Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Temp in the 40s, overcast, light rain all day, wind S turning to SE 5-15 mph

With the strong NW winds the past day-and-a-half, we expected to find new birds. We did, just not rarities (but they are probably here somewhere…).

Still nothing new at the feeders, but the Thrush Feeder has a dozen rosy-finches.

At the Seawall, we saw a pair of Red-throated Loons. Only the fifth time for us out here.

Red-throated Loons, Seawall, September 18, 2019

The mother Red-breasted Merganser was still minding her young (singular). Here is a slightly better photo of the young bird (taken through the rain).

Young Red-breasted Merganser, East Side Ponds, September 18, 2019

On the east side of Clam Lagoon we had our first Emperor Geese for the year (we missed them in May). There were four birds.

Emperor Geese, Clam Lagoon, September 18, 2019

The number of Ruddy Turnstones is up this year. We are finding flocks at Landing Lights, the Seawall, and around Clam Lagoon.

I did not walk the marsh edge today, so do not know if the marsh Sandpiper is still here.

Pectoral Sandpipers are starting to show up in any roadside puddles with a little bit of vegetation. Typical in the fall.

Later in the afternoon, as we were pulling out of our driveway, a Common Raven was sitting on the back of the pickup truck next door. Did you know the Common Raven is the largest passerine in the world? And the Kamchatka subspecies (what we have out here) is the largest subspecies?

Common Raven, Adak, September 18, 2019

The Marine landing has been a fizzle so far. When we were up at the Blue Building Feeder, we saw one landing craft speeding towards NavFac Beach. When we got down there a few hours later, there were a dozen-or-so Marines standing around with a couple of Humvees, two fuel trucks, and a navy bulldozer working on the beach. We weren’t sure whether the dozer was repairing damage or preparing for a larger contingent tomorrow.

We will see.

It was a miserable day with the constant rain. Usually, the rains out here are intermittent, making it bearable. But every once in a while, we get one of these days…

The Trip List is 44 (54 is average) and the Year List is 80 (82 is average).

Today’s eBird checklist is at: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S59915487

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Temp in the 40s, overcast, a little sunshine by late afternoon, on and off sprinkles, Wind West at 20-40 mph

Nothing new today.

We’ve had strong NW to W winds the past 24 hours, so we expect new birds will be appearing shortly. Just not yet today…

Offshore from Sweeper Cove this morning were a few Short-tailed Shearwaters, but not much else.

Short-tailed Shearwaters, Kuluk Bay off Sweeper Cove, Sept 17, 2019

We are in a stretch of extra-high tides right now, so Sweeper Creek offers no shorebird-friendly shoreline.

There were more turnstones at Landing Lights and one Rock Sandpiper.

At the Seawall and the Breaches, we had even more turnstones, rock Sandpipers, and the Sanderling flock.

Sanderlings, The Breaches, Sept 17, 2019
Ruddy Turnstone, Seawall, Sept 17, 2019

The Marsh Sandpiper is still present at Clam Lagoon, but the Westerns and stint were not seen today.

Marsh Sandpiper, Clam Lagoon, Sept 17, 2019

From the Palisades Overlook, we watched a couple of shearwaters partake in a gull/alcid feeding frenzy where a whale of some sort was feeding. Never did get a look at the whale, just its water-churning, etc.

There were also two Parasitic Jaegers out there.

The strong winds made for stormy seas, so the naval ship in Kuluk Bay moved farther out and there were no exercises today. There is also a Coast Guard cutter here. We assume that is taking part as well.

The Trip List stands at 42.

Today’s eBird list is at: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S59892297

Monday, September 16, 2019

The Russians are coming! The Russians are coming!

Oh, wait – its not the Russians, just the marines… more on that later.

Temp in the 50s, overcast, light rain or drizzle until late afternoon, wind SSW 10-20 mph

I am allowed one bone-headed misidentification per trip. I hope yesterday’s was this trip’s quota!

When we initially saw what turned out to be the Marsh Sandpiper, we knew it was a Tringa, but were unsure which one. I got a bunch of photos and, upon arriving back at the house, we studied them.

Although the bird looked slim-and-trim like a Marsh, the bill gave us pause. It seemed heavier than it should be and the lower mandible had a distinct upward bend to it. Nowhere could we find a photo (not just an illustration) of a Marsh Sandpiper with a bill like that! So, fixating on the bill without studying the other plumage characteristics (such as a white supercilium behind the eye – which eliminates greenshank!) We settled on a slim Common Greenshank – maybe a young bird with a not quite developed bill.

We were met the following morning with email from several qualified observers pointing out the error of our ways. At least we got the stint right!

We hope the rest of the good birds we get will be like the Spotted Redshank from May 2018 – no confusing that sucker…

The Thrush feeder is attracting Gray-crowned Rosy-finches, but nothing at the other feeders, yet…

I did not walk Clam Lagoon today. I try to do it every other day so as not to harass the migrants that are resting and refueling. However, that cuts down on the daily list.

The near-constant precipitation cut down on the passerines, but the usual waterfowl were out and about. We had nothing different until we got to the east side of Clam Lagoon, where we found a flock of 25 Sanderlings. We didn’t have any this past spring so they were a year bird.

At Candlestick Bridge, coming out of the fog were three Short-tailed Shearwaters. We later saw them again from the Palisades Overlook.

