Temp in the 50s, mostly cloudy, rain starting in late afternoon, Wind S 10-20 mph

The weather is finally changing. The winds are supposed to swing around to the west and get stronger the next few days. Just what we’re looking for.

The next two sightings are subject to change (gulls are not my forte)!

The fish factory has been busy all week — new boats coming in each day — so the waste outflow at the Sweeper Cove Breakwall has been attracting a lot of birds. Nothing new until today when we spotted a Herring “Vega” Gull.

Herring “Vega” Gull, Sweeper Cove Breakwall, Sept 26, 2018

Herring “Vega” Gull, Sweeper Cove Breakwall, Sept 26, 2018

Up at the Airport Creek Bridge we found a Slaty-backed Gull.

Slaty-backed Gull, Airport Creek Bridge, Sept 26, 2018

Slaty-backed Gull, Airport Creek Bridge, Sept 26, 2018

Slaty-backed Gull, Airport Creek Bridge, Sept 26, 2018

Jon, Jim, and I walked Clam Lagoon again this morning and found about the same as two days ago.

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Clam Lagoon, Sept 26, 2018

But the excitement of the day was at Lake Shirley, where we found a Redhead — second record for Adak. It was all the way across and in very poor light, but I got some very poor photos.

Redhead (second from right — in back), Lake Shirley, Sept 26, 2018

We hope it will hang around and give me a better photo-op.

We had 25 Sanderlings on the lagoon and the flock of 25 Cackling Geese is still hanging around.

Only one Ruddy Turnstone and no Rock Sandpipers today (although Jon and Jim had 4 turnstones).

Jon and Jim left today, so we are birding alone for the next ten days.

The trip list is 43 and the years list is 87.

Temp in the 50s, mostly sunny, light NW winds (Horrible weather!!!!)

So far, most commentators on our crane say it is a Sandhill. We tend to agree.

Nothing new today (not even a trip bird). However, I did get some photos.

A flock of Cackling Geese near the Seawall took off as we tried to pass them.

Cackling Geese, near the Seawall, Sept 25, 2018

In the fall, there are many more Pacific Wrens around and they are very friendly.

Pacific Wren, Seawall, Sept 25, 2018

As are the song Sparrows.

Aleutian Song Sparrow, Landing Lights, Sept 25, 2018

There are usually more Peregrine Falcons around, too.

Peregrine Falcon, Clam Lagoon, Sept 25, 2018

Peregrine Falcon, Clam Lagoon, Sept 25, 2018

Peregrine Falcon, Clam Lagoon, Sept 25, 2018

At the Landing Lights today, I had a shearwater (probably Short-tailed) fly in just above the water (which was like glass) flap-flap-flap-glide, occasionally dropping his head to pick something off of the surface. It was too backlit and far away to get photos. but it was neat to watch.

There are Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches and Song Sparrows at several of the feeders, but nothing else so far.

The majority of Lapland Longspurs have left, but a few flocks remain.

Jon and Jim leave tomorrow, so we will be the only birders on the island for the next week-and-a-half. We hope they find a goodie before they leave.

Monday, September 24, 2018

Temp in the 50s, mostly cloudy, occasional light shower, wind WNW switching to NW 10-15 mph

My blog was still down. This was posted Tuesday morning.

The fish factory was in operation today so there were a lot of gulls at the Sweeper Cove breakwater. Nothing unusual, however.

We spent all of the morning around or near town, as far as Landing Lights.

At Contractor’s Camp Marsh, we had two Peregrine Falcons cavorting.

Peregrine Falcons, Contractors Camp Marsh, Sept 24, 2018

Just as we were leaving Landing Lights, a crane flew directly over us heading out over the bay. It turned south and flew along the shoreline. We raced down along Bayshore Drive and spotted it again turning towards Sweeper Cove. We raced to Sweeper Cove and saw it flying due west towards the west end.

By the time we got to the end of the cove, we had lost sight of it. We started driving around that area in hopes of finding it on the ground. This is the same area where a flock of 30 or so Sandhill Cranes spent a week or so back in May/June 2008. Also, we have had Sandhill Cranes only on our May trips.

We tried calling Jon and Jim, but couldn’t reach them. We finally turned into the road leading up to the gas station, and just as we stopped, Jim called and asked if we saw anything new. We reported that we were chasing a crane and gave them our location. As I was doing that, Barb yelled “There it is!.” It flew low directly over us. I hopped out and started taking photos while directing Jim where the bird was headed.

The bird flew south of us, circled like it was going to land, but instead rose again, circled even higher and eventually disappeared over the ridgetop.

By then Jon and Jim had arrived (too late to see the bird) and they followed us up the road that went around the ridge in hopes of spotting it again (Both needed that bird for Adak).

We got around the ridge and scanned. No bird. We headed up to he quarry at the top of the next ridge and scanned. No bird.

