Temp in the 40s, mostly cloudy, occasional sun, occasional rain, light to moderate west wind.
The nicest day — weather-wise — so far.
Nothing new at the feeders. There are still two pair of Tufted Ducks on the Airport Ponds. Still 8 godwits at Clam Lagoon.
At Shotgun Lake, the male Smew was back along with one of the females.
Smew, Shotgun Lake, May 17, 2015.
Smew, Shotgun Lake, May 17, 2015.
We went out to the Loran Station, but visibility was not very good, so we didn’t add anything except the Tufted and Horned Puffins. On the way out, the Sitka Crew (who were driving behind us) saw a hawk come up from near the road and quickly disappear over a ridge. They think it was the Rough-legged Hawk again. We never saw it.
We found an Oldsquaw (so sue me!) at the Seawall. While we were up at Zeto Point, the Sitka Crew arrived at Lake Shirley and briefly saw the male and female Smews there, but they flew off before we arrived back there.
When we got back around to the south lookout of Clam Lagoon, we spotted two Dunlin (doubled our count!). Also, we spotted an American Green-winged Teal. Ninety-nine percent of the teal out here are Common Teal — the Eurasian race of Green-winged Teal, which Europeans count as a separate species.
We went down to Sweeper Creek and found the Sandhill Crane again. This time he cooperated and stayed for photos.
Sandhill Crane, Sweeper Creek, May 17, 2015
Sandhill Crane, Sweeper Creek, May 17, 2015
A little farther down the creek, a pair of Eurasian Wigeon took off.
Eurasian Wigeon, Sweeper Creek, May 17, 2015
A tour group from High Lonesome Tours arrived today, so we will have more eyes.
Our trip list is 50.