Day 12, September 18, 2006. Day 5 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
Today we were again off to an early good start. Before most groups had even loaded, Larry Balch called from Navy Town asking, "Does anyone want to see a Snowy Owl?" A well-marked juvenile bird was perching on old World War II debris at our central landing site and was a real crowd-pleaser. Most of the participants saw this bird before heading out for their own explorations. The Snowy Owl was especially welcome since many of us were shuttled to the Japanese War Memorial the previous day. The memorial was majestic at its hilltop perch, and the warm day and sunny conditions made for a spectacular view. We were hoping to find either ptarmigan or Snowy Owl for our efforts though, since the Coast Guard personnel had seen both there recently. Alas, a five-mile hike back to the base did not produce it, so we were afraid we would miss Snowy Owl for the trip.
It wasn't long afterwards that my group arrived at Smew Pond. The Spotted Redshank was feeding in its "usual" spot and seemed to have become accustomed to groups of tourists gawking at it. We watched it spend about five minutes trying to swallow an oversized minnow that seemed to be stuck in its gullet. We were worried we might have to administer emergency care, but eventually the fish was swallowed and we can report that our redshank did live to see another day.
Another massive rarity chase was set in motion when we glanced through the mist and fog to the back side of Smew Pond where a mid-sized shorebird was foraging. It turned out to be a juvenile Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, an Asian species that we had expected to see before this and which we had begun to worry that we would miss. Sharp-taileds are uncommon migrants throughout western Alaska, and can even be found predictably in the Pacific Northwest states during September and October, but they are accidental elsewhere in the country. It was a welcome lifer for many of the participants, so groups started converging on Smew Pond. Almost everyone got the bird immediately, but when one of the last groups arrived we had a bit of a scare. The Sharp-tailed flew upriver and was lost from sight for about 20 minutes. We tried to carefully walk the riverbed to flush the bird again, and some of us carefully scanned the pond edge in case it had returned to its favored spots. Even when we knew where it was the Sharp-tailed had been very difficult to spot, and continuously moved in and out of the grasses at the edge. Perhaps it was not surprising then that the bird was missed. I had been the appointed riverwalker, and when I reached the pond I decided to try playing its call since it had earlier shown some level of tape response. As soon as I keyed up the iPod a shorebird started flying directly for me from the far side of the pond. It turned out to be the Sharp-tailed, and on its return visit it gave great looks to the worried recent arrivals and lifted a great burden from the leaders' shoulders. We spent a long time absorbing its key field marks, which sunk in especially well for those of us that had carefully studied similar Pectoral Sandpipers in previous days.
Several groups undertook ambitious afternoon walks. My group headed up Henderson Valley to Bird Canyon and Lake Elwood. Lake Elwood produced another new bird for the trip: an American Wigeon. This was perhaps the only time that I had seen Eurasian Wigeon (2) outnumber American (1), and it was one of the better comparative studies I have had. The gray head of the American contrasted markedly with its breast (little to no contrast on Eurasian). Almost on command, the American rose out of the water and flapped, revealing its diagnostic white underwing. Our other neat find on that long walk was a second Snowy Owl, this one a pure white adult sitting high on the rocky cliffs of Terrible Mountain.
The evening concluded with our "Christmas in September" celebration for the Coast Guard, who rarely receive visitors in December. The Coast Guard had already been beyond hospitable to us and had shuttled us back and forth to the distant Japanese War Memorial in their pickup. They even helped out with a rare bird chase at one point. So it was a real pleasure to throw a party on their behalf. A Christmas tree had been decorated and the entire lounge was bedecked with decorations befitting Christmas. Dick and Don performed Christmas carols and led us in some group singing. Group gifts were handed out to each of the Coast Guard personnel (who serve one year on remote Attu) and thank you plaques were exchanged with the ship. The Cruise West kitchen went above and beyond on dinner and hors d'oeuvres. The Coast Guard guys don't get many visitors, so it seemed like the chance to dine with us, hang out at the bar, and joke around off the base was welcomed. At least we hope so! We went to bed with visions of sugarplums (and Asian rarities) dancing in our heads.
Attu bird list for September 18, 2006:
Cackling Goose
Eurasian Wigeon
American 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
Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel
Red-faced Cormorant
Pelagic Cormorant
Peregrine Falcon
Pacific Golden-Plover
Wood Sandpiper
Spotted Redshank
Gray-tailed Tattler
Sharp-tailed 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
Snowy Owl
Common Raven
"Black-backed" White Wagtail
Winter Wren
Song Sparrow
Lapland Longspur
Snow Bunting
Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch
minke whale
harbor seal
sea otter