Temp in the low 50s, partly cloudy in the AM, overcast and light rain in the PM, Wind SSE 10-20 mph

At Sweeper Cove this morning, we found three Emperor Geese — two adult and one juvenile. We had never seen a juvenile before, so this was a semi-lifer. Also, we hadn’t seen any Emperor Geese since September 2014, so it was nice to find some again.

Emperor Geese, Sweeper Cove, September 12, 2016

Emperor Geese, Sweeper Cove, September 12, 2016

We went around Sweeper Cove and headed up Bayshore. Nothing new, but there was more variety in the bay now that the sea had settled down.

At the Landing Lights, I found a dead juvenile Tufted Puffin.

Juvenile Tufted Puffin, Landing Lights, September 12, 2016

We checked Warbler Willows and Lake Jean. Nothing new.

At the Palisades Overlook, there was a lot of activity in the bay — mostly kittiwakes and gulls.

At Clam Lagoon, I walked out the peninsula and the Red Knot was still there. But it had no companions.

Red Knot, Clam Lagoon, September 12, 2016

We drove out to the Loran Station and had a nice view, but no pelagics. On the way back we had another Peregrine Falcon.

At the Seawall, Barb spotted a loon which we quickly identified as a Red-throated. This was exciting, as this is the last loon species we needed for our Adak list! Soon after, a second one joined the first. Unfortunately, the waves were still too high and the birds too distant for me to get a photo. Maybe they will hang around…

Some Ruddy Turnstones fly by and we saw a couple of Marbled Murrelets and two Horned Grebes.

There were still Short-tailed Shearwaters flying close to shore. Still no other pelagics.

From the east shore of Clam Lagoon, we spotted some shorebirds way out on the edge of the flats. They were the Red Knot and nine Sanderlings. Like the geese, we hadn’t seen any Sanderlings out here since September 2014.

Returning to the Seawall, we found two Arctic Loons! As we left the Seawall, a Peregine flew by. All three of our Peregrine sightings have been adults, so we don’t know if it is one bird or three.

Our trip list is 42.

Lifer? Knot!

Temp in the 50s, mostly cloudy, a little drizzle in the AM, Winds N 15-20 mph

With the improving weather, we headed up to Clam Lagoon to get the morning low tide.

We didn’t see anything new on the open flats, so went to the Peninsula. I walked out and around the second bend, spotted a medium-sized shorebird. I was unable to identify it and started taking photos. It kept moving out towards the end of the spit, where it was joined by a Western Sandpiper.

Both birds allowed close approach and I was able to get definitive photos of both. However, when I got back to the truck and compared the larger bird to the field guides, we were stumped. It didn’t quite match anything we could find.

Well,when we returned to the house later and sent photos to John Puschock and Isaac Helmericks (our go-to guys), they quickly responded that it was a juvenile Red Knot.

Somehow, we had gotten it into our brains that Red Knots had shorter bills than this, so we discounted it out-of-hand when paging through the field guide! It has been awhile since we have seen a knot.

So, no lifer, but at least a new Adak bird for us. This may be only the 5th or 6th record for Adak.

Red Knot, Clam Lagoon, Sept 11, 2016

Red Knot and Western Sandpiper, Clam Lagoon, Sept 11, 2016

Western Sandpiper, Clam Lagoon, Sept 11, 2016

After seeing the knot, I walked the marsh edge and found two Pectoral and one Sharp-tailed sandpipers.

We continued around the lagoon to the Seawall, where we saw more shearwaters, but not nearly as many or as close as the previous two days.

When we got back around to the west side, I walked out the peninsula again and found the Red Knot and stint, but they flew off. As they flew away, they were joined by five other small shorebirds. I decided to just wait awhile and, sure enough, two of the peeps returned to the shoreline near me. They were Western Sandpipers.

Western Sandpipers, Clam Lagoon, Sept 11, 2016

At the Adak National Forest, we had a “live” Pacific Wren.

Pacific Wren, Adak National Forest, September 11, 2016

We were able to drive around Contractors Camp Marsh today, but did not find anything new. However, nearby we found our first Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch for the trip!

Next, we headed down to Finger Bay. The road along the creek that was flooded yesterday was now relatively clear, although several salmon were stranded in the larger puddles in the road. We didn’t see anything new there, but on the way back, we had a Peregrine Falcon near Sweeper Cove.

