Monthly Archives: October 2022

Saturday, October 1, 2022

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Temp in the 50s, overcast., rain … WAIT! That’s here at home, not Adak!

Temp in the 50s, mostly cloudy, Wind WSW 15-25 mph

Adak Weather, Oct 1, 2022

Another windy day. Tough birding.

The flock of Black Scoters has grown to 56 and was joined by a Eurasian Wigeon (What was he doing out in the salt water?) out on Kuluk Bay.

56 Black Scoters (all males) plus one Eurasian Wigeon (far left bird), Kuluk Bay, Oct 1, 2022

Up at Adak National Forest, I finally got a nice look (and photo) of a Brambling for this trip.

Brambling, Adak National Forest, Oct 1, 2022

All of my flights home were early and my luggage arrived as well.

Because of the strong WSW wind, we took off to the west, giving me a nice view of Sweeper Cove.

Sweeper Cove, Oct 1, 2022

It was a great trip!

The trip list was 58 (4 above average).

I added three birds to my Adak List — Naumann’s Thrush (158), White-crowned Sparrow (159), and Eurasian Skylark (160).

And two Lifers — Naumann’s Thrush (729) and Eurasian Skylark (730)

Species that were seen by others while I was here, but not by me — Gray-tailed Tattler, Wood Sandpiper, Common Goldeneye, Parasitic Jaeger, Rough-legged Hawk, and Barn Swallow.

The Barn Swallow would have been a new Adak bird for me.

I’ll be back next May…

Friday, September 30, 2022

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Temp in the 50s, mostly cloudy, Wind SW 30-40 mph

Adak Weather, Sept 30, 2022

Again, the high winds made birding difficult, but I did have a few sightings of note today.

At Sweeper Cove, a flock of 6 Short-tailed Shearwaters entered and flew around the cove for a few minutes.

Short-tailed Shearwaters, Sweeper Cove, Sept 30, 2022

In the Small Boat Marina at the end of Sweeper Cove, I found this almost adult Horned Puffin.

Horned Puffin, Small Boat Marina, Sept 30, 2022

And in the Sweeper Channel, a couple of Harbor Seals were fighting over a fish.

Harbor Seals, Sweeper Channel, Sept 30, 2022
Harbor Seal, Sweeper Channel, Sept 30, 2022

Up at Lake Shirley, I got a brief view of the Skylark, but it flew before I got new pics.

And in late afternoon, as I drove up to the Seal Drive feeder, a Brambling took off. I waited an hour-and-a-half, but it did not return.

My trip list remains at 58.

My meager day’s eBird list is at https://ebird.org/checklist/S119740214

This will be my last post until I get home on Sunday (or Monday, depending on how tired I am and whether I had a mega-bird on the last day…).