A waterfowl day.

Temp in the 40s, overcast turning partly sunny. Wind SW 5-10 increasing as the day went on.

At least one Hawfinch remains at the Adak National Forest and Jon and Jim saw one in town and one down near Sweeper Cove today.

There are a few more Wood Sandpipers around at various places.

Neither the Spotted Redshank, or the two peeps were seen today.

At Contractor’s Camp Marsh, a lot of snipe were calling and winnowing. I managed to get a shot of a Common.

Common Snipe, Contractor’s Camp Marsh, May 26, 2018

At Lake Jean, we had a Common Loon and a flock of 48 Cackling Geese flew over.

Aleutian Cackling Geese, Lake Jean, May 26, 2018

At the Seawall, there were several Pacific Loons and dozens of White-winged Scoters.

You may be wondering why I haven’t yet posted a photo of the Tufted Duck at Lake Shirley.

Well, Lake Shirley is approximately two-and-a-half football fields wide! And the ducks tend to stay on the far side (see my Common Greenshank photos from last May to see the quality of photos at that distance).

Well today, as we approached the lake, the Tufted Duck was on this side. Of course, as soon as she saw us she started to swim away, but not before I was able to finally get a photo.

Tufted Duck, Lake Shirley, May 26, 2018

As I was concentrating on taking the above photo, Barb was trying to get my attention, but I was so focused, it wasn’t sinking in. There was a pair of American Wigeon close by! 99% of the wigeon out here are Eurasian, so American is noteworthy.

American Wigeon, Lake Shirley, May 26, 2018

We continued up to Lake Ronnie.

As I was scanning the Red-breasted Mergansers, Mallards, and Scaup, I noticed a pair of Lesser Scaup (usually annual, but not common).

Then I noticed a smaller bird with the mergansers. It turned out to be a female Hooded Merganser. A rare bird out here and an Adak bird for us.

Hooded Merganser (back) with Red-breasted Merganser, Lake Ronnie, May 26, 2018

So three waterfowl for the trip list and one new Adak Bird. No lifers, but still a good day.

We have added 4 new birds to our Adak list so far on this trip — Great Egret, Spotted Redshank, Semipalmated Sandpiper (also a first for Adak) and Hooded Merganser.

The trip list is now 68.

The southwest winds are picking up again…