May 2011

Posted on November 8, 2015 by frank

Note: We didn’t start keeping a daily blog of our trips to Adak until September 2011. So this is a brief summary of one of the previous trips. For more photos of birds, scenery, flowers, trip lists, etc., go to www.franklinhaas.com and click on Birding Adak.

May 15-29, 2011

We arrived on Sunday 5/15.

Isaac had alerted us to a Steller’s Eider that had been hanging around the Seawall for several weeks. We headed up there and found the bird. It stayed for our entire trip (to 5/29).

Steller’s Eider, May 20, 2011, Seawall..

On Monday (5/16) we found a Tufted Duck on the Airport Ponds and a Glaucous Gull along Bayshore Blvd.

Glaucous Gull, May 16, 2011, Clam Lagoon.

On Tuesday (5/17) we found a Wandering Tattler at the Seawall.

On Wednesday (5/18), up at the Blue Building Feeder, we found a Hawfinch – the first of several.

Hawfinch, May 20, 2011, Blue Building Feeder.

On Thursday (5/19), while scanning birds out in Kuluk Bay from the Palisades Overlook, I spotted a couple of Fulmars just off Zeto Point.

On Friday (5/20), while I was walking through Contractor’s Camp Marsh, Barb found a flock of six Whimbrel (Siberian race). I quickly joined her and saw them.

On Saturday (5/21) we had a Common Greenshank fly over at Contractor’s Camp Marsh, but could not relocate it.

On Monday (5/23) we found a Black-headed Gull at Clam Lagoon.

On Wednesday (5/25) at Sweeper Channel, four Wood Sandpipers walked out of the reeds, saw us and flew off before I could get a photo.

On the Clam Lagoon Peninsula, I found a Red-necked Stint.

Red-necked Stint, May 27, 2011, Clam Lagoon.

Red-necked Stint, May 25, 2011, Clam Lagoon.

On Thursday (5/26) we found another Hawfinch at the Naval Administration Building Feeder and a female Brambling.

Hawfinches and Brambling, May 26, 2011, Naval Admin Bldg Feeder.

Hawfinch, May 26, 2011, Naval Admin Bldg Feeder.

Brambling, May 26, 2011. Naval Admin Bldg Feeder.

Later, up at the Adak National Forest, we found a male Brambling.

Brambling, May 26, 2011. Adak National Forest.

On Friday (5/27) we found two Hawfinches and another Brambling at the Seal Drive Feeder!

Hawfinches and Brambling, May 27, 2011, Seal Drive Feeder.

Our trip list was 67. We got one lifer (Steller’s Eider) and although we had seen Red-necked Stint at Bombay Hook many years ago, this one was much more satisfying – a closer view. Also, the multiple Hawfinches and Bramblings were nice to see.

We will return in September.

May 2010

Posted on November 8, 2015 by frank

May 13-27, 2010

We arrived on Thursday, 5/13.

After unpacking, we headed up to Adak National Forest, where Isaac told us there was a Common Redpoll hanging out. We got the redpoll.

Common Redpoll, May 13, 2010, Adak National Forest.

At Clam Lagoon, we discovered a Greater White-fronted Goose.

Barb had not been feeling well prior to our arrival, but she had persevered and went anyway. By Friday morning, she was feeling terrible and so we went to the clinic, where she was diagnosed with “walking pneumonia.” She spent the next several days in the apartment, resting. I went out and birded on my own. By Monday, she felt well enough to go out birding with me in the afternoon, although I did all of the driving. Normally, she does all of the driving and I take pictures…

We continued this pattern for several more days until she felt well enough to go out all day. Fortunately, she didn’t miss any lifers.

On Saturday (5/15) I saw the Northern Wheatear that Isaac had found earlier in the day.

On Sunday (516) I saw the Smew that one of the other birding groups located at Shotgun Lake.

Smew, May 18, 2010, Shotgun Lake.

