Alaska 2002 Trip Report

May 21 – June 20, 2002

Gambell – Arctic National Wildlife Refuge – Dutch Harbor – Juneau

… in search of …

Asian vagrants
Gray-headed Chickadee
Whiskered Auklet
Steller’s Sea Eagle

by Phil Davis
Davidsonville, Maryland

Overview. This year marked the fourth birding trip to Alaska for my wife (Barbara
Davis) and me. This year we traveled first to Gambell for 16 days to lead two
one-week bird tours, then to Fairbanks which served as our gateway to the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge for a five day backpack trip to find the Gray-headed
Chickadee (formerly named the “Siberian Tit”), then to Dutch Harbor in the
Aleutians for a boat trip out to see the Whiskered Auklet, and then we ended our
Alaska campaign with a stop in Juneau to try and find the Steller’s Sea Eagle that
has been seen during previous years. We subtitled our trip “planes, trains, and
automobiles” since we used all of the modes of transportation during our trip. In
fact, the complete list includes scheduled commercial airliners, general aviation
planes, a bush plane, a helicopter, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), a 32 foot fishing
boat, a tram, a van, cars, elevators, and foot (backpacking). Over the course of
the month we flew on 18 separate aircraft!

Chapter I. Gambell, Saint Lawrence Island, Alaska – The search for Asian
vagrants.

1. Introduction. Barbara and I served as birding leaders for two one-week

Gambell spring trips for High Lonesome Ecotours. The first group (“Gambell-1”)
ran from May 23 to May 31 and the second group (“Gambell-2”) ran from May 31
to June 7. After flying to Anchorage on May 21 and birding there for a day, five of
us – the tour leaders and staff – connected through Nome for Gambell to arrive a
day ahead of the main group on May 23. The first group of our 16 participants
arrived the morning of May 24. Barbara and I departed Gambell with the second
group on June 7. During this 16-day period, we shared the island with other
birding groups, including a group from Wisconsin (John O’Donnell, et al.), a
group from Calgary and Minnesota (Mike Mulligan and Pete Webber, et al.),

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VENT (Victor Emmanuel, David Wolfe, et al.), WINGS (Jon Dunn, Gary
Rosenberg, Steve Howell, et al.), Wilderness Birding Adventures [WBA] (Bob
Dittrick, James Huntington, et al.), a group from T ennessee (David Chaffin, et
al.), the father and two brothers (Dean, T om, and Mike, respectively) of the late
Alaska birding guide Tim Schantz of Anchorage, who died tragically and
unexpectedly last spring in Nome on his way to Gambell at the age of 36, and
several other individual birders.

2. The Weather and the Environment.

Winds. For the most of the early part of our two weeks, the winds at Gambell
prevailed generally from the east, with components from the southeast, due east,
and northeast on various days. Several days the winds blew directly out of the
north. Wind velocity ranged from calm to 20 knots, with gusts to 25. The last
three or four days, however, the winds shifted to the west and southwest, the
preferred birding direction that is hoped for to blow in Asian vagrants. (Another
High Lonesome Ecotours group was on Saint Paul Island in the Pribiloffs the
week before our Gambell-1 and they were subjected to strong southeast winds
for the entire period, bringing in such island rarities such as … a first record
Franklin’s Gull.

Temperatures. The Gambell temperature ranged from a low in lower 30s (F) to a
high one day in the upper 60s. In general, the temperature was mild (for
Gambell), typically in the 30s or 40s; however, the constant and generally strong
winds frequently dropped the wind chill into the 20s, occasionally even into the
teens.

Visibility. Most of the period was clear with long-range visibility. The coast and
4,000 foot mountains of the Russian Chukota Peninsula were clearly visible for
most of the period. Near the end of our stay the winds shifted to the west and low
fog appeared. On the day of our scheduled departure, June 7, the fog delayed
our return to Nome for approximately six hours.

Snow Cover. The locals informed us that Gambell had experienced an “early
spring”. This year there was almost no snow cover on the birdable areas of the
island. Some drifted snow still existed at the south slope of Sevuokuk Mountain
(617 feet elevation) however on the mountain top much of the surface appeared
to be open. The entire Gambell birding area was accessible including South Lake
and the tundra beyond it.

Lake Ice. Troutman Lake was totally frozen upon our arrival but gradually thawed
around the edges during the two-week period. South Lake was mostly open,
except for some ice at the north end at the beginning of the period.

