Temp in the 40s, mostly cloudy, a few light showers in the afternoon, Wind light NE

I start every day by checking the Seal Drive feeder and then the Sandy Cove Bluffs Rock feeder.

At Seal Drive this morning, I had a Hawfinch.

At the Rock, I had a Brambling.

At Sweeper Cove, I got this photo of one of several Ancient Murrelets.

Also, at Sweeper Cove, I added Thick-billed Murre to the trip list.

As I was checking the cove, Sam called to check in. I met him at the Naval Admin Building, where they were putting out seed.

As we were standing there chatting, Sam spotted a bird fly by and said he thought it might be a thrush!

We hurried around the building and saw a bird sitting on a utility pole about a hundred yards away. I quickly snapped a few photos. then the bird flew off.

We couldn’t tell on the camera’s screen if the bird was a thrush or just something common here. So I hurried back to the house, downloaded the pics, and confirmed that it was a thrush — probably Eye-browed, although it was difficult to tell from my photos.

I radioed Sam and Steve and they continued searching. I arrived back there a few minutes later and Sam and Steve relocated the bird shortly thereafter. They confirmed it to be an Eye-browed Thrush, but failed to get quality photos (although they did get blurry, but identifiable pics).

As I approached them, the bird flew again, and this game of cat-and-mouse kept up for the better part of an hour until we finally lost it in town. The only photos that I got were the originals.

This was a lifer for Sam!

After that excitement, I did my usual rounds. On Bayshore Highway, I found a Common Loon out by the kelp beds.

The Pacific Golden-Plovers were back at their favorite spot along Redshank Drive.

I headed up towards Clam Lagoon, but got a call from Sam that they had the Wood Sandpiper in view. So I turned around and headed back, only to find it had flown back over into the marsh where it had been seen previously. I find the marsh to treacherous to walk these days, so I only hike into there for a lifer. I still have ten days for me to see it.

At clam Lagoon, I got a better photo of the American Wigeon.

And on the drive from Shotgun Lake to Lake Andrew, I got a nice pic of a Bufflehead at Hidden Lake.

At the northern end of Clam Lagoon, a number of murrelets were all paired up. Most of them were marbled, but I found at least one pair of Kittlitz’s.

Along the Seawall, I found three loons together — two Pacific and one Arctic. (one with a flank patch, two without). Unfortunately, they were feeding too actively to get a photo of them. They dove and came up farther north, dove again, repeat… eventually disappearing. It was a nice comparison while it lasted.

Then I found another Pacific farther down the Sewall and two more at Candlestick Bridge.

In between, I saw what I believe to be a Minke Whale off the Seawall. It only surfaced twice, but it looked like what I could find online.

When I got back to the Palisades Overlook, the Pacific Loon flock that I had seen yesterday was there again. There were only five in the flock (diving and feeding tightly together!!) and two more a hundred yards or so away — all in breeding plumage. A short distance from the flock was another loon in winter plumage, which turned out to be an Arctic.

So a nice day for loons.

The trip list is 54.

Today’s eBird list can be seen at https://ebird.org/checklist/S138793976

Temps in the 40s, overcast, Wind variable 0-5 mph.

Amanda is leaving on this afternoon’s flight, so we decided to go up to the Loran Station first thing and then spend the rest of the day closer to town.

We first checked the feeders and found nothing new.

We stopped at the Palisades Overlook and found a flock(!) of 6 Pacific Loons. I have seen 2 or 3 Pacific Loons loosely together (within spittin’ distance), but these birds were right next to each other. Four of them were sleeping and the two others were preening. The sleepers raised their heads occasionally, so we could confirm their ID. Interesting…

On the drive out to the Loran Station we came across a Short-eared Owl (our second of the trip).

The road out to the Loran Station is in its worse shape ever! The road had been in great shape the past couple of years because the UXO (Unexploded Ordnance) team had been maintaining it because they were working out in that area. It appears that they are finished out there (or at least taking a pause) and the road has deterioted rapidly.