On Monday (5/17), while I and the other two tour groups were standing at Sweeper Creek checking out a Semi-palmated Plover (which I had thought might be a Ringed), a Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel flew by!

Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel, May 17, 2010, Sweeper Creek.

On Tuesday (5/18) we drove around the back of Shotgun Lake so I could crawl up the embankment and possibly get a closer photo of the Smew. While I was doing that, Barb had an Olive-backed Pipit pop up and promptly disappear. We could not relocate it. So another lifer for Barb, but not me.

John Pushock was on the island leading a tour group that was on its way to Attu. He had contracted the Puck-Uk to take them out to Attu for the first birding tour out there in several years. They left that afternoon.

Puck-Uk, May 18, 2010, heading to Attu.

On Wednesday (5/19) we found a Wandering Tattler on Finger Creek.

On Thursday (5/20), while birding on my own, I found a Least Sandpiper on Sweeper Channel.

Least Sandpiper, May 20, 2010, Sweeper Channel.

Later in the day (with Barb), we found a Hawfinch at the Sandy Cove Bluffs Rock feeder.

Hawfinch, May 2o, 2010, Sandy Cove Bluffs.

We didn’t add anything new the next few days.

On Monday (5/24), Isaac took me out to try to get some more Whiskered Auklet photos (and maybe some other auklets as well). We were successful with the whiskered, but only had a distant view of some Parakeet Auklets.

Whiskered Auklet, May 24, 2010, Little Tanaga Strait.

Our trip list was 64. We added a couple lifers (Petrel for Frank, Pipit for Barb), but overall it was a disappointing trip – and Barb’s illness didn’t help.

September 2009

Posted on November 8, 2015 by frank

September 10-24, 2009

We arrived on Thursday, 9/10. Unlike previous years, there was now a resident birder on the island – Isaac Helmricks – the station manager for Alaska Airlines. Isaac is a VERY good birder who grew up on the North Slope of Alaska and knew Alaskan birds like the back of his hand.

There were no rarities to chase when we arrived and the first two days were uneventful.

On Saturday (9/12) we found an early Emperor Goose.

On Sunday (9/13) we added a Wandering Tattler and a Sharp-tailed Sandpiper.

The rest of the week was the usual suspects, but on Friday (9/18), we were driving past the south end of the Seawall when Barb yelled out “hawk!” I quickly got on the bird that had flown across in front of us and had landed on a chain-link fence surrounding an old building. It was a cuckoo! Common/Oriental cuckoos look like accipiters in flight, hence the first impression of hawk. I took a couple of photos – it was facing away from us – then got out of the car to try to get another angle. It flew off around to the back of the building. Barb went around one way and I the other. It flew back to the front again, but just as I was getting the camera on it, it flew off – not to be seen again. Examination of the photos led us to believe it was a Common Cuckoo.

Common Cuckoo, Sept 18, 2009, near Seawall.

We contacted Isaac, and although he did not relocate the cuckoo, while searching for it, he found a Dusky Warbler! He called us and we returned to the area with him. I walked with him to where he had last seen it and saw a small bird pop out and fly away. It was the warbler, but I never got a good enough look at it to identify it. So it is not on our list.

Later, while driving along the Seawall, I spotted a whale close in to shore. I was so excited that I couldn’t get the words out and finally yelled “Large marine mammal!” It turned out to be an Orca, but was very uncooperative. It would surface for a second, then dive and not come up for several minutes – you had to guess where. So by the time I would get the camera on it, it would be diving again. So this is all I got for a photo.

Orca, Sept 18, 2009, Seawall.

On Saturday (9/19), we found a Northern Wheatear near the Elfin Forest. This was the second consecutive trip that we had this species. It stayed for three days.

Northern Wheatear, Sept 21, 2009, near Elfin Forest.

Northern Wheatear, Sept 19, 2009, near Elfin Forest.

On Tuesday (9/22) we spotted a Yellow-billed Loon off the Seawall.

