Birding Alaska

Townsend’s Solitaire Myadestes townsendii, Waterman Road, Homer, 20 November 2010.

November in Homer means it’s time to check the fruit trees. The south facing slopes of Homer and East End Road are loaded with mountain ash, European bird cherry, and a number of varieties of apple and crab apple trees. Each winter this fruit attracts a large gathering of American Robins, Bohemian Waxwings, Pine Grosbeaks and smaller numbers of rarities like Cedar Waxwing (now annual in winter since the winter of 2004-2005), Townsend’s Solitaire, and Mountain Bluebird (one record, see here).

Despite being a rare breeder at treeline in the mountains of the Kenai Peninsula, the first Homer record of Townsend’s Solitaire wasn’t until 1992. All Homer records are from the late fall and winter (see below). Yesterday I found two Townsend’s Solitaires in two different birdy neighborhoods. One on Waterman Road and one on Fernwood Drive. Fernwood Drive hosted the Solitaire last year and the bird cherries on Waterman attracted the Solitaire from the winter before. Yesterday’s sightings mark four consecutive winters for the species in Homer.

Townsend’s Solitaire Records from Homer:

• One on 22-30 January 1992 (American Birds 46:301-303)
• One on 11-22 November 1994 (Field Notes 49:84-87)
• One on 18 January joined by four more on 5 February 2005 (North American Birds 59:308-310)
• One on 5 January 2008+ (North American Birds 62:288-291) A bird reported on the PEEPS bird alert from late November 2007 may pertain to the same individual.
• One on 20 December 2008 (North American Birds 63:309-312)
• One on 3 December 2009-3 January 2010 (see here)
• Two on 21 November 2010

Jack Snipe Lymnocryptes minimus, Beluga Slough, Homer, 16 October 2010. In the last photo (which is terrible) the bird is flying to the left with the wings below the body. I posted it to show the tail, which was dark centered, paler on the edges, but which lacked an orange subterminal band. Click on any photo for a larger version.

Found in Beluga Slough today by my dog, Hartney.  My dog flushed the bird and it flew from the dog and past me, dropping in tall vegetation about 40 feet away. On this first look I saw a silent and smallish snipe with a broad white trailing edge to the secondaries and a plain gray underwing. This naked eye look was intriguing so I flushed the bird again and got a long and good look at the bird as it flew directly away. It flushed from a distance of only 1 meter and flew straight away. In this view I saw a small, brightly marked snipe (approximately 2/3rds the size of a Wilson’s or Common) with a short and stout bill. Two sets of bright yellowish braces were obvious on the back and continued to the base of the tail where the mantle and scapular stripes on each side merged together. The tail was dark and pointed. I did not discern any colored band on the tip of the tail.  At this point I was pretty sure I had a Jack Snipe so I got out my camera and walked to where I saw the bird land, but did not immediately find the bird. I zig-zagged around in this area for a few minutes and with the help of my dog eventually flushed the bird again and obtained a couple of photos of the bird in flight. On the first two flushes the bird was silent. On the third flush I may have heard it call. If I did (there was traffic) the call that I heard was a low and muffled “shhhhhh” about twice as long in duration as the “scape” call that a Wilson’s/Common Snipe utters upon being flushed. The sound was muffled and and very unlike the call of a Wilson’s. At this point I began calling other birders, and so waited about 10-15 minutes before moving in on the bird again.

I did not see the bird again until just before 7pm  when Dave Sonneborn, my brother-in-law and I relocated the bird in the same area and got three views of the bird in flight. Each time it flushed at very close distance and flushed silently. Even in low light the boldly patterned back stood out, as did the small size and bill length. We left the bird at dark in the same area we found it.

October 17th update:

Thirty birders combed Beluga Slough today and did not see the bird. I’ll be checking the slough daily this week and will post if I refind it.

Red-legged (in focus) and Black-legged Kittiwake Rissa brevirostris and tridactyla, Bering Sea, 3 October 2010.

Three Red-legged and one Black-legged Kittiwake (second from the bottom), Bering Sea, 3 October 2010.

Mixed flock of Kittiwakes, Bering Sea, 3 October 2010.

Red-legged Kittiwake, Bering Sea about 60 miles northeast of St. Paul Island, 3 October 2010.

On 3 October the ship spent the entire day about 60 miles northeast of St. Paul Island in the eastern Bering Sea. A large mixed flock of kittiwakes was around the ship all day long, allowing for a few decent comparison pictures. The Red-legged Kittiwake is smaller with a shorter bill, more rounded head, and shorter wings than the Black-legged Kittiwake. It’s upper wing is a darker gray than that of the Black-legged, with no contrast between the inner and outer wing. The under wing is gray on a Red-legged and whitish on a Black-legged. In addition, I think the Red-legged Kittiwake looks a bit “cuter” than the Black-legged.

Click here or more information on identifying Red-legged Kittiwakes.

Late in the evening a Yellow-rumped Warbler briefly landed on the ship. The first passerine on board since getting underway on 22 September.

Black-tailed Gull Larus crassirostris, Unalaska, Eastern Aleutian Islands, 22 September 2010.

Black-tailed Gull Larus crassirostris, Unalaska, Eastern Aleutian Islands, 20 September 2010.

