Birding Alaska

Here are a few photos of interesting birds from our May 12-19  Wilderness Birding Adventures trip to Adak Island in the central Aleutians.

Hawfinch Coccothraustes coccothraustes, Adak “National Forest”, Adak Island, 13 May 2011.

The Hawg was the bird of the trip. This bird was found by Adak’s lone resident birder, Isaac Helmericks, and was on island for the entire week we were there.

Smew Mergellus albellus, Shotgun Lake, Adak Island, 12 May 2011.

Smew Mergellus albellus (right) and Bufflehead Bucephala albeola Shotgun Lake, Adak Island, 12 May 2011.

Smew regularly winter on Adak and this bird likely is left over from the winter season. While watching three Buffleheads on Shotgun Lake on our first evening birding on the island this Smew flew in and landed in front of us. Despite the efforts of all the birders on the island it was never seen again.

Green-winged Teal Anas crecca carolinensis (right) with Aleutian Green-winged Teal A. c. crecca, Clam Lagoon, 15 May 2011.

Green-winged Teal? Yes, on Adak a carolinensis Green-winged Teal is an interesting bird! The tables are turned…just a few weeks ago I was at home in Homer trying to pick out a lone crecca from the flocks of carolinensis.

Hawfinch Coccothraustes coccothraustes, Wooley Lagoon Road (Mile 40.5 Teller Highway), near Nome, 4 June 2009.  Photo by Al Selin.

Found on a Wilderness Birding Adventures trip to Nome. Hawfinch is listed as Casual on the Alaska checklist, with most records coming from the Western and Central Aleutians, the Pribilof Islands and St. Lawrence Island. This is the first record for the Seward Peninsula and one of only three records from mainland Alaska. The other records from the mainland are one from the Noatak River, about 30 miles north of Kotzebue 15-20 June 1990 and a bird that came to a feeder in Dillingham 27 December 2003 to 23 January 2004 (Pranty et al. 2008).

Pranty, B., J.L. Dunn, S.C. Heinl, A.W. Kratter, P.E. Lehman, M.W. Lockwood, B. Mactavish, and K.J. Zimmer. 2008. ABA Checklist: Birds of the Continental United States and Canada, seventh edition. American Birding Association. Colorado Springs, CO.