Our trip list is now at a more respectable 36.

Temp in the upper 40s, overcast, rain, NE wind 30-50 mph.

At Sweeper Cove this morning, we still saw a shearwater or two, plus there were more birds generally — puffins, guillemots, etc.

In Kuluk Bay, off Navfac Creek, we saw a pair of White-winged Scoters.

By mid-morning we hadn’t found anything else new and headed back to the house for a pit stop. A hunter (Nick), who we met on the plane, was next door, and mentioned that near the hut that he and his son had camped in the night before (near Finger Bay), was a large tub with several drowned green birds! Well, that certainly peaked our interest!

So we headed down there. We found the hut and the large plastic tub with three drowned birds in it. The sides of the tub were too slippery for the birds to climb out, so once they flew in (for what purpose, we aren’t sure) they simply could not escape and finally succumbed.

They weren’t green, but the algae growing on them was…

There were two Pacific Wrens and a Song Sparrow.

Drowned Song Sparrow and Pacific Wren, Near Finger Bay, September 10, 2016.

Drowned Pacific Wren, Near Finger Bay, September 10, 2016.

To prevent any more fatalities, I threw a couple of small boards into the water to give any future drop-ins some purchase for flying out.

At Finger Bay, we finally saw a couple of Pelagic Cormorants and a few Harlequin Ducks. They DO exist!

We headed back north.

We were going to drive through Contractors Camp Marsh, but the heavy rain has flooded many of the roads. Although they were covered by only a few inches of water in most places, there is so much debris that flies around there (boards with nails, metal roofing, etc.) that unless you can see the road surface, it is unwise to drive there. So we continued north.

At the Seawall, there were very few shearwaters visible and the surf was pounding. The tide was so high and the waves so large that Goose Rocks were only visible briefly every few minutes!

We had a Greater Scaup at Lake Shirley.

On the eastern side of the lagoon flats, we spotted two shorebirds — one large and one small — way out. They were too far for pictures and the 40 mph wind and rain made the photographic conditions even worse. However, I had to try to get close enough to them to identify them, so I climbed down the embankment and started wading out towards the birds. I got a couple of distant photos before they took off. Here is the best one.

Mystery shorebirds, Clam Lagoon, September 10, 2016.

We don’t know what they were. We thought they might be yesterday’s Greenshank and a Dunlin. We sent the photo to some better birders and they also were unsure, but they suggested the larger bird might be a godwit. However, godwits are rare on Adak in the fall. Maybe tomorrow’s weather — less rain — will enable us to find them in more ideal viewing conditions.

Down at Candlestick Bridge, Barb saw some shorebirds fly along the edge of the beach and disappear around the bend, so I walked down there and found a dozen Rock Sandpipers and one Ruddy Turnstone.

Rock Sandpiper, Candlestick Bridge, September 10, 2016.

We went back around the lagoon and I walked out the Peninsula (in driving wind and rain), in hopes that the mystery shorebirds had taken shelter in the lee.

No such luck.

We headed back to the house and called it a day.

The triplist is up to 27.

Shearwaters redux…

Temps in the high 40s, overcast, rain, east wind 15-30 mph

Although we have experienced more days with rain than without on our trips to Adak, we have only had a few where it rained all day and night. This is one of those.

It started raining last night and is not expected to stop until tomorrow night. This has been a steady rain — no letup — although the intensity has varied. And the wind is relentless.

We were excited yesterday at the close shearwaters up at the Seawall. Well, today was even more exciting, as the shearwaters were in Kuluk Bay by the thousands and flying by the Kuluk Bay Overlook at (relatively) close range. We have had them in Kuluk Bay on east winds before, but usually for an hour or so in the morning and then they moved out to sea. Today, they were in the bay all day. We even had a couple fly briefly into Sweeper Cove.

We watched them for some time, looking for other pelagic species, but found none!

Here are a few more shearwater photos.

Short-tailed Shearwaters, Kuluk Bay, Sept 9, 2016

Short-tailed Shearwater, Kuluk Bay, Sept 9, 2016

Short-tailed Shearwater, Kuluk Bay, Sept 9, 2016

Short-tailed Shearwater, Kuluk Bay, Sept 9, 2016

Short-tailed Shearwater, Kuluk Bay, Sept 9, 2016

Short-tailed Shearwater, Kuluk Bay, Sept 9, 2016

Note the legs sticking out beyond the “short tail.”