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Bering Sea Pack Ice. When we arrived, the pack ice was against the north side
of the island and it continued to linger for much of the period. During the early
days of June, the ice disappeared, virtually overnight, and retreated north and
west into the Russian Gulf of Anadyr. However, during the last few days of our
visit west winds pushed the Gulf of Anadyr ice pack back out into the Bering Sea
and onto the west side of Saint Lawrence Island. The locals continued to hunt
walruses until the ice retreated around the first of June.

Staff and Participants. Our Gambell-1 tour included 16 participants and six
leaders/staff: Forrest Davis (Arizona, owner of High Lonesome Ecotours), David
MacKay (Sonora, Mexico), Gary Crandall (Arizona), Nancy Creiger [Anchorage,
Alaska; cook], and Barbara and Phil Davis (Davidsonville, Maryland). Our
Gambell-2 tour included 10 participants and three leaders: David MacKay (who
also cooked) with Barbara and Phil Davis. Notably, one participant (Jimmy
McHaney of T exas) participated on both Gambell-1 and -2.

3. The Birding.

General. The prevailing winds had probably blown from easterly directions prior
to our arrival. We found a number of eastern “rarities” from the Alaska mainland
during the early portion of our trip. Species included multiple American Robins
(one previous record for St. Lawrence Island is believed to exist), Catharus
thrushes, an Osprey, and a Cliff Swallow. The more “regular” Asian migrants
arrived later during the period: Common Ringed Plovers, Red-necked Stint,
Gray-tailed T attler, Ruff, Long-toed Stint, Common Sandpiper, Eurasian Wigeon,
etc. While we did find many excellent species, no Asian “mega” rarities were
found this year, unfortunately,

Birding Areas. The birding areas we covered on the island included the
following: the “near bone yard”, the “far boneyard”, the “circular boneyard”,
Northwest Point (aka, “sea watch”), the cliffs, the north and west beaches, the
boat yard, the walrus “pull out area”, “old town”, the “near marsh”, Troutman
Lake, the hillsides above and below the lake road, the hillside between the far
bone yard and the cliffs, the “far marsh”, the runway road, the south end of
Troutman Lake (including the ponds, and grassy areas), the gravel ponds, the
berms, South Lake, the tundra east of South Lake, and the rocky outcroppings at
the beach at the south end of South lake. The top of Sevuokuk Mountain was off-
limits in accordance with our land-crossing permit.

4. Notable species.

Accounts of notable Asian, western Alaskan, and Saint Lawrence Island species
are presented, below.

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Arctic Loon. All loons species were more numerous during the early part of the
period and tapered to almost nothing during the last few days. Arctic Loons were
in short supply this year, however, each tour group had at least one good look at
a fly-by.

Yellow-billed Loon. Y ellow-billed Loons were frequent fly-bys during the first 10
days of the period.

Red-faced Cormorant. We recorded what we understand is the first record of

Red-faced Cormorant on Saint Lawrence Island. The bird was first seen on May
24 in the water at the “cliffs.” A second sighting occurred on May 26 in the water
near Northwest Point. A separate sighting report for this record is being prepared
and will submitted to the North American Birds Alaskan Regional editor and to
Dan Gibson of the University of Alaska.

Greater White-fronted Goose. Several unidentified dark geese were observed

as fly-bys during the period. One dark goose, however, flew by over the shoreline
at the south end of South Lake, and was easily identified as a tundra-form (pink-
billed) Greater White-fronted Goose.

Emperor Goose. This species was observed as fly-bys at the sea watch and
also flying along the coast and along the east side of Troutman Lake.

Canada Goose. One fly-by was observed at sea watch; the subspecies was not
determined.

Tundra Swan. A pair of Tundra swans was seen landing in a large pond
southeast of Troutman Lake on June 4, both of similar size and profile (head,
neck, bill, and body). One’s bill coloration appeared to be that of a classic Tundra
Swan, with a relatively small amount of yellow at the base of the bill; however,
the amount of yellow seemed to be slightly more than that of a classic Whistling
Swan. The second swan had more yellow on the bill, but less than for a classic
Bewick’s Swan.

Eurasian Wigeon. A male was identified across South Lake on June 6 in the
company of a female wigeon (species undetermined due to the distance and
heat shimmer involved).

Green-winged Teal. Several North American Green-winged T eal (A. c.

carolinensis) were identified during the period. On May 26, we observed a
“Eurasian T eal” at the edge of Troutman Lake.

