Tuesday, September 27, 2022

Temp in the 40s, Mostly sunny, Wind NW 15-30 mph

Weather View, Sept 27, 2022

No sign of the thrush today.

No new species today, but new birds nonetheless.

A flock of 35 Black Scoters showed up today. And probably many other birds that I didn’t notice.

The winds are currently coming straight off the Asian coast directly towards Adak. I hope tomorrow brings something exciting.

Birding was tough today with the high winds and surf.

Seawall, Sept 27, 2022

Out on the Clam Lagoon Peninsula were three Sanderlings. They were very skitterish in the high wind.

Sanderlings, Clam Lagoon, Sept 27, 2022

As i continued up the west side of the lagoon, I found the rest of the flock huddled in the lee of a rock outcrop.

Sanderlings, Clam Lagoon, Sept 27, 2022

On the other side of the lagoon, I found another Snow Bunting.

Snow Bunting, Clam Lagoon, Sept 27, 2022

The other day, I noticed these tracks on the sand at the Airport Creek outlflow.

Harbor Seal tracks, Airport Creek outflow, Sept 27, 2022

Lisa (the refuge manager) informs me that they were made by Harbor Seals.

Not only was the wind and surf high today, so was the tide.

I certainly don’t understand tide patterns.

Here is the tide chart for this two weeks’ stay.

Adak tide chart for Sept 17 to Oct 1, 2022

The vertical green line is now (as I write this).

Notice that the past two days or so the tide has not really gone down. It has stayed in a very narrow range. Not good for exposing mud flats or Sweeper Channel!

Also notice that on some days there is a “double-dip” in the high tide. Go figure…

The rest of the week should be better.

The trip list is stuck at 54.

My eBird list is at https://ebird.org/checklist/S119548771