On Wednesday (9/23) we got a call from Isaac saying he had a Pomarine Jaeger in Sweeper Cove. As we were racing down there to see it, a Brambling flew across the road and up onto the Sandy Cove Bluffs. It was a nice male. It flew away before I could photograph it. We did not get the jaeger.

On our final day (Thursday 9/24), we were birding around town and the airport, when we spotted a harrier. It turned out to be a Northern Harrier and later examination of our photos showed it to be the North American race (as opposed to the Asian race).

Our trip list was only 51, but we added one lifer (the Cuckoo), several Adak birds, and a mammal lifer (Orca).

May 2008

Posted on November 8, 2015 by frank

May 29 to June 12, 2008

After a couple of spring and fall trips, we decided to try something a little different. Instead of coming for the last two weeks of May, we arrived on May 29 and stayed unti June 12. We knew the waterfowl would be mostly gone, but we hoped for some late passerine migrants (strays).

We arrived Thursday evening, unpacked and headed out to see what was around (neither of us can remember if any other birding groups were here just prior to our arrival).

Someone told us there was a flock of Sandhill Cranes down near the Gas Station. We went there and saw a flock of about 35. The numbers declined each day thereafter until we saw the last one on June 10.

Sandhill Cranes, June 4, 2008, just west of Sweeper Cove.

Up at Clam Lagoon, a Wandering Tattler flushed as we drove by, but then settled down on the shoreline for us to appreciate it.

Wandering Tattler, May 30, 2008, Clam Lagoon.

We also had a Wood Sandpiper, but cannot remember where (and no photo)!

Friday produced nothing new.

On Saturday (5/31) we found a Common Greenshank on the mudflats between the two bridges on Sweeper Channel. We saw it off-and-on until June 2.

Common Greenshank, June 1, 2008, Sweeper Channel.

At the Spruce tree near Sweeper Creek, we found a female Brambling. It also stayed until June 2.

Brambling, June 1, 2008, Sweeper Creek area.

We also had our first encounter with a Gyrfalcon which we saw most of the days we were here.

Gyrfalcon, June 1, 2008, north of town.

On Monday (6/2) we found a Gadwall at Haven Lake – an uncommon bird on Adak. In fact it is the only Gadwall record from May 2005 through Sept 2015.

Later, as we were leaving the Blue Building Feeder area, a Northern Wheatear sat up on a short post. This was only the second record for Adak. This turned out to be the first of several records we had on subsequent trips.

Northern Wheatear, June 2, 2008, Blue Building Feeder area.

On Tuesday (6/4), I deided to fianlly brave my tendency towards seasickness and take the boat out to see the Whiskered Auklet (and hopefully more). At the time, Al Giddings took birders out to see the auklets. We knew it might be a little late in the season, but we went anyway.

It was a very good trip. We got the Whiskered Auklet (very good looks) as well as Parakeet Auklets (very poor looks) and a lot of nesting seabirds, alcids, cormorants, eiders, etc. And a Sea Lion rookery as well. The auklets were lifers for Frank.

Whiskered Auklet, June 3, 2008, Little Tanaga Strait.

Wednesday (6/4) produced some late Emperor Geese.

Emperor Geese, June 4, 2008, Goose Rocks.

On Friday (6/6), we found a late Pacific Golden-Plover which we also saw the following day.

On Saturday (6/7), as we were scanning the Sitkin Sound at the Seawall, Barb spotted a Short-eared Owl flying in from over the sound! This was our first for our Adak list.

Tuesday (6/10) was the last day we saw Bufflehead – a very abundant migrant in May.

Wednesday (6/9) saw the last of the Bar-tailed Godwits leaving.

On our last day (6/12) , we had both Pacific and Arctic loons!

Our trip list was 61.

September 2007

Posted on November 8, 2015 by frank

September 13-27, 2007

We arrived on Thursday, September 13.

