Day 10, September 16, 2006. Day 3 on Attu. Sep 07—24, 2006
Posted by Marshall Iliff
Marshall Iliff
Marshall Iliff, a lifelong nature lover, began birding at age 11 after attending a National Wildlife Federation Camp in the mountains of North Carolina. He attended VENT...Related Trips
On our third day the leaders consulted and decided that birds had been coming too easily. In order for our group to fully appreciate the wonders of seeking birds on Attu, we would need to ensure that we had one day without a big chase, one day without a fantastic Siberian vagrant—one slow day. Today was that day. It is a lot of work to find birds on Attu, and to experience another day with rarities falling into our laps would be to miss out on the feeling of hard work that is so rewarding.
The weather was nothing short of perfect and many of us birded much of the day in short sleeves. The little bit of wind that picked up was just enough to keep it from being downright hot. Many of us explored farther than we had in previous days, with some groups reaching Blue Robin Canyon far to the south and others reaching Gilbert Ridge up to the north. The birds seen included some nice finds. New for our 2006 Attu list were Common Loon, Red-necked and Horned grebes, White-winged Scoter, and Pacific Golden-Plover. Repeat rarities included Spotted Redshank and Wood Sandpiper, as well as Gray-tailed Tattler, Eurasian Wigeon, White Wagtail, and Thick-billed Murre. Several people were able to add these species to their life lists today. My group enjoyed a group of passerines hopping about on a rusty cart. All five commonly breeding songbirds (not counting Common Raven) were feeding together on the edge of this cart: Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch, Snow Bunting, Lapland Longspur, Song Sparrow, and a seemingly out-of-place Winter Wren.
Attu bird list for September 16, 2006:
Cackling Goose
Eurasian Wigeon
Mallard
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Common Eider
Harlequin Duck
Greater Scaup
White-winged Scoter, deglandi
Red-breasted Merganser
Common Loon
Red-throated Loon
Red-necked Grebe
Horned Grebe
Red-faced Cormorant
Pelagic Cormorant
Peregrine Falcon
Pacific Golden-Plover
Wood Sandpiper
Spotted Redshank
Gray-tailed Tattler
Pectoral Sandpiper
Rock Sandpiper
Common Snipe
Glaucous-winged Gull
Black-legged Kittiwake
Common Murre
Thick-billed Murre
Pigeon Guillemot
Marbled Murrelet
Kittlitz's Murrelet
Ancient Murrelet
Tufted Puffin
Horned Puffin
Common Raven
White (Black-backed) Wagtail
Winter Wren
Song Sparrow
Lapland Longspur
Snow Bunting
Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch
minke whale
harbor seal
sea otter