We are here! Our flights were on time and uneventful.
On Saturday, when we got to the motel, we found that one of our bags (which we had shipped earlier in the week) was soaking wet! It was shipped on 9/6, just as Hurricane Lee was hitting he northeast, so it must have sat on a loading ramp at the Newark Airport in the driving rain. However, nothing was harmed, just wet.

Then Frank managed to hit his little toe on something and it got nice and big and black and blue. So we make a nice pair hobbling around looking for birds, what with Frank’s toe and Barb’s bad hip!

We birded around Anchorage Sunday morning and added two state birds to our list; Varied Thrush and Northern Three-toed Woodpecker.

Northern Three-toed Woodpecker, Anchorage, 9/10/2011

The Adak flight left on time and when we got here, Isaac informed us of a Long-toed Stint up at Clam Lagoon which he found on Saturday. Isaac is the Alaska Airlines station manager out here and a superb birder. That’s who we rent the house and jeep from.
We quickly unpacked, got semi-organized, and headed for Clam Lagoon. The bird had been seen lingering in the marsh grasses that line the western shore of the lagoon, along with a dozen Pectoral and Sharp-tailed Sandpipers.
We walked the edge of the marsh and kicked out several Pectoral and Sharp-tails, and one Long-billed Dowitcher, but no stint. We will ry again tomorrow. The Dowitcher was the first of the season apparently, as Isaac had not yet seen any

Pectoral Sandpipers, Clam Lagoon, Adak, 9/11/2011

Nothing else of note at this point. Hoping for better birds tomorrow.
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