This Black-tailed Gull was first found on 4 September by Eugene Hunn, Mike Smith and Chris Feeney on the rocky shoreline across the road from the Dutch Harbor Post Office.  This is the first record of the species for Unalaska and for the eastern Aleutians. It is one of almost 30 records for the state. A big thank you to Suzi Golodoff and Stephan Lorenz for taking me right to the bird when I arrived in town on the 20th!

I’m back in the Bering Sea, this time on the NOAA Ship Miller Freeman. I’ll be on board until the ship docks in Seattle in mid October. Check back for updates from the sea.

Update, 22 November 2010: Further study of this bird and images and consultation with experts have shown that the identity of this bird is most probably a Blyth’s Reed Warbler Acrocephalus dumetorum, which would be a first for North America. A manuscript detailing the sighting and identification of this bird has been submitted to the Alaska Checklist Committee for review.

This very skulky bird eluded birders at Gambell for several hours on 9 September 2010 before several people were able to get a few photos. We initially thought this bird to be an adult Middendorff’s, but several features argue against that ID and point to an Acrocephalus warbler.  Unless noted in the caption all photos are posted here as shot. The images have been cropped, but no adjustments to exposure, contrast, sharpening, etc. have been made. Click on any photo to enlarge.

Photo 1.

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Horned Lark Eremophila alpestris flava, Eastern Bering Sea, 31 August 2010. Click on photos to enlarge.

Another hitchhiker this morning. The yellow throat and supercillia identify this Horned Lark as the flava subspecies, breeding in eastern Russia. It winters in southern Russia, northeast China and Japan and is a casual fall migrant to the islands of the Bering Sea.

Before landing on the ship this morning the Horned Lark was doing laps around the ship with a smaller mystery passerine. Unfortunately, that one got away.

Other migrants flying by the ship today were 11 Pacific Golden-Plovers, 1 Ruddy Turnstone and 1 Tattler sp.

• Brazil, M. 2009. Birds of East Asia: China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, and Russia. Princeton University Press.
• Gibson, D. D., and Byrd, G. V. 2007. Birds of the Aleutian Islands, Alaska. Nuttall Ornithological Club and the American Ornithologists’ Union. Series in Ornithology 1.
• Gibson, D. D., and Kessel, B. 1997. Inventory of the species and subspecies of Alaska birds. Western Birds 28:45-95.
• Lehman, P. E. 2005. Fall migration at Gambell, St. Lawrence Island, Alaska. Western Birds 36:2-55.

I’m currently on board the NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson in the Bering Sea. The last few days in the eastern Bering Sea have produced some interesting birds. In addition to the usual variety of tubenoses, alcids and larids a number of southbound migrants have passed the ship this week. Some are birds that have adapted to long, non-stop ocean crossings, others are not…

Bristle-thighed Curlew Numenius tahitiensis, Eastern Bering Sea, 30 August 2010.

Highlighting the list of fly-by appearances was this lone Bristle-thighed Curlew. It flew in to the stern of the ship, checked us out, gave a few whistles and flew off. Although the pictures are marginal you can still make out the warm tones to the underparts and the diagnostic mark–the peach-colored rump which appears contrastingly pale in the last photo.

Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres, Eastern Bering Sea, 30 August 2010.

Ruddy Turnstones have been regular this week with at least one small flock approaching the ship every day. Today (8/30) we recorded over 20 individuals in several small flocks. Other shorebirds seen from the ship today were Pacific Golden-Plovers (4), Bristle-thighed Curlew (1), and Red Phalarope (100′s). Three Wandering Tattlers have flown by the trip since the we left Dutch Harbor on 17 August. Mind-boggling to think that the tattlers, turnstones, plovers and curlew may be in Hawaii or further before this ship get’s back to Dutch Harbor!

A Piscivorous Golden-crowned Sparrow Zonotrichia atricapilla, on board the Oscar Dyson in the Eastern Bering Sea 30 August 2010.

This Golden-crowned Sparrow landed on the ship on yesterday and was still here today. He’s been eating, or attempting to eat, juvenile Pacific sand lance Amodites hexapterus which the NOAA scientists have been catching on their surveys. A new food item for the species?

Orange-crowned Warbler Oreothlypis celata, Eastern Bering Sea, 25 August 2010.

This Orange-crowned Warbler only spent a few hours on board. (Note the change to the genus. Click here for info on other changes and updates to the AOU checklist.)

Yellow-rumped Warblers Dendroica coronata, Strawberry Hill, Dutch Harbor, 17 August 2010.

I had about an hour today to head back to Strawberry Hill, Dutch Harbor, before I had to return to the NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson in time to leave on a cruise in the southern Bering Sea. Yesterday’s Fox Sparrows were still present and were trumped today by two Yellow-rumped Warblers! The first warbler was with the Fox Sparrows on the top of the hill. The second was in the tall spruce trees that border the small lake just south of the hill.

Gibson and Byrd (2007) list Yellow-rumped Warbler as “casual in fall in eastern, central and western Aleutians.” The first records for Unalaska/Dutch Harbor were one at Strawberry Hill on 22 September 2009, followed by one on the hill on 10 October 2009 and two at the Sitka Spruce Children’s Park (near Strawberry Hill) on 11 October 2009.

A lone Bank Swallow flew by me on my walk back to the ship.

• Gibson, D. D., and Byrd, G. V. 2007. Birds of the Aleutian Islands, Alaska. Nuttall Ornithological Club and the American Ornithologists’ Union. Series in Ornithology 1.