Temp 51!!!, partly sunny, Wind East 5-10 mph increasing in the PM

After the good past two days, today was rather slow.

I decided to make the hike (1.3 miles each way) for the Tufted Duck.

About 100 yards into the walk, four peeps flushed from the creek and flew over to the Airport Ditch.

I abandoned the duck hunt and headed over to the Ditch. No luck. Whatever they were had moved on by the time I got there.

As I was searching for those birds, I received a call that there was a pair of Kittlitz’s Murrelets just off Bayshore Drive.

So I headed over there. As usual, they were not real close, but I got identifiable pics.

So, back to the duck search.

I hiked out, flushing a variety of ducks along the way: scaup, goldeneyes, RB Mergansers, Mallards, teal…

I was near the end when two Greater Scaup took flight, followed shortly by another bird. AHA! The Tufted Duck! I took some quick photos as it flew away. When I got back to the house this evening and studied the photos, it was just another Greater Scaup.

Oh well…

At Clam Lagoon, I finally saw the Bar-tailed Godwit that had been reported the last week or so. However, it was far out and the heat waves were bad, so no pics.

As I walked back on the mud flats towards the car, I found this.

At Shotgun Lake I saw all five Common Mergansers together (Again, the heat waves made photos impossible).

Up near Contractor’s Camp Marsh, I ran into Shep and Jon and they told me about a Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch nest they found. I checked it out and here it is.

It was inside an old concrete bunker on top of a set of metal shelves. Nicely protected from the weather.

Trip List is 59.

Today’s list can be seen at https://ebird.org/checklist/S111303200

Quality trumps quantity…

Temp in the high 40s, Partly Sunny, No Precipitation, Wind E 5-10 mph

With the overnight east winds and relatively calm seas, it was easy to pick out a number of Horned and Tufted puffins in Kuluk Bay.

There was nothing else of note until I went up to Haven Lake, where I found the Tundra Swan (finally!).

At the Landing Lights Jetty, I took the required annual Rock Sandpiper photo.

I then worked my way up to Clam Lagoon and was almost to the Blue Building complex, when the Goffs radioed that they had two(!) possible Black-tailed Godwits at the southwest corner of Clam Lagoon.

I raced back there (as did the other birders in the area) and sure enough, there were a male and a female Black-tailed Godwit!

I had only seen one in spring before (2016), so this was great!

Arriving birders brought news of a Tufted Duck at Sweeper Creek. So several of us hastened down there. Steve saw it briefly, but when he turned to call to the others, the bird disappeared. It was found later in the day (not by me), but was very flighty and required a long hike up the channel that runs parallel to Sweeper Creek. Maybe it will find a nice pond to settle in on and I will see it then.

After all of the reports of the wagtail being spotted at Contractor’s Camp Marsh, I decided I would eat my lunch there and wait an hour or two, if needed, to see this bird.

Well, of course, as soon as I pulled up to the spot, there it was!

It is of the black-backed variety. Our previous record was a gray-backed bird.

After that (and lunch) I took another swing around Clam Lagoon, but the only new bird I found was a Northern Pintail.

I headed back to the house and had dinner. Just as I finished, I got a call from Sam that they had a Least Sandpiper on Sweeper Creek. I headed over there and got it for the trip.

I’ve only had them on four previous trips, so it is a good bird out here.

Three of the groups of birders are leaving tomorrow, so fewer eyes…

The trip list is up to 58.

You can view today’s list at https://ebird.org/checklist/S111225236

Temp in the 40s, overcast, no precipitation, Wind ENE 5-10 mph

A very good day. No lifers, but a few nice birds.

First, an apology.

I forgot to post the photo of the “odd-looking” siskin yesterday. So here it is.

Notice the lack of streaking in the center of the breast/belly and the hint of yellow above and behind the eye. These are traits of the female Green-morph Pine Siskin.

Today started out at the Marina, where I picked up Ancient Murrelets.

How’s that for an ID quiz?

Then I drove down to Finger Bay, picking up 8 Snow Buntings and a Red-necked Grebe along the way.

Then I didn’t get anything else new until I got to the East Side Ponds at Clam Lagoon, where a Long-billed Dowitcher flushed as I drove along. I could not relocate it.

This is only the second Spring dowitcher that I have had out here.

At the Seawall, I had both Pacific and Arctic Loons.

I had several puffins of both species fly by. I spent a few minutes scanning the horizon for stiff-wings and was rewarded with about a half-dozen Short-tailed Shearwaters and one Laysan Albatross.

At Lake Shirley, I found the Barrow’s Goldeneye that others had reported a few days ago in Clam Lagoon.