Tufted Duck. A single participant observer saw an individual of this species

flying by the sea watch. The distinctive trailing edge of the secondaries was seen
and well described.

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Steller’s Eider. This species was seen many days during the period, both as fly-
bys and, many times, swimming in the sea at close range.

Spectacled Eider. Single female and male fly-bys passed Northwest Point on
May 25 and June 1, respectively. On May 28 a very cooperative first year male
was found by Forrest Davis in a pond at the South Marsh, affording each of the
Gambell-1 participants with excellent looks. A female floated by in the sea off of
the west beach on June 1.

King Eider. This species was common during the period.

Common Eider. Many Common Eiders were also seen throughout the period.

White-winged Scoter. Several White-winged Scoters were observed during the

period. One June 3, two males flew together toward us during sea watch and
landed in the water at close range. One was obviously dark black in overall
plumage with a high knob on its bill, indicating the far eastern subspecies M. f.
stejnegeri. The other male was much browner in overall color with a distinctly
smaller knob on the bill, indicating the North American subspecies M. f. deglandi.
The white secondary patch of the two birds was noticeably different. On deglandi,
the patch was short and angled up from the rear of the bird forward towards the
back. On the stejnegeri, the white patch was longer (more than double the length
of the deglandi, and angled from the rear of the bird, forward and down toward
the waterline. The deglandi flew however the stejnegeri remained close for a long
period, allowing good looks. Unfortunately, the bird was not photographed. [Note:
If the AOU should split the White-winged Scoter M. f. deglandi from the nominate
European subspecies M. f. fusca, the stejnegeri form will likely remain a
subspecies of the White-winged Scoter. However, should a split occur into three
species (as some have proposed), the far eastern race could become a separate
species.

Osprey. On June 2, an Osprey was observed over South Lake. It is understood

that this is only the second record of this species for Saint Lawrence Island.

Rough-legged Hawk. This species was observed on multiple days. Most

sightings were over Sevuokuk Mountain, however, one sighting also occurred at
the south end of Troutman Lake. All sightings were of light morph birds.

Peregrine Falcon. Up to two Peregrine Falcons were observed over Sevuokuk

Mountain. The birds were intermediate in color and were neither of the Peale’s
(dark plumaged) or tundra (light plumaged) forms.

Sandhill Crane. A single bird was observed over Sevuokuk Mountain on May
24. Six birds were landed on the tundra east of South Lake on June 2.

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American Golden-Plover. A single bird was observed on June 5-6 at the near
marsh. The bird flew once was seen landing on the very crest of Sevuokuk
Mountain.

Pacific Golden-Plover. A single bird was observed at the top of Sevuokuk

Mountain on May 26.

Common Ringed Plover. This species arrived on May 30 and was first seen at
the edges of the pools around the airport ramp. Additional birds were seen daily
after that date, usually located at the edge of the ponds around the far marsh at
the south end Troutman Lake. Up to five birds were observed on some days.

Gray-tailed Tattler. On June 5, a single bird was observed at the east edge of
the Troutman Lake shoreline. The next day (June 6), a second bird joined the
first and the pair was heard vocalizing.

Common Sandpiper. A single Common Sandpiper was observed along the east
shoreline of Troutman Lake on June 5.

Long-toed Stint. A Long-toed Stint was found at the edge of one of the ponds
south of Troutman Lake on June 5. It was relocated at one of the other nearby
ponds and provided good looks for all. While most of the field marks for this bird
were good for Long-toed Stint (dark forehead, rufous fringes to tertials and
coverts, split supercilium, etc.), a few field marks were equivocal (e.g., no light-
colored base of the lower mandible) and the overall jizz was not strong for a stint.
The bird was flushed, however, and the toes were observed to project beyond
the tail, confirming a Long-toed Stint.

Ruff. On June 3, seven Reeves were observed at the edge of a pond on the
tundra at east of South Lake. Leg colors varied from dull yellow to reddish
orange. All had varying amounts of black splotches on the underside.

Common Snipe. A single bird was seen sitting on the tundra on May 25. At the
time, it was thought that the bird could be on a nest so it was not flushed to
determine the subspecies (G. g. delicata or gallinago).

Black-headed Gull. A single bird in alternate plumage was seen on the edge of
the ice on the south end of Troutman Lake for several days from May 31 through
June 2.

