Birding Alaska

I just returned from 12 days of birding in the village of Gambell on St. Lawrence Island with Wilderness Birding Adventures. Our fall tour was conducted from September 1st through the 7th, after which a few of us stayed on longer to see what else the island might produce.  As it turned out the bulk of the excitement occurred during our first three days on the island.  Without question the highlight of the trip was the discovery of both Pallas’s and Yellow-breasted Buntings on September 2nd.  There are about 5 previous North American records for each species, all from Alaska.  Late on September 5th the winds switched to north and remained there more or less for the rest of our stay making the birding a bit slow.  The first few days of rarities, however, more than made up for the slow ending to the trip.

Juvenile Pallas’s Bunting Emberiza pallasi, Far Boneyard, Gambell, 2 September 2009.  More photos here.

Yellow-breasted Bunting Emberiza aureola, Far Boneyard, Gambell, 2 September 2009.  More photos here.

Fresh out of the bath, the bird appears a bit bedraggled.  In over seven hours of attempting to get good looks of these two skulking buntings, this was the only time that I saw the Yellow-breasted Bunting on the ground and completely in the open.  With a bit of diligence and fortitude everyone in the group eventually got great views of both buntings.

Black-headed Gull Croicocephalus ridibundus, Troutman Lake, Gambell, 5 September 2009.

Its larger and more robust build, thicker bill, darker legs, less extensive hood, and under-wing pattern separate adult Black-headed Gulls from the somewhat similar Bonaparte’s Gull.

Female-type Common Rosefinch Carpodacus erythrinus, Far Boneyard, Gambell, 1 September 2009.

Common Rosefinches have a strongly curved culmen and an unmarked face, giving them a blank-faced and beady-eyed look.  Of the three other North American Carpodacus finches female Common Rosefinch is most similar to female House finch (which also have a curved culmen and plain face) but can be separated by voice, range and possibly by the slightly blurrier breast streaking of the House Finch.  However, there is very little information in print (none?) on separating House Finch and Common Rosefinch, and no region where they have ever overlapped in range.  While House Finch is extremely unlikely at Gambell, it has strayed to southeast and south coastal Alaska and is listed as casual on the state checklist.

This individual had especially warm plumage with the rump appearing warmer brown than the rest of the upperparts and the flight feathers showed warm, slightly greenish tones.  The only other Carpodacus recorded from St. Lawrence Island is Purple Finch for which there are three records. Click here for discussion on the identification of the other Carpodacus finches.

Female Brambling Fringilla montifringilla, Far Boneyard, Gambell, 3 September 2009.

This female Brambling spent a few sunny hours catching flying insects in the far boneyard. It was found in the afternoon and not seen in subsequent days.

Juvenile Red-necked Stint Calidris ruficollis, Gambell, 4 September 2009.

Getting a bit late for most shorebirds at this latitude, this Red-necked Stint tied the late date record for the island.

“Asian” Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica rustica, Gambell, 4 September 2009.

Two races of “Asian” Barn Swallow occur as vagrants to Alaska–rustica and gutturalis. This individual probably represents rustica because of the complete and thick blue breast band.  The North American subspecies eurythrogaster, which has an incomplete breast band and a reddish belly, regularly breeds no closer to St. Lawrence Island than Cordova in Prince William Sound, Alaska.  This bird arrived at Gambell on the 3rd and was seen at widely scattered locations around town.  It was not seen perched until the evening of the 4th when it cooperated for about 30 minutes before disappearing.

Juvenile Gray-tailed Tattler Tringa brevipes, Troutman Lake, Gambell, 3 September 2009.

Both species of Tattler are rare but regular fall migrants at Gambell.  The heavy spotting on the upperparts, especially the tertials and great coverts, and the pure white flanks identify this bird as a juvenile Gray-tailed Tattler. The wing coverts of Gray-tailed Tattler also show faint brownish-gray tones.  Juvenile Wandering Tattlers show more blueish-gray tones.  The distinctive two-note “too-weet” call is diagnostic for the species.  For more photos of juvenile Gray-tailed Tattlers and a side-by-side comparison with juvenile Wandering Tattler click here.

Juvenile Red Phalarope Phalaropus fulicarius, Corner Marsh, Gambell, 7 September 2009.

Red Phalaropes are regular migrants past Gambell in the fall and we encountered several hundred each day we were there.  This bird is beginning to acquire its winter garb in the form of grayish scapular and mantle feathers.

Just a quick note from Gambell to post these photos of two great birds, present together!  They were here only yesterday in the far boneyard at Gambell!  When I get more time on-line (too much time birding to post much) I’ll post photos of Brambling, Common Rosefinch, and hopefully much more to come.

Yellow-breasted Bunting Emberiza aureola Far Boneyard, Gambell, 2 September 2009.

Pallas’s Bunting Emberiza pallasi Far Boneyard, Gambell, 2 September 2009.

