Day 14, September 20, 2006. Day 7on Attu. Back to Alexai. 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 this final morning groups split up to look for whatever birds had been missed. Some folks birded the warehouse area for wagtails; others returned to Debris Beach hoping for better looks (if that is possible) at the Sharp-tailed Sandpipers, while another group checked Smew Pond and Henderson Marsh. The redshank was not present at Henderson for the first time since its discovery, but other groups managed to refind the Black-backed Wagtails, the japonicus American Pipit, and the Sharp-tailed Sandpipers. At least two new birds were found. One was an adult tundrius Peregrine Falcon, a very pale subspecies that nests in the high arctic and is a very rare visitor to the Aleutians. The other was a juvenile Long-billed Dowitcher, another rare migrant on Attu.
During lunch the ship repositioned to place us off the tip of Alexai Point. Our scouting party had been covering the point for most of the day, and other than refinding the Baikal Teal and having an interesting peep that flew off before it could be conclusively identified, they were having a slow day. We disembarked and split into two parties: one to go see the three Tufted Ducks and the other to check the runway. The Tufted Duck group was successful and everyone had great looks at the birds on the water. Just as they were finished looking, the scouts called in an exciting report. They had refound the small sandpiper and it was a juvenile Red-necked Stint! Amazingly, it was on the same stretch of beach that had had the Western Sandpiper on our first day. We rushed over there, along with two zodiacs of people who had tried to skip the Alexai Point effort (when they thought Tufted Duck was the best bird on the point). The entire mass of people rushed to the beach where the stint was obligingly foraging in the kelp. The scouts had identified the bird by call and by plumage, but the question of Little Stint was still raised. Since this was a fairly bright Red-necked, the identification was not straightforward, but we all noted this bird's dull wing coverts contrasting with the bright scapulars, the fairly indistinct supercilium that was not split, the grayish wash to the sides of the breast, the shorter and slightly decurved bill, and ultimately the call. I used an iPod to elicit a call response from the stint, and it perked up nicely and called back, eliminating any hope for Little Stint.
After enjoying the stint we hoofed it back to the boat and motored west to Ettienne Bay. Thede Tobish had suggested to the team of leaders that we try Ettienne as an alternate location to land. Since we had spent nearly a week in the Massacre Bay area, we were happy for a change of pace, especially since Ettienne was at the far southwestern tip and closer to arriving Asian birds. Ettienne also had the allure of being unexplored by birders, so we were eager to put the place on the birding map. The trip west was fairly uneventful for seabirds, although I thoroughly enjoyed seeing a Parasitic Jaeger chase a Peregrine Falcon, then seeing the tables turn as the Peregrine chased the jaeger, and then seeing it switch again. One highlight as we entered Ettienne was a Whiskered Auklet that Steve Heinl spotted, which is known from just two prior Attu records.
Ettienne Bay was fascinating in that the composition of seabirds was totally unlike that at Massacre Bay. Least Auklets were common in the mouth (we had none off Massacre). The eiders at Ettienne were mostly males, while in Massacre females predominated. And, finally, we had loons-several species of loons. Steve Heinl (again) spotted a breeding plumaged Yellow-billed Loon at a distance, but we motored slowly up to it and everyone got good looks. A second first-summer Yellow-billed was seen as well. And later, while the leaders scouted the shore for possible landing sites and birding areas, three Arctic Loons (adult and three juveniles) were spotted as well. When the birds were called into the ship only a few people were able to find these distant loons, but still, the different bird composition held exciting possibilities for the day that followed.
Attu bird list for September 20, 2006:
Cackling Goose
Eurasian Wigeon
American Wigeon
Mallard
Northern Pintail
Baikal Teal
Green-winged Teal
Tufted Duck
Common Eider
Harlequin Duck
White-winged Scoter (2 deglandi)
Red-breasted Merganser
Red-necked Grebe
Pelagic Cormorant
Red-faced Cormorant
Peregrine Falcon
Pacific Golden-Plover
Gray-tailed Tattler
Ruddy Turnstone
Red-necked Stint
Sharp-tailed Sandpiper
Rock Sandpiper
Long-billed Dowitcher
Common Snipe
"Kamchatka" Mew Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Black-legged Kittiwake
Common Murre
Thick-billed Murre
Marbled Murrelet
Kittlitz's Murrelet
Tufted Puffin
Snowy Owl
Common Raven
Winter Wren
"Black-backed" White Wagtail
"Siberian" American Pipit
Song Sparrow
Lapland Longspur
Snow Bunting
Ettienne Bay bird list for September 20, 2006:
Common Eider
Harlequin Duck
Arctic Loon
Yellow-billed Loon
Common Loon
Northern Fulmar
Short-tailed Shearwater
Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel
Leach's Storm-Petrel
Pelagic Cormorant
Red-faced Cormorant
Peregrine Falcon
Parasitic Jaeger
Common Murre
Pigeon Guillemot
Marbled Murrelet
Kittlitz's Murrelet
Ancient Murrelet
Least Auklet
Whiskered Auklet
Horned Puffin
Tufted Puffin
minke whale
harbor seal
sea otter