There were birders already there and John Pushock told us about the Marsh Sandpiper and Common Greenshank at Clam Lagoon. So we headed straight up there and got both birds. Both were lifers.

Marsh Sandpiper, Sept 24, 2007, Clam Lagoon.

Friday through Monday (9/14-17) brought no lifers, but the birding was still interesting and we learned more about where to go and how to find birds on Adak.

On Tuesday (9/18) we had a Slaty-backed Gull at Clam Lagoon (a lifer).

Slaty-backed Gull, Sept 23, 2007, Clam Lagoon.

Slaty-backed Gull, Sept 18, 2007, Sweeper Cove.

Thursday (9/20) was a banner day.

We saw a Yellow-billed Loon at the Seawall (we had just seen a breeding plumaged one in Pennsylvania!).

In mid-morning, we were driving along Clam Lagoon, near Shotgun Lake, when we got a call from Bob Schutsky that there was a different duck on Shotgun Lake. We drove in there and went to the little arm at the east end of the lake (now dubbed Pistol Lake) and saw a duck which I quickly photographed before it flew off. We met up with Bob and showed him the photos and he identified it as a possible Garganey. We headed in the direction in which it flew and re-found it shortly thereafter.

It was in a small roadside pond. Everyone gathered to look at and photograph it and, once everyone was satisfied, we flushed it to get flight shots of the wing pattern. It was definitely a Garganey!

Garganey, Sept 20, 2007, Clam Lagoon west side ponds.

We continued around Clam Lagoon, and in early afternoon, got another call from Bob saying they had found a pair of Gray-tailed Tattlers. We headed back around the lagoon and found them. Another lifer.

Gray-tailed Tattlers, Sept 20, 2007, Clam Lagoon.

Not too much longer after that, we got call from Puschock saying he had found a Mongolian Plover on the Clam Lagoon peninsula! We headed there and walked out and saw it.

Lesser Sand-Plover, Sept 20, 2007, Clam Lagoon.

Three lifers in one day!

On Friday, while scanning Kuluk Bay from Bayshore Blvd, we spotted a couple of Least Auklets. Not close, but identifiable.

On Monday (9/24) we were up at the Blue Building feeder (NW corner of Clam Lagoon). I had gotten out of the car to check out the row of Spruces. As soon as I neared the first one, a thrush-sized bird flew out and into a farther one. We called whoever we could get on the radio (it turned out John Pushock was nearby) and waited for them to arrive before we tried to get a better look at the bird.

The bird had flown back into the southernmost tree. I was standing on the north side of the tree and Barb was watching from the car on the east side. John pulled up on the south side and the bird came out on that side and John and Barb got looks at it. It was an Eye-browed Thrush. Unfortunately – for me – it then flew away, not to be seen again. I never got an identifiable look at it, so Barb got a lifer and I didn’t.

On Tuesday (9/25), as we were driving around Clam Lagoon, we met Bob and he informed usa that he had a Rough-legged Hawk nearbetween Candlestick Bridge and Zeto Point. We headed down there and soon spotted it. It was a dark-morph, which meant it was a North American bird, not Asian.

Rough-legged Hawk, Sept 25, 2007, near Zeto Point.

Wednesday (9/26) brought rain and wind. On the east side of Clam Lagoon, just south of Lake Shirley, John Pushock found a Siberian Rubythroat. We came by while he and his group were trying to relocate it. We weren’t having any luck, so I walked down the road about a hundred yards. The bird popped out onto a Cow Parsnip and gave me a nice look before disappearing back into the vegetation (I was not quick enough o get a photo!).

I called the others and they came down and continued searching, but to no avail. John and his group left and we continued down towards Candlestick Bridge. We turned around and drove back up to where I had last seen the bird and I saw it fly across the road and land under another Cow Parsnip. I tried to direct Barb to which Cow Parsnip it was sitting under, but she could not find it (there are a LOT of Cow Parsnips on Adak). It flew away again, and we never refound it. So, this time, I got the lifer and Barb didn’t.