I’m afraid if it doesn’t get some maintenance in the next year, it will become impassable.

We worked our way out there (carefully) and stopped frequently for Amanda to take in (and photograph) the scenery.

No sooner had we gotten to the Loran Station and I put up my binos to scan the sea, that I saw a pod of Orcas! Anybody who has followed this blog over the years know how unlucky we had been on seeing these magnificent beasts. The only one we ever saw was off the Seawall and stayed submerged except for its dorsal fin (of which I got a wonderful? photo).

So seeing an actual pod of Orcas swimming at the surface was exciting to say the least.

I started screaming “ORCAS, ORCAS!!!

We both grabbed our cameras and started clicking.

What a wonderful experience!

If I don’t get any new birds this trip, it will still be worth it just for the Orca experience alone.

And this was Amanda’s best sighting of Orcas as well!

We did not see any pelagic birds out there, but I added both puffins to the trip list.

We headed back towards town and as we drove down the hill just above the Navfac creek, I stopped and scanned the beach and found a Bar-tailed Godwit (a trip bird).

We went back to the house for Amanda to finish packing, then took the cars down to get gas.

On the way back from the gas station, I stopped at the Sweeper Creek Estuary and was working on my eBird list, when Amanda pulled up, looked at the streamside and spotted a Brambling! I’m beginning to think she is a Brambling-whisperer!

No sooner had I got on it than she saw a second one! A male and a female.

We then went our separate ways, as she stayed close to town for the plane to arrive.

I decided to eat lunch while watching the Seal Drive feeder. I didn’t see any new birds there, but there was a tailless rosy-finch.

The plane arrived and Amanda (and the High Lonesome tour group) left.

Sam, Steve, and Ivan arrived, so I won’t be alone birding on the island.

I headed up to Clam Lagoon and found some eagles having a meeting.

There was a Northern Shoveler at Lake Shirley. Nothing else much to report.

The trip list is at 49.

Today’s eBird list can be seen at https://ebird.org/checklist/S138615769

Temp in the 40s, mostly cloudy, wind N 5 mph

We decided to go down to Finger Bay/Creek this morning.

There were a lot more birds in Sweeper Cove this morning and, as we drove up the south side of the cove, we spotted a couple flocks of ducks which Amanda scoped.

She quickly picked out two Tufted Ducks with a flock of Greater Scaup.

We had been looking for these guys for three days. The flock apparently moves around a lot. They had been seen at the Airport Ponds, Lake Andrew, Contractors Marsh, etc.

At the North Quarry, we got a pair of Pacific Wrens.

Up at the South Quarry, we got a pair of Snow Buntings.

We didn’t see anything new down at the Finger Bay area.

We then headed up to Contractors Marsh, where we had several Common and Wilson’s snipe calling and flying.

As we turned to leave, a Short-eared Owl flew by. It headed over towards the Thrush Feeder and caught something nearby. It then landed in the field across from the feeder and devoured it.

Later on, I went over to the spot where it was eating it, but found no fur or feathers. As we watched it eating, it appeared to be eating it piece-by-piece, rather than swallowing it whole like owls usually do. So I was surprised not to find any evidence of the prey (the location was easy to find, as it was on a little tussock which stood out from the surrounding vegetation).

Amanda was scheduled to go out on the Whiskered Auklet boat trip later in the afternoon, so I took her back to the house where she got in her own car and was going to bird around town until the boat was ready to go.

I went over to the Kuluk Drive feeder to try for the Hawfinch and was rewarded as soon as I stopped.

I then headed back up to the Marsh and did the above-mentioned owl-prey search.

I drove north and had just stopped at the Palisades Overlook, when I got a radio call from Amanda saying she had a Brambling at the Rock Feeder.

So I raced back to town and, after a 35-minute wait, saw the Brambling.

Then it was back north.

