Western Sandpiper hovering in the wind
Typical juv Western Sandpiper
Its always nice to have a boring “normal” bird in a flock that you are studing to keep things in perspective. Although I have always found Western Sandpipers to be cute and very photogenic. (-: This bird was with the two Baird’s Sandpipers and Little Stint.
Two juvenile Baird’s Sandpipers on the SW corner of Clam Lagoon 18AUG10. Baird’s Sandpipers have a very unique look to them and really stand out from other peeps. Their long primary extension gives them an elegant look most of the time but they can appear rather pot bellied too.
Here is a juvenile Little Stint photographed in the SW corner of Clam Lagoon on 18AUG10. It was in the company of two juv Bairds Sandpipers and a juv Western Sandpiper.
Mixed flock of peeps
Mixed flock of peeps
3 species of peeps
Can you guess what they are? Can I say summer is finally over and its the start of the fall migration? This was a great way to start. From left to right we have a Little Stint, two Bairds Sandpipers and a Western Sandpiper. The Little Stint was a lifer for me. (-: And the two Bairds were my first documented for Adak. The Bairds is 128 and the Little Stint is 129 for my Adak list. I will break down each individual bird in another post.
Took a drive around Clam Lagoon on the night of the 28th. Pretty quiet bird wise except for the local breeders. The light wasn’t that great for pictures though. In fact the Ptarmigan shots were taken at ISO 3200!! Gotta love the 7D.
Oh, the adult Ruddy Turnstones are arriving heading back South. Saw several flocks of 10-15 in Sweeper Cove and creek. It’s about this time when a few adult Gray Tailed Tattlers or Red Necked Stints sometime make an appearance too.
Fork-tailed Storm-petrel
Fork-tailed Storm-petrel
Fork-tailed Storm-petrel
Fork-tailed Storm-petrel
Fork-tailed Storm-petrel diving for food
Fork-tailed Storm-petrel
Fork-tailed Storm-petrel
Fork-tailed Storm-petrel
Fork-tailed Storm-petrel in heavy wing moult
Here is something that you don’t see everyday. At least here on Adak. Fork-tailed Storm-petrels feeding in Sweeper Cove only 50ft from shore. A local fisherman had his boat docked on one of the large piers and these 4 Storm-Petrels were feeding off of the back of the boat. If I was on his boat I would have been 5-10ft from the birds. Even from shore I still managed some good pictures in spite of the terrible lighting. One of the 4 birds was in heavy wing moult and was missing primaries and secondaries.
Hour old chicks and pipped egg
Starting to fluff up.
This one Glaucous Winged Gull nest was on the edge of the Arctic Tern colony near Clam Lagoon. The gulls, Arctic Terns, and Aleutian Terns all just started hatching today.
Arctic Tern nest
Arctic Tern nest with two eggs
Hours old Arctic Tern chick
Hold real still....
Still wet from the egg
The Aleutian Terns nest separately from the Arctic Terns and the closest colony is just East of the Airport on Mt Moffett. They are doing really well this year with over 60 adults. The chicks are much more yellowish than the Arctic Terns and their eggs are more olive.
Aleutian Tern nest with newly hatched chick
The Parasitic Jaegers are a little behind and haven’t started hatching yet. At least the nests that I have seen.
Parasitic Jaeger nest
Kuluk Bay filled with thousands of Ancient Murrelets
Pacific Common Eider pair
It was a nice calm day and I could see Kuluk Bay filled with thousands of small seabirds. So I jumped in the boat and headed out to see what they were. Turned out to be all Ancient Murrelets. Also had some eiders along the shore.
Aleutian Terns
Adak is the home to a large breeding population of Aleutian Terns. They nest in loose colonies way up in the hills away from water. The flocks will fish in the surf of the ocean shore but before they return to their nest sites they will bath in the fresh water ponds to get the salt water off their feathers. I love these guys.
Wilson's Snipe appear much blacker on the back and wings than a Common Snipe
Note the heavy barred underwing on this Wilson's Snipe
Wilson's Snipe flushed off nest in Contractors Marsh
Have I mentioned how much I love my Canon 7D??!! These shots have eluded me for years and I always came home with blurry photos and disappointment. 19 auto focus points and 8fps later is what you are seeing now.
The two other ID points not shown in these photos for distinguishing Common from Wilson’s Snipe are the size of outer tail feathers and winnowing. Stay tuned for Part II for discussion of these points.