Slaty-backed Gull. No adults were observed during the two weeks, however a
first-summer bird was seen sitting on an ice floe on June 2. On June 5 a second-
summer bird was seen flying by the rocky outcropping along the seashore near
the south end South Lake. The next day, June 6, the same or a similar bird
second-summer was seen at sea watch.

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Sabine’s Gull. A single immature bird was seen as a fly-by from sea watch on
May 28.

sterna tern. A single participant reported an Arctic T ern on May 28. However,
since the possibility of “River T ern” (Common T ern, longipennis form) is as likely
and this possibility was not eliminated, the sighting should be treated as a “ sterna
tern, sp.”

Dovekie. A swimming Dovekie was observed on May 24. On May 31 and again
on June 2, multiple birds were located roosting on the cliffs, affording great looks
to all. Up to five birds were observed at one time. No specific breeding behavior
was noted. (US Fish and Wildlife Service personnel are interested in any
observations of breeding behavior for this species).

Kittlitz’s Murrelet. On four days (May 25, 28, 30 and June 3), single birds of
this species were observed close-by on the water in the sea.

Ancient Murrelet. This species was seen well on several days. On June 1, a
single bird was observed. On June 4, six birds floated out of the fog and past us
at sea watch, affording excellent views.

Cliff Swallow. On May 25 a distant swallow was observed over the sea from the
south end of Troutman Lake. Leader David Mackay noted the buffy rump of a
Cliff Swallow.

Bluethroat. A single male of this species was seen in the short grass area at the
south end of Troutman Lake on May 29.

Northern Wheatear. We did not see this bird, however, other birders reported
one from the “circular boneyard” on May 31. This was during the turnaround day,
in between our Gambell-1 and Gambell-2 groups.

Catharus thrush. On May 25 a Catharus thrush was observed on the edge of a

snowfield along the side of the mountain. Some felt confident that this bird was a
Swainson’s Thrush while others thought it to be a Gray-cheeked. Gray-cheeked
is a uncommon eastern vagrant from the Alaskan mainland, while we understand
that there is only one prior record of a Swainson’s Thrush for Saint Lawrence
Island. We will list it as a Catharus, sp.

Gray-cheeked Thrush. On June 2 a straightforward individual of this species

was seen on the hillside above the far bone yard.

American Robin. We understand that there was only one previous record of this
species for Saint Lawrence Island. On May 26 Barbara Davis observed a single
bird in the far bone yard, presenting all of the field marks of a classic American
Robin. The next day, May 27, another group reported an Eye-browed Thrush in

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the same bone yard. After we arrived, we could only locate another American
Robin (the plumage was different from our bird of the previous day). This robin
was a very lightly colored female sporting a short white supercilium behind the
eye. American Robin chin and throat markings, bill color, and lack of a smaller
size eliminated Eye-browed Thrush for this bird. A second American Robin was
also seen in this bone yard near the same time and another individual was seen
on the next day (May 28). Another sighting of a dark male robin was seen on
May 30 on the hillside east of Troutman Lake.

Varied Thrush. This bird, a female, was seen at the edge of the near bone yard,
and along the airport ramp on June 6.

Yellow Wagtail. Multiple birds were seen on various days for much of the period.
One male bird was singing and appeared to be “on territory” near the dark dirt
berms east of the dirt road between Troutman Lake and South Lake.

Red-throated Pipit. A fly-over was heard on May 25 at the blue lodge. A

cooperative bird was observed at the near marsh on May 28-29 and on May 31.
On June 5-6, near the same location, the same or another bird was seen.

McKay’s Bunting. A bird was reported a number of times at the USFWS “red
lodge” house, however, we never located it. Prior to our arrival on the island, the
bird was reported coming to a feeder at this house, however, by the time we
arrived on the island, the feeding had been discontinued. On May 30, we
observed a bright white male fly past us at sea watch, heading northwest out to
sea, towards the Chotoka Peninsula (!!!). On June 4, a few participants saw a
female between the runway and Troutman Lake. One or two likely hybrid females
were observed on the mountainside during the second week.

Hoary Redpoll. On our pre-tour day, May 23, two Hoary Redpolls were observed
in the near bone yard associating with Common Redpolls. On May 25, an
individual of this species was recorded. On May 28, another individual, thought to
be either a pale Common Redpoll but possibly a dark Hoary, was seen in the far
boneyard.