This bird is believed to be a juvenile because of the overall rufous tones especially on flight and tail feathers, and the streaking on the breast, crown and rump.  Comments from anyone familiar with Pallas’s Buntings would be most welcome!

The ship moved into Bristol Bay a few days ago where the highlight has been an early Sabine’s Gull on 28 April.  The bird numbers dropped dramatically after we left the deep waters west of Bering Canyon and entered the shallower waters of Bristol Bay.  However, the last two days transiting deep water (26-27 April) were great and produced 2 more Mottled Petrels and 2 Leach’s Storm-Petrels–both of which are exclusively found over deep water.  We also recorded 4 Red-legged Kittiwakes on this transit.  There have been nice numbers of Short-tailed Shearwaters, both over deep water and in the shallower waters of Bristol Bay.  Many of the shearwaters have been occurring in tight flocks of 30-50.  Watching Short-tailed Shearwaters maneuver in a 30 knot wind is about as good as it gets!

Short-tailed Shearwaters Puffinus tenuirostris in Bristol Bay, 29 April 2009.

When compared to the similar Sooty Shearwater, note the steep forehead and shorter, thinner bill of the Short-tailed.  Contrary to popular belief the “underwing flash” of a Sooty is not a reliable field mark for separating the two species.  Short-tailed Shearwaters can show a flashy underwing (see top photo), especially when seen in bright light as these birds were.  On a Sooty Shearwater, however, the brightest part of the underwing is the underwing covert panel and these bright underwing coverts contrast with the bird’s darker flight feathers.  The underwing of a Short-tailed Shearwater is more uniform and can range in coloration from dark to light.  When Short-tailed Shearwaters show a pale underwing it is a uniformly pale, or “flashy,” underwing and the flight feathers, especially the primaries, are also pale.  In the top photo of the two Short-tailed Shearwaters note how the paleness of the underwing extends onto the primaries, which don’t contrast with the under-primary coverts as they would in a Sooty.   Structural clues and flight styles are also extremely important, especially when the two species are seen together.

Click here for an excellent article (with excellent photos) by Greg Gillson, published in Birding magazine, which details the seperation of these two species.

BREAKING NEWS…Just when I was thinking that no good bird is ever discovered in Alaska in February, Seward birders proved me wrong.  Carol Griswold’s feeder in Seward is currently hosting Alaska’s 5th record of Cassin’s Finch.  Carol found the bird yesterday and was able to get some great photos which aided with this difficult ID.  Carol is a human being extraordinaire and a very welcoming finch-host.  Click here for sighting details and contact information.

Seward has attracted several Purple Finches in recent years, but this is the first Cassin’s.  The main separation points for Cassin’s are: a longer bill with a straighter culmen; white eye-arcs forming a nearly complete, delicate eye-ring; streaked undertail coverts; only a faint supercilium and malar stripe; and finer crisp streaking below, not coarse or blurry as in Purple.  Female House Finch (also extremely rare in Alaska) should also be considered; however, a House Finch would show a stubby bill with a more strongly curved culmen, a plain face, and diffuse blurry streaking below.  Since this is Alaska, I guess we should consider female Common Rosefinch also.  Like the House Finch, a Common Rosefinch would show a stubby bill with a curved culmen, a very plain face, and slightly smudgier streaking below.

I took these photos this morning, February 21st, from Carol’s yard.  The bird was very cooperative and came in to feed regularly all morning.  It tended to avoid the feeder, but fed instead on the spilled seeds near the feeder.  It wasn’t shy and spent a lot of time feeding in the open.  There were 5 other finch species there this morning including both White-winged and Red Crossbills.

This first picture shows a long and nearly straight culmen (except the bill tip) and a delicate eye-ring.  The streaking below is crisp and the face pattern is relatively faint.

This photo shows the streaked undertail coverts, which are lacking in Purple Finch.

This last shot points out two additional field marks of Cassin’s– long primary projection and crisp, black mantle streaks on grayish-tan feathers.  It also shows the long and pointy bill.

Below is a photo I took of a Purple Finch in Seward in 2006.  In it you can see the unstreaked undertail coverts and smudgy streaking on the breast and flanks.  Also the supercilium and malar stripe are more prominent than in the Cassin’s.  This bird also lacks an eye-ring, although the angle of this shot makes that difficult to discern.  While the straightness of the culmen is also difficult to see from this angle, the bill does look shorter than the bill of the Cassin’s Finch and has a proportionately thicker base.

Purple Finch Carpodacus purpureus, Seward, 16 March 2006.

The last photo is one I took of a Purple Finch in Cordova in 2005.  Even though the photo quality is low, the supercilium and malar stripe are distinctive and this bird lacks an eye-ring.  Also, the streaking below is smudgy and the mantle streaks are not as sharp as those on the Cassin’s.  It’s too bad there is a stick obscuring the primary spacing–that would be an interesting comparison to make with the Cassin’s.

Purple Finch Carpodacus purpureus, Cordova, 17 December 2005.