We ended up with 62 species for the trip which, combined with our May trip, made for 91 species for the year.

May 2007

Posted on November 8, 2015 by frank

May 17-31, 2007

As bad as our September 2006 trip was, this trip was the exact opposite!

We arrived on Adak on May 17. There were other birding tours there (or arrived with us).

After unpacking, we headed out for some late-day birding and saw the Tufted Ducks on the Airport Ponds and found a Common Snipe at Contractor’s Camp Marsh.

Common Snipe, May 25, 2007, Contractor’s Camp Marsh.

On Friday, we found a Barrow’s Goldeneye at Clam Lagoon and a Wood Sandpiper at Contractor’s Camp Marsh.

Wood Sandpiper, May 28, 2007, Contractor’s Camp Marsh.

Wood Sandpiper, May 18, 2007, Contractor’s Camp Marsh.

On Saturday (5/19), we found a Smew on the Airport Ponds.

Smew, May 19, 2007, Airport Ponds.

The other birders alerted us to a Wandering Tattler at Clam Lagoon.

Wandering Tattler, May 29, 2007, Clam Lagoon.

Wandering Tattler, May 19, 2007, Seawall.

On Sunday (5/20), we found a Black-headed Gull along Bayshore Blvd.

Black-headed Gull, May 23, 2007, Kuluk Bay.

On Monday (5/21) while I was walking the trail along Finger Creek, Barb had a Savannah Sparrow near the road. When I got back to her, we could not relocate it.

No new birds on Tuesday or Wednesday, but on Thursday (5/24) one of the other birding groups from Juneau spotted a Bristle-thighed Curlew out on one of the rocky island just offshore from Bayshore Blvd. It was difficult to see at that distance, but identifiable.

On Sunday (5/27), we found an American Wigeon – very uncommon on Adak.

American Wigeon, May 27, 2007, Lake Andrew ponds.

On Monday evening we had just gotten into bed when John Pushock called us to tell us to get our asses up to Clam Lagoon pronto. There was a Spot-billed Duck there! In May, the sun doesn’t set until close to 11 pm!

So we hurriedly got dressed and raced up to Clam Lagoon. The bird was still there – and remained for the rest of our stay. This was only the 5th or 6th record for North America. The number of records is a bit cloudy, as there were several records in 1980 that May have been the same bird wandering around the various islands.

Spot-billed Duck, May 29, 2007, Clam Lagoon.

Also on the island during our stay was a free-lance photographer – Tim Barksdale and his assistant Nick– working for Cornell. He was photographing birds such a murrelets and auklets (and whatever else popped up).

He arranged to take a boat out on Wednesday (5/30) to look for auklets. John Pushock and Barb joined him. I decided to stay on terra firma…

Homeward Bound heading out to the auklets, May 30, 2007, (Left to right) Al Giddings, Barb, Nick, Tim, John.

Less than an hour after they departed, I found a Terek Sandpiper in Sweeper Channel. This was only the second record for Adak and a lifer for everyone (if it stayed).

Terek Sandpiper, May 30, 2007, Sweeper Channel.

I knew the others would be out on the boat for several hours, but had no idea exactly when they would be getting back. So I birded around the usual spots, but returned to Sweeper Channel every hour or so to check up on the sandpiper. It was low tide when I first found it, but the tide was coming in as the day progressed. I found the bird along the channel each time I checked.

Late in the afternoon, I finally saw the boat heading back in to Sweeper Cove. I radioed them that I had a Terek Sandpiper. They pulled into the small boat marina and were leisurely getting their stuff together. I yelled at them “What are you doing? There’s a Terek Sandpiper here!” It turns out that they could not hear the radio clearly because of the boat noise, so they thought I had said Common Sandpiper!

Once hearing what it really was, they raced up the ladder, jumped in the cars and sped towards the channel (only a quarter-mile away). We got to the channel and the bird was not where I had last seen it!