So we headed up to Clam Lagoon. I spotted a medium-sized, gray and white shorebird feeding near a flock of Common Teal. The distance and weather conditions made it difficult to determine what it was, so I clambered down to the mudflats to get a closer look, while Barb kept tabs on it from the truck.

No sooner had I started walking towards it, than the teal all took flight, as did the shorebird. Barb was able to see the distinctive flight pattern of a Common Greenshank. It landed way out in the middle of the flats, but then took off again and flew out of view (so no photos).

There were 6 Parasitic Jaegers still hanging around. They usually leave here by mid-September.

We continued around the lagoon and as we approached the East Side Ponds, a shorebird flew up and away. Our impression was the Greenshank.

The Seawall had its share of Shearwaters, but farther out than yesterday.

There was a flock of Northern Pintails on Lake Shirley.

We headed back down to the Kuluk Bay Overlook to watch the shearwaters some more. As I was scanning through them, a flock of shorebirds came into view. They were Red Phalaropes.

Red Phalaropes (and a Black-legged Kittiwake), Kuluk Bay, Sept 9, 2016.

We had just seen our first Adak Red Phalarope this past May (a lone bird). We new that they migrated past Adak regularly, but are seldom seen from land here. So this was a treat.

The weather has been so bad that we haven’t even seen Harlequin Ducks, Cormorants, of Rosy-finches! Our meager trip list is all of 18!

The rain is supposed to start diminishing tomorrow night and the winds shift back to northwest.

There are probably some good birds hunkered down on the island right now, so we hope better weather will allow us to find them.

More tomorrow.

Mostly cloudy, temp in the low 50s, moderate (and increasing) east wind.

We arrived in Anchorage yesterday after an uneventful day of travel.

This morning, we did some usual birding around Anchorage.

We added one new mammal to our Alaska list — Red Squirrel.

Red Squirrel, Potters Marsh, Anchorage, Sept 8, 2016

We also added Steller’s Jay.

Steller’s Jays, West Chester Lagoon, Anchorage, Sept 8, 2016

At Potters marsh, a kingfisher posed for us.

Belted Kingfisher, Potters Marsh, Anchorage, Sept 8, 2016

And at West Chester Lagoon, Barb spotted a cooperative Gadwall for me to photograph.

Gadwall, West Chester Lagoon, Anchorage, Sept 8, 2016

Barb also spotted a Rusty Blackbird while I was around the bend. We could not relocate it when I got back to her.

Shortly thereafter, a Merlin flew in and soon a flock of half-a-dozen magpies and several Steller’s Jays were involved — chasing and being chased through the treeline. This was still going on 20 minutes later as we left.

At Ship Creek, we saw some interesting behavior by a Magpie. It was down at the water’s edge, constantly chattering, and poking at and picking up various objects. At one point, it picked up an egg-shaped pebble (about 3/4 inch) and placed it into a crevice in a small log laying by the streamside. It then picked up a small twig (about 3 to 4 inches long) and placed it in the same crevice on top of the pebble. It then went over to the water, picked up another pebble, but dropped it in the water. It then fished out of the water a small wad of algae and laid it on the log it was standing on. It tried to pick up some more pebbles out of the water, but dropped all of them. It then pick up the algae and dropped it back into the water. All the while, chattering…

We have no idea what this was all about…

We arrived on Adak a little early, got unpacked and headed up to Clam Lagoon. We didn’t see any shorebirds or other birds out of the ordinary, so we drove around to the Seawall. As mentioned above, there were east winds. Usually on east winds, we can see the shearwaters and albatrosses flying by — although still pretty far out. However, as soon as we stopped and started scanning, we spotted shearwaters flying between us and Goose Rocks! Only once before had we seen them this close, and then it was only one bird.

Now there were a few dozen flying around and sitting on the water. There were many more flying by at a distance, but the closer ones were a treat.

Short-tailed Shearwaters, Seawall, Sept 8, 2016

Short-tailed Shearwater, Seawall, Sept 8, 2016

Short-tailed Shearwater, Seawall, Sept 8, 2016

This was the best view we had ever had of shearwaters from terra firma!

Barb had a glimpse of a small gull with a black hood, but it flew away before we could identify it. We hope it reappears.

It is 10:30 here. I am going to bed…