Birding Alaska

Short-tailed Albatross Phoebastria albatrus, Northern Fulmar Fulmarus glacialis and a few Short-tailed Shearwaters Puffinus tenuirostris, Bering Sea, on the shelf-break about 140 miles west of St. Matthew Island, 3 August 2009.

Two immature Short-tailed Albatross spent much of the day around the ship today as the ship conducted pollock surveys. One of the birds is starting to show some white feathers coming in on the throat and around the eyes and its plumage is a bit lighter brown than the other albatross which showed uniformly dark brown plumage with no white feathering. At times both albatross sat on the water and did a courtship-like display, gently wagging their bills bag and forth, sometimes touching each other. We were surprised to see to young immatures engaged in this behavior, but I guess it has to start sometime. Last night while in Russian waters a dark juvenile and an adult Short-tailed Albatross made brief fly-bys of the ship.

Black-footed Albatross Phoebastria nigripes Amukta Pass, Aleutian Islands, 25 April 2009.

Here are a few shots from the first few days at sea on the Oscar Dyson.  If you’re curious you can view the ship’s current location and route by going to the NOAA ship tracker page and selecting the Oscar Dyson from the list of ships on the right sidebar.

We spent much of yesterday in Amukta Pass, a broad pass of open water between Amukta and Seguam Islands.  Occurring about 200 miles west of Dutch Harbor it is the western extent of the ship’s route on the ship tracker web page.  The seas have been relatively calm and the birding has been great.  Highlights from yesterday and today include an early Pomarine Jaegar, 10 species of alcids and 6 of tubenoses, including 3 Mottled Petrels.  Unfortunately the petrels didn’t pause long enough for a photo.

Laysan Albatross Phoebastria immutabilis Amukta Pass, Aleutian Islands, 25 April 2009.

Northern Fulmar Fulmaris glacialis, Amukta Pass, Aleutian Islands, 25 April 2009.