5. Misses. Notable misses included White Wagtail and Ross’s Gull. Ivory Gulls
were reported on the island just prior to our arrival, frequenting a whale carcass
on the beach, but the locals shot several birds of this species. James Huntington
of the WBA group reported a T erek’s Sandpiper on June 7, just as we were
boarding our plane for Nome (grrrr….). A possible Bean Goose was observed as
a fly-by at Northwest Point on May 24. The markings on the upper wings, as
observed by one participant, seemed to be consistent with Bean Goose, but the
bird was not picked up until after it had passed and the bill was not observed.
The Wisconsin birding group, already on the island when we arrived, reported
multiple Bean Geese and Whooper Swans prior to our reporting period.

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6. Departure. On the morning of June 6, the day before our scheduled
departure, morning fog surrounded Gambell. Bering Air will not land at the
Gambell VFR airstrip if the top of Sevuokuk Mountain cannot be seen, so
morning flights were delayed. On our departure day, June 7, the fog repeated its
performance, but lingered longer. The morning flights changed from delayed to
cancelled. Late in the afternoon, however, the fog lifted sufficiently to allow
airplanes to land. The other Saint Lawrence Island village, Savoonga, however
remained socked-in. Those of us that had connections in Nome for Anchorage
were thankful for the eight hours of slack time planned into our Nome connection.

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Chapter II. Arctic National Wildlife Refuge – the Gray-headed Chickadee
Backpacking Trek.

1. Introduction. From June 8 to June 13, Barbara and I participated on a

Wilderness Birding Adventures (WBA) backpack trek into the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to find one of North America’s rarest breeding birds, the
Gray-headed Chickadee (formerly named the “Siberian Tit”). The other
participants included our Attu roommates and friends, Ruth and Bill Brooks of
New Y ork, John and Karen Shrader of Ohio, and David Chaffin of Tennessee.
Notable, all seven participants were multiple Attu trip veterans and over-700 ABA
listers.

2. Orientation Meeting (6/8). At 5 pm, we met WBA owner and leader, Bob
Dittrick, and guide Aaron Lang, a personable young man and an excellent birder,
at a local Fairbanks bed and breakfast for our mandatory pre-trip meeting. Bob
reviewed the plans for the next days and personally inspected our packs, clothes
and gear, making suggestions of items to leave behind to reduce weight. Bob
distributed our individual bowls, cups, and spoons along with common food and
camp gear to add to our packs. Each of these food/gear loads doled out to us
weighted initially between 8 and 11 pounds, an addition to our personal gear
weight. (The weight of food, of course, diminished each day as we consumed it).
The major discussion topics at the meeting included grizzly bears, river
crossings, and “the call of nature” protocol.

3. Day One (6/9)

Transportation Inbound. We met our group at Wright Air terminal in the
General Aviation area of the Fairbanks airport where we weighed-in our packs
and bodies. We shifted one food sack from Barbara’s load to mine since she was
carrying our tent. Barbara’s total pack weight was 35 pounds and mine was 50
pounds. The pack weights for the nine of us (two guides and seven participants)
ranged from about 30 to 55 pounds. A pilot from Wright Air transported us in a
Cessna 208B Grand Caravan to a dirt landing strip about 1/2 mile from the native
subsistence town of Arctic Village and offloaded us.

Arctic Village. At the tarmac at Arctic Village, there were few amenities. An old
Airstream trailer could be used for protection in case of rain and there is a
“honey-bucket” style outhouse. Much construction was taking place primarily to
extend and improve the runway. Other ANWR-bound groups were also there, in
transit, on their way to rafting trips on various ANWR rivers.

Bush Plane. Our “bush pilot” was already on the ground waiting for us. He flew
three of us at a time in his tundra-tire equipped Cessna 185 from Arctic Village to
a grass landing strip on the north side of the Brooks Range. The flight took us
though a pass and over the Brooks Mountains. It was breathtaking and along the
way saw Dall sheep. It took the pilot three trips of about one hour per round-trip
to ferry all nine of us to a grass strip along the Canning River. The pilot took the

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lightest people first to compensate for the additional fuel he carried on the earlier
trips. Barbara went on the second trip and I went on the third trip. Aaron, David
and I birded the area around Artic Village while we waited for the last pickup. We
saw Common Loon, Arctic T ern, Mew Gull, Boneparte’s Gull, Greater Scaup,
Northern Shoveler, American Wigeon, Mallard, Northern Pintail, Green-winged
T eal, Long-tailed Duck, Tundra Swan, Lesser Yellowlegs, Spotted Sandpiper,
Western Sandpiper, (red) Fox Sparrow, American Tree Sparrow, White-crowned
Sparrow, Y ellow-rumped Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Common Raven, American
Robin, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, and Common Redpoll. After we all assembled at
the “lower strip,” Bob delivered the final chapter of his grizzly bear briefing (after
the pilot had left and we could not bail out, I noted!).