We spread out and shortly Barb spotted the bird downstream. Everyone got to see it. It was still there the following day.

On the boat trip, Barb got to see Parakeet Auklet, Whiskered Auklet, and Crested Auklet, and many other seabirds.

We left on Thursday (5/31). Our trip list was 69.

We added a lot of birds to our Adak list and we both had 6 lifers – Spot-billed Duck, Smew, Short-tailed Shearwater, Terek Sandpiper, Bristle-thighed Curlew, Common Snipe – and Barb had 3 more – Parakeet Auklet, Whiskered Auklet, and Crested Auklet.

We added a few days to the end of our trip to go up to the Denali Highway and try for Arctic Warbler, Smith’s Longspur, and Willow Ptarmigan. Unfortunately, we were too early in the season for the first two and didn’t get out early enough in the morning to get the latter. However, we did add a lot of birds to our Alaska list and enjoyed the foray.

We are planning our next Adak trip for September.

September 2006

Posted on November 8, 2015 by frank

4,469

September 10-17, 2006

This was our worst trip ever!

One of the hazards of planning a trip to Adak is the uncertainty of the flights. We had learned from our previous trip that eating in the restaurant on Adak was expensive and not convenient, so on this trip we decided to fly into Anchorage the day before the Adak flight and purchase food to take with us. Well, that worked well, but when we got to the Anchorage Airport on Thursday, 9/7, we were informed that the flight to Adak was cancelled due to weather and we were rebooked on the flight for Sunday (9/10)!

There are only two flights a week to Adak – Sunday and Thursday. If one is cancelled, they don’t reschedule it for the following day. Instead, you have to wait for the next flight 3 or 4 days later.

Thankfully, we had planned for this possibility and had brought along the George West’s Birder’s Guide to Alaska. So we spent a few days birding around Anchorage and down to Seward and back. We added to our Alaska list and saw some of the gorgeous scenery.

We finally arrived on Adak on Sunday. We had planned a ten-day trip, but were now limited to seven.

Although a strong storm had passed through a few days earlier, the weather was sunny and pleasant – not good for rarities!

We were the only birders on the island except for an engineer who flew out with us for work-related stuff, but spent a little time birding as well.

The balmy, sunny weather the entire week made for getting great scenery photographs, but brought in no Asian birds. The only birds of note were a couple of Sharp-tailed Sandpipers in Contractor’s Camp Marsh (and they weren’t even lifers for us). However, they were very cooperative and I got great photos (with my new lens…).

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Sept 14, 2006, Contractor’s Camp Marsh.

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Sept 13, 2006, Contractor’s Camp Marsh.

There were probably other goodies on the island, but we were still novices on how best to bird the island and were still finding our way around.

On Tuesday (9/12), we went out to the Loran Station to do a seawatch. As I was scanning the sea, I saw two birds flying low over the water, coming towards us directly from the north. I quickly identified them as falcons, but could not tell which species. They flew in towards us and past us and headed inland. They were Gyrfalcons – obviously migrating. We spent some more time seawatching and then headed back. About a mile inland — where some old utility poles were still standing — we found the Gyrs.

Gyrfalcon, May 12, 2006, on road to Loran Station

That was about it for excitement on this trip.

We ended up with only 36 species!!

However, we were not discouraged and vowed to return.

May 2005

Posted on November 8, 2015 by frank

10,158

Note 2: In spring 2005, I purchased my first digital SLR, a Canon Rebel. Since I already had a film Canon, I assumed I could just use my old lenses on the new camera. I was wrong. The 300 mm lens I had, although it fit the new camera, would not focus precisely – something I didn’t discover until we got to Adak! Therefore, all of the photos that I took on this trip are just a little “off” and not very sharp – sad to say…

May 22-29, 2005

In 2003, the ABA was contacted by residents of Adak Island, Alaska in an effort to promote birding on the island. A small group of birders went there in August 2003 and wrote about their experience in the May 2004 Winging It. Since Barb (and probably me) were not physically fit enough to endure the conditions on Attu, we never went there for the Asian specialties that often occur there. When we read the article about Adak, we thought we would give it a try and started planning for the following May (2005).

