But wait. There’s more!
Temp in the 40s, Almost clear at dawn, but overcast by mid-morning, Wind calm at dawn, but SE 15-25 by late afternoon, rain starting at 5:30 PM
I keep checking Lake Leone for the Tufted Duck. The scaup have returned, but no Tufted.
Another nice morning to look for dickey-birds, so off I went to check all of the spruces and willows. No luck.
At Contractors Camp Marsh, I had two Pacific Golden-Plovers. They looked like the two I had at Clam Lagoon a few days ago.
At the Palisades Overlook, I spotted the (a) Red-throated Loon that Aaron had reported last week. Yes I identified this one correctly (upturned mandible clearly seen, although hard to see in this photo).
At Clam Lagoon, I walked the Peninsula and Marsh Edge.
Nothing on the Peninsula.
The Marsh Edge had Pectorals and Sharp-tails.
At one point a flock of three Pecs flushed and were soon joined by two much smaller shorebirds. Unfortunately, I only got distant, rear-end pics. So no ID.
When I pulled into the Blue Building area, the Gyrfalcon flew by.
The Seawall had a scattering of the usual birds.
On the road just past Lake Shirley, I spotted a bird on the side of the road that looked “different.”
After a steady diet of longspurs, rosy-finches, and song sparrows, you learn to notice something “different.”
I got my binos on it and recognized it immediately. A White-crowned Sparrow!
Not rare back home, but a first for Adak.
There are no confirmed records for the Central and Western Aleutians. So this was a very good record.
But Wait. There’s more!
Just as this bird scooted into the grasses on the left side of the road, another “different” bird emerged from the right.
I also recognized this one immediately (but not from familiarity, just from field guides).
A Eurasian Skylark!
There are two record for Adak back in 1995 (2 birds in June/July and one bird in August). Plus Isaac Helmericks had one on Oct 25, 2010.
So another great record. And a lifer to boot!
No more big hits today.
I went down to Finger Bay and photographed the gulls waiting for dinner.
This one kept walking in front of my car. I think he was too fat to fly…
So I added three birds to my trip list, two birds to my Adak list, and one bird to my Lift List today.
Not bad…
The trip list is 58.
The eBird list is at https://ebird.org/checklist/S119688055