On the way back to town, I got a report of a Pacific Golden-Plover and A Ruddy Turnstone at Landing Lights Beach. When I got there, only the turnstone was still there.

I had an early dinner, then went back out.

At Contractor’s Camp Marsh, I spotted one of the Common Mergansers that have been hanging around.

When I got back up to Clam Lagoon, I got a report that the plover was on the peninsula.

But, before I could get to that, I also was told a Short-eared Owl was hunting nearby.

Yup!

This is the first Short-eared Owl that I have seen out here that sat long enough for a photo!

At the peninsula, I got the plover.

As I came around the northeast corner of the lagoon, another owl was hunting there. He also sat for a photo!

On the other side of the lagoon, I captured this gull working on dinner.

Then, to top off the day, I had a flock of Aleutian Cackling Geese fly over.

In addition to all of this, the wagtail and godwit were both seen again and a Tundra Swan has been hanging around since yesterday and a Gyrfalcon was seen. None of these birds showed itself to me however.

My trip list jumped to 52 (from 39)!

My day’s list can be found at https://ebird.org/checklist/S111142617

It is supposed to be nice weather again tomorrow.

Temp in the 40s, Overcast, fine drizzle much of the day, Wind NNE 5-15 mph

The tide was very high this morning, so Sweeper Channel and other shorebird spots were wanting. The constant drizzle also fogged in areas sporadically. Not ideal birding conditions…

The mystery siskin from yesterday is probably just a “green morph” Pine Siskin. I was trying to make it into a Eurasian.

I wanted to get more photos of it today, but the Naval Admin feeder was inundated by ravens. No siskins there! However, there was one at the Seal Drive feeder.

This is only the second trip on which I had siskins. They are rare out here.There are only about a half-dozen records for Adak.

The Bramblings, on the other hand, show up practically every year. Although this year does not stack up to 2017, when there were over a hundred, it is still a pretty good year. Here’s one of the females.

I added a number of common species to the trip list (today’s eBird list can be seen at https://ebird.org/checklist/S111040275).

Here are a few photos of same.

At the Seawall, I saw two Steller’s Sea Lions. Always a treat.

As mentioned in past posts, there is a continuing effort to find and destroy unexploded ordnance on the island. Well, apparently, a few weeks ago, when they were blowing up some relic bombs, it got out of hand and started a grass fire. This was up towards the Loran Station and the fire swept down all the way to Lake Andrew. Here are some photos.

I imagine when I return in September, this area will be green again.

There are four other birding groups on the island, so nothing should be missed. Two of the groups had been here since last Wednesday. The others arrived the same day as I did.

Some birds seen by those groups, but not yet by me, include Bar-tailed Godwit, Wood Sandpiper, Common Merganser, Wandering Tattler, Short-eared Owl, a possible Gray-tailed Tattler, Barrow’s Goldeneye, and White Wagtail.

Coming to Adak later than normal will probably result in a lower overall trip list. Much of the waterfowl have already left.

The trip list is at 36.

No strong southwesterlies in the weather forecast, but we keep hoping.

Good to be back.

My flights were uneventful.

Nothing new in Anchorage, but I was finally able to get a photo of a Violet-green Swallow on Arctic Valley Road.

For umpteen years, Barb and I would drive up to Arctic Valley in hopes of finding a Willow Ptarmigan — our nemesis chicken! Last year, with the help of Dave Sonneborn, I finally saw one up at the Glen Alps area.

So, of course, when I got up to the Arctic Valley ski area this morning, what did I see? A Willow Ptarmigan! It flew before I could get a photo.

How many of us have experienced this? You search for years for a particular species, but once you finally see one, you start tripping over them…

Arrived on Adak at 2 PM and was met by Sam Brayshaw at the airport with the latest sighting info.

There are at least three siskins and 7 Bramblings, and the White Wagtail was seen again.

None of these are lifers, but nice birds anyway.

After some quick unpacking and organizing, I headed out to check the usual spots.

I saw two of the Pine Siskins at the Naval Admin Building.

I took another photo of one there, but it looked odd to me. I’m having my Adak Bird ID team working on it. Probably just another Pine…

I went up to Clam Lagoon and the seawall, finding the usual suspects.

On the way back, I stopped at the Seal Drive Feeder to look for the Bramblings.

NOTE: Someone put seed out at the nearby fallen spruce tree, which is about forty yards away from the Seal Drive feeder, hence splitting the flock! I always warn birders not to do that, but someone didn’t get the message. So now you have to figure out which feeder to stake out. Of course, if you choose Seal Drive, the birds will be at the fallen tree and vice versa!

Anyway, in spite of that, I saw two of the Bramblings

A nice start to the trip.

My body is still on Pennsylvania time, so off to bed!