We have been checking the National Forest and Warbler Willows at least twice daily, but so far have found only Song Sparrows and Pacific Wrens.

In late afternoon, we checked the fish factory outflow at the Sweeper Cove breakwall and, although there was no great gathering of gulls, there was a Crested Auklet (not close) present.

This is the only Auklet that we have seen from shore more than once. We have had them in three Septembers so far.

While scanning for other auklets, etc, Barb had a sea mammal surface and disappear (as usual for us!). We have no idea what it was.

As we were returning to our house to settle in for the night, the roar of military helicopters filled the air.

The Marines are coming out here this week to run some exercises – including storming the beaches!

It will be interesting…

Our trip list is 42 and Year List is 79.

The weather patterns continue to roll through at a breakneck pace, so we expect new birds to come along.

Today’s eBird checklist is at https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S59868183

No photos today.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Temp in the 50s, overcast, occasional light rain, wind variable 5-15 mph

The weather systems in the north Pacific and Bering Sea are moving rapidly west to east – unlike the stationary weather patterns of this past May. We anticipated that this would bring better birds.

We were not wrong…

We started the day with our usual routine around Sweeper Cove and creek, etc. We started seeding some bird feeders.

Our first good bird of the trip was a Peregrine Falcon over the Sandy Bluff (we didn’t have one this past May).

At the Landing Lights, we had a Ruddy Turnstone and a Rock Sandpiper.

While scanning the bay at Palisades Overlook, an Orca surfaced right in my scope’s field! Of course, it then went under and made VERY brief surfacings over the next 15 minutes or so. Never got a photo! We also saw a couple of Black Oystercatchers there.

We headed up towards Clam Lagoon, checking on willows and trees along the way. We didn’t see any new passerines, but Kuluk Bay provided alcids, scoters, eiders, etc.

At Clam Lagoon, I decided to walk the marsh edge and the peninsula.

A Young Glaucous-winged Gull was standing near the edge of the marsh displaying its pristine plumage.

Glaucous-winged Gull, Clam Lagoon, Sept 15, 2019

The edge netted three Pectoral Sandpipers, one Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, and a Marsh Sandpiper!

Pectoral Sandpiper, Clam Lagoon, Sept 15, 2019
Marsh Sandpiper, Clam Lagoon, Sept 15, 2019
Marsh Sandpiper , Clam Lagoon, Sept 15, 2019
Marsh Sandpiper , Clam Lagoon, Sept 15, 2019

Out on the peninsula, I spotted three peeps. Two were obviously Western Sandpipers, but the third looked different – shorter bill, plumage differences, etc. I thought the third bird was a Red-necked Stint, but as anyone who follows this blog knows, I struggle with these guys! So, once we got home, I sent photos to Isaac, who confirmed my initial identification. Thanks Isaac!!

Western Sandpiper (left) and Red-necked Stint, Clam Lagoon, Sept 15, 2019

The Seawall had both Red-necked and Horned Grebes (we missed Red-necked in May), and a Pacific Loon. We also had a flock of 18 Ruddy Turnstones there.

On both Lake Shirley and the lagoon were a lot of waterfowl. Just the usual suspects, Eurasian Wigeon, Mallards, Norther Pintails, Common Teal, Greater Scaup, and Red-breasted Mergansers.

An interesting find was a mother merganser with one VERY young offsping. Not only are the typical merganser families much larger, but to have this young a bird was unusually late in the season. The following is not a great photo, but it does show what I’m talking about.

Red-breasted Merganser with young, East Side Ponds, Sept 15, 2019

We had only 70 species on our May trip, but we have already added seven to that list for our year list!

Not a bad start.

Our eBird list for today is at https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S59843323

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Our flights were uneventful. We did our shopping and a little birding, got supper and turned in.

On Saturday morning, we headed down to Potters Marsh in hope that the Falcated Duck that had been there in May and June just might still be hanging around.

We spent a couple of hours to no avail. If it was still there, it wasn’t showing itself to us…

There were a lot of waterfowl (teal, gadwall, scaup, mallard, wigeon, shoveler, etc.), but no falcated. There also a lot of yellowlegs — far more than we had ever seen there before.

Greater Yellowlegs, Potter Marsh, Anchorage, Sept 14, 2019.

We also had several Rusty Blackbirds.

So we headed up to Arctic Valley and, although we were not the first vehicle up the road, we still managed to see two Spruce Grouse along the way.

The other bird of note was a Sharp-shinned Hawk — only the second that we had seen in Alaska.

The flight to Adak was a bit bumpy, but arrived on time. However, there was a contingent of naval personnel who had just completed a military exercise waiting to go home. Since the TSA inspectors arrive on Adak on the incoming flight, the outgoing luggage can’t be inspected until they arrive. So since there was such a large number of passengers (highly unusual for Adak), and they wanted to get the plane back as soon as possbile, the ground crew delayed delivering the incoming luggage to the baggage area until after they had loaded the outgoing luggage!

So we didn’t get our luggage for more than an hour (we went to out rental unit and unpacked our carry-on and stuff that we store there while we waited.

After finally getting our luggage and getting the food stowed away, we finally got out to do a little birding. The only bird of note was a Parasitic Jaeger on Clam Lagoon. They usually leave around mid-September.

It was late in the day, so many birds had already turned in for the night. Very few passerines were seen.

We are ready for a full day tomorrow!