At Clam Lagoon, I added Common Goldeye and 2 Parasitic Jaegers to the trip list. And at the Seawall, there was a flock of 85 White-winged Scoters. Unfortunately, they were too far out to determine if any were Stejneger’s.

Also, at the Seawall, I had two Pacific Loons.

There were a couple more Common Goldeneye at Lake Shirley.

As I came back around the lagoon and stopped at the West Lookout, I looked up to see 3 Caribou running across the lagoon!

The Caribou out here stay away from the north end of the island except in winter, so it was totally unexpected. My landlord, Steve, didn’t believe me until I showed him the pics.

They ran across the lagoon (heading west), crossed the road and burst up the hillside and disappeared.

This was only the second time I had seen Caribou in all of our trips out here.

I topped off the day’s list with 5 Aleutian Cackling Geese which flew over as I was standing in the driveway telling Steve about the Caribou!

The trip list is 45.

Amanda and the High Lonesome BIrd Tour group leave tomorrow and a few new birders will be arriving.

Today’s eBird list can be seen at https://ebird.org/checklist/S138458704

Temp in the 40s, mostly cloudy, intermittent showers, Wind NNW 5-10 mph

We did not find any earth-shattering birds today.

2 American Wigeon (uncommon, but regular out here) and 5 Northern Shovelers highlighted the waterfowl list.

We added Pacific Golden-Plover to the shorebird list.

The birds have found all of the new feeders, except for the Thrush Feeder.

There were very few birds off the Seawall and no shorebirds on Clam Lagoon.

Waterfowl numbers seem good.

High Lonesome had a Wood Sandpiper and both snipe at the marsh today.

Last May, I posted a photo of a Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch nest located in an old bunker.

Well, the steel shelving on which it was located finally collapsed, so they will have to find a new location.

34 species so far.

PS: Amanda got very good looks and photos of the Hawfinch yesterday.

Today’s eBird list can be seen at https://ebird.org/checklist/S138326356

Back to Adak!

My flights to Anchorage yesterday were on time and today’s flight also.

In Anchorage yesterday afternoon, I did a quick spin around Lake Hood.

As usual, the Red-throated Loon was in attendance.

The rest of the waterfowl were as expected, also.

This morning, I ran up to Arctic Valley, where a Hermit Thrush actually came out into the open…

At Ship Creek, I had a nice Hudsonian Godwit (only my second for my Alaska list).

Also, from Ship Creek, I saw a Whimbrel feeding off the Coastal Trail (too far for photos). When I drove around to the trail and walked a portion of it, I could not relocate it.

At the airport, I met Amanda Damin (who is spending the next four days with me) and the tour group from High Lonesome (led by Stephan Lorenz).

When we got to Adak, we found out that the Tundra Bean Goose had not been seen for two days, but there were a nice number of Hawfinches around and a Brambling or two.

After some quick unpacking, I drove Amanda up to one of the spots the Hawfinches were being seen. After about 15 minutes or so, one flew in but kept on going, circling the area and not landing.

Amanda decided she would stake it out while I went back to assemble the new feeders I had built and shipped out to Adak.

I had gotten tired of rats eating much (if not most) of the bird seed we scattered out each day. So I went to the drawing board and designed what I hope are rat-proof feeders!

As you can see, it didn’t take long for the birds to start using it.

I assembled and filled three feeders (at Seal Drive, the Thrush Feeder, and the National Forest). I will install the last one at the Blue Buildings up at Clam Lagoon tomorrow.

As I sit here typing this, a Gray-crowned Rosy Finch just flew into the feeder that I put up outside this house.

Northwest winds are predicted for the next few days. Southwest are preferable in May, but any wind with a western vector in it is good news.

At 9:30 PM, Amanda is still out birding (the sun doesn’t go down until 10:36 today)!

I will let you know what she found in tomorrow’s post.

Today’s eBird list can be seen at https://ebird.org/checklist/S138206904