We arrived on Adak around 5 pm on Sunday, May 22. There were already a bunch of birders on the island (most of them from Pennsylvania, it turned out!) who had the same idea we had. Some came for a few days, others for several weeks. Over the course of the month, the list included the following – from PA — John Puschok, Devich Farbotnik, Jason Horn, Dave Wilton, Geoff Malosh, Eric Marchbein, and Jay Lehman (Columbus, OH), Dan Sanders (Columbus, OH), Charlie Lyon (Shreveport, LA)

They updated us on what was being seen and we quickly headed to Contractor’s Camp Marsh to look at the Wood Sandpipers they had found. We walked out into the marsh and the guys pointed out the birds in the reeds, but it was almost impossible to get a good look at them because they were being secretive (the sandpipers, not the guys!). There were half-a-dozen of them and, as it turned out, we got excellent looks at them on subsequent days.

Wood Sandpiper, May 29, 2005, Contractor’s Camp Marsh.

Wood Sandpiper, May 28, 2005, Contractor’s Camp Marsh.

Wood Sandpiper, May 24, 2005, Contractor’s Camp Marsh.

We then headed up to Clam Lagoon to see the Bar-tailed Godwit and then around to the Seawall to see an Emperor Goose that was out on the rocky islands just off shore. We promptly named these islands “Goose Rocks.” We also saw Red-faced Cormorants out there.

Bar-tailed Godwit and Rock Sandpiper, May 27, 2005, Landing Lights Beach.

Bar-tailed Godwit, May 22, 2005, Clam Lagoon.

Emperor Goose, May 22, 2005, Goose Rocks.

Along the way, we saw our first Rock Ptarmigans. Those were our lifers for the first day.

Rock Ptarmigan, May 23, 2005, Adak.

On Monday (5/23) We had a Ruff and a Reeve on Landing Lights Beach.

Ruff, May 24, 2005, Landing Lights Beach.

Reeve, May 24, 2005, Landing Lights Beach.

A Mew Gull (Kamchatka subspecies) was on the flats at Clam Lagoon.

Mew Gull, May 25, 2005, Clam Lagoon.

We also started seeing all of the resident species.

Tuesday (5/24) brought a Wandering Tattler at the north end of Clam Lagoon and a Far-eastern Curlew to the flats. It was found by the others who radioed us. We raced up there to see it, got some photos, and it took off, not to be seen again.

Wandering Tattler, May 24, 2005, Clam Lagoon.

Far Eastern Curlew. May 24, 2005, Clam Lagoon.

We also saw our first Aleutian Terns.

As we were eating dinner at Violet’s Restaurant, the guys came in and alerted us to a Hawfinch they found. We raced out and found it. The guys had scattered bird seed at an abandoned house that had a spruce tree and a couple of willows in front. The Hawfinch was there.

Hawfinch, May 25, 2005, Adak.

On Wednesday (5/25) we got a call that there was a Common Sandpiper on Finger Creek. We headed down there and I walked up a bluff and saw the bird, but Barb couldn’t climb, so she walked the road next to the creek, hoping it would fly down there. It did! So we both saw it.

Common Sandpiper, May 25, 2005, Finger Creek.

Thursday (5/26) brought us our first Tufted Duck on the Airport Ponds.

On Friday through Sunday we didn’t add any lifers, but finally spotted the Sandhill Crane that had been hanging around and got to enjoy the more common residents and migrants. We also explored new areas.

Sandhill Crane, May 29, 2005, near Airport Ponds.

We ended up with 58 species (13 lifers) for the trip. We got our first taste of Asian rarities and thoroughly enjoyed the trip. We decided a fall trip was next on the docket and planned to return in September 2006.

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