about all the birders on the island were nearby, so most were able to converge within five minutes of the discovery.
Adak's biggest twitch
Adak, May 15
May 15th, 2010Not much going on today, some new additions to the Cackling Goose flock and now two Wandering Tattlers on Finger Bay Creek, but that’s about it…
…as I type this I’m being told about a Northern Wheatear that was found here today.
Adak, May 14
May 15th, 2010Great day today. The weather was very nice, so we headed over to Little Tanaga Strait for Whiskered Auklets. We saw several hundred, with two of them within 6 feet of the boat at one point. (The following photo is a different pair. They were about 50 feet away.)
Despite about 35 birders combing the island (and southwest winds), nothing much was found today. Three Bar-tailed Godwits are hanging on at Clam Lagoon, and the Cacklers are still at the airport (and still no Bean-Geese joining them). A few more Common Redpolls were found and my group kicked up a Common Snipe at Contractors Camp. We did another seawatch from the Loran Station and saw a few more Laysan Albatrosses, but it was otherwise pretty quiet.
Adak, May 13
May 13th, 2010Another day where my best bird would probably not be terribly interesting to anyone else: I found a pair of Common Redpolls at the Adak National Forest. I’ve seen Hoary here twice before, but not Common.
It seems other birds are arriving, and winds have shifted to the southwest, so I feel like we’re due for something “good”. There was a Tufted Duck next to a Eurasian Wigeon on Smew Pond today. It could be the same one that was there a couple of days ago. Or not. There are also a few new Bar-tailed Godwits here. There are now 4 at Clam Lagoon and another two on the beach just south of the airport landing lights. The Cackling Geese at the airport is also growing with at least 33 there now. Male Mallard numbers seem to be growing as well.
Today was our first trip to the old Loran Station on the north end of the island. We saw 3 Laysan Albatrosses in about 10 minutes and also one of the resident Winter Wrens.