Our flights on Wednesday from Philly to Seattle and Anchorage were early and less than half-full. A stark contrast to the overbooked flights last May.

We arrived in Anchorage at midnight, got some sleep, got a little birding in this morning, did our food shopping, packed and headed to the airport.

We birded Potter Marsh, which was surprisingly devoid of birdlife. This Long-billed Dowitcher was the highlight.

Long-billed Dowitcher, Potter Marsh, Anchorage, Sept 5, 2013

We arrived on Adak early and were pleasantly surprised to see that someone had finally repaired the welcome sign (the left third of the sign was missing ever since we started going to Adak in 2005).

New airport sign, Sept 5, 2013

After unpacking, we made a quick trip up to Clam Lagoon. The only birds of note were a pair of Emperor Geese and a Peregrine Falcon. It was nice to see a Peregrine, as we missed it on our May trip.

Up at the “Blue Building”, we found a carcass of undetermined species. Our guess is a murrelet. We will let you know once some experts chime in.

Bird carcass, Clam Lagoon, Sept 5, 2013

Bird carcass, Clam Lagoon, Sept 5, 2013

We are dead tired and are going to bed with dreams of Pratincoles and Falcated Teals dancing in our heads…