We assumed it was a Sandhill, but when we looked at the photos on the camera, we weren’t positive. This bird was a young bird and had black secondaries. We new from our bird guides that Common Cranes have black secondaries and adult Sandhill Cranes have gray secondaries, but we couldn’t determine if young Sandhills also had black secondaries.

I posted the photos to IDFrontiers and waited for replies…

Sandhill Crane, Sweeper Cove area, Sept 24, 2018

So far, two responders ruled out Common Crane and one ruled out Sandhill! We are waiting for more replies. (Although we are leaning towards Sandhill).

In the meantime, we headed up to Clam Lagoon. Jon, Jim, and I walked the marsh edge and there were a lot more birds there today. It was hard to tell exactly how many, as some of the birds just flushed and landed ahead of us. Others circled around behind us. Suffice it to say there were probably a dozen Pectorals, 2 or 3 Sharp-tailed Sandpipers, and 2 or 3 Long-billed Dowitchers.

Halfway up, the rain started and soaked us pretty good…

We continued around the lagoon. On the east side we had two Emperor Geese and an adult Peregrine Falcon (the pair we saw earlier were young birds).

Or trip it is up to 40 and our year list is 86.

My blog software is back up and running!!!

Saturday and Sunday, September 22-23, 2018

My WordPress blogging software got corrupted somehow, so I was not able to do any posts the first couple of days. This is being posted on 9/25.

Temp in the 50s, partly sunny, west wind 10 mph

Our flights were uneventful.

On Saturday morning in Anchorage, we drove up to Arctic Valley first thing and, like last year, we were the first one up the road, so we found a couple of Spruce Grouse along the road edge. This one flew up into a tree.

Spruce Grouse, Arctic Valley, Anchorage, Sept 22, 2018

Part way up, barb spotted a couple of Varied Thrushes out in the open, but by the time I raised my camera, they had scuttled back into the brush. We just have not had any luck with those…

Once we reached the top (the ski area), we spotted a Dipper which cooperated by posing nicely for us.

Dipper, Arctic Valley, Anchorage, Sept 22, 2018.

Potter Marsh produced nothing new for us, so we headed up to Ship Creek. As usual, the tide was out, so no shorebirds at the mouth. We drove upstream a bit to a parking area and in an impoundment next to the creek were three Wilson’s Snipe.

Wilson’s Snipe (the third one was out-of-frame), Ship Creek, Anchorage, Sept 22, 2018

We headed to the airport and arrived in Adak around 5 PM. Jon And Jim filled us in on what few birds were around. They had had Emperor Geese and Gray-tailed Tattler (both lifers for Jon) and another birder had a Baird’s Sandpiper (w/photos). They also had Pacific Golden-Plovers, several American Pipits, a Red Phalarope, and at least one Parasitic Jaeger still hanging around. Not much else to report.

We did a quick run up to Warbler Willows and the flats at Clam Lagoon. At the flats, we had a flock of nine Sanderling.

We called it a day.

Sunday, Sept 23

Temp in the 50s, partly sunny, west wind 10 mph in the AM increasing during the afternoon.

On Sunday, we started our usual route of Sweeper Cove, Sweeper Creek, feeders, etc.

At the Sweeper Cove breakwall, a small fishing boat was just off-shore (maybe 50 yrds) and a large number of gulls and alcids were present. However, none of them were extraordinary. Glaucous-winged Gulls, Black-legged Kittiwakes, Common Murres, Pigeon Guilemots, Pelagic Cormorants, Horned Puffins, etc.

At Landing Lights, we had several Rock Sandpipers and Ruddy Turnstones (this is where both the tattler and Baird’s had been seen).

We met up with Jon and Jim at Clam Lagoon and the three of us walked the marsh edge. We found 4 Pectoral Sandpipers and 2 Long-billed Dowitchers. Amazingly, no Sharp-tailed Sandpipers! Up til that point, they hadn’t seen a pectoral (they had been there since Wednesday).

Pectoral Sandpipers, Clam Lagoon, Sept 23, 2018

Long-billed Dowitcher, Clam Lagoon, Sept 23, 2018

At the Seawall, there were a lot of Red-necked Grebes (a couple dozen) and 6 Horned Grebes.

Lake Shirley hosted a couple dozen Eurasian Wigeon and one American, as well as a dozen Greater Scaup and 4 Northern Pintail.

As we neared Candlestick Bridge, I spotted a family of Emperor Geese – 2 adults and 5 kids. When we drove back up to the Seawall another lone goose was out on Goose Rocks (and rightly so!).

Emperor Geese, Clam Lagoon, Sept 23, 2018

Just north of town, a flock of 16 Cackling Geese flew over.

The Sanderlngs, Emperor Geese, and Dowitchers were new birds for our Adak Year List (now at 83).

More tomorrow.