The River Crossing. The river was at the lowest level that Bob had ever see. He
decided to go ahead and have us make the river crossing immediately. Later, I
asked Bob on a scale of 1-10, with 1 being the easiest, how would he rate our
crossing? He answered “a one”. Given that, I’d hate to experience a 5 or 7, much
less a 10. T o cross the river, we first changed into our Gore-T ex socks
(recommended to be worn with no other socks on underneath) and then we put
our feet into our river sandals. My Gore-T ex socks were tight and it was difficult
to get them on over my “bare” skin (no pun intended). Future participants would
do well to remember this – make sure you can get into your Gore-T ex socks
without a first layer of socks. The purpose of the socks is primarily to keep the
water off of your feet if the water is just ankle deep. If the water is deeper, water
will fill the sock, but eventually your body heat warms the water, like a scuba
diver’s wet suit. The first braid of the Canning River we crossed was the deepest
and the widest of the trip. The water depth was mid-calf level and the width of the
braid was probably about 15-20 feet. We crossed the deeper braids in teams of
three, holding on to each other’s backpack straps. All backpack snaps were to be
left undone so that in case of a fall, you could quickly slip out of your pack, rather
than have it pull you down.

When the water level rose above my Gore-T ex socks, I could quickly feel the chill
of the water. The edges of the river were all frozen, so the temperature of the
water must have been quite close to 32 degrees (F). Halfway across the braid, I
felt the coldness of the water turning my feet numb. I wanted to speed up the
pace to get the hell across and out of there. Barbara, on the other hand, wanted
to keep the place slow and steady, so as to not lose footing or trip on the rocky
river bed. Yikes!!! After we crossed and stepped out of the river, the chill did not
immediately subside, in fact, the cold feeling and numbness continued to
increase for about 10 seconds before the Gore-T ex trapped water started to
warm. The resulting feeling of relative warmth was almost euphoric! As I
indicated, the first braid was by far the worst, the five or six remaining braids
were either shallower or narrower, plus the experience of knowing what was in
store helped any subconscious apprehension. The crossings back, a few days
later, were much more tolerable.

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The Day One Hike. After the river crossing we climbed up the steep riverbank to
a tundra bench that ran along its course. We then marched in direct aim at a 500-
foot hill of soft tundra grass and tussocks. This was a killer. The combination of
wet, soft unsure footing and the uneasiness of my still new (not broken-in)
backpack (dealing with strap adjustments and load balance) necessitated
frequent rest stops. I thought I was in pretty fair cardio-vascular shape, but
between the footing, the backpack and its weight, this was not an easy climb. At
the top, Bob decided to continue down the hill and into the Chickadees valley to
camp there for the night. We pitched camp about 8:30 pm and then ate dinner.
We probably covered about two miles of challenging hiking on day one.

Gray-headed Chickadees. After dinner, unable to wait for the morning, we

began to search for chickadees. Quickly, Bob found one of his known nest
cavities and we watched a pair of adults bringing food to the next hole. The
female was obviously brooding and spent long periods on the nest. Satisfied, we
retired for the evening … listening for bears … with one ear open.

Food. Breakfast was typically hot and/or cold cereal. Delicious drip-grind shade-
grown coffee was always available each morning. Lunch consisted of items like
salami and cheese, or peanut butter and jelly on pilot bread (like crackers) or
tortillas. Dinner was typically a “one-pot” meal of a stew, pasta, etc. Cookies and
chocolate bars were available for dessert. Excellent home-mixed trail mix (“gorp”)
was always available. Hot tea or cocoa was available for after dinner sipping.
The food was good and portions were adequate.

Amenities. Since the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a pristine area, besides
packing out all trash, one has to also make other provisions. When “nature calls”
(“number 2 ”, that is), the procedure is to borrow the toilet kit, find an out-of-view
spot, and dig a “cat hole”. After doing your business, you burn the toilet paper (a
lighter and waterproof matches were included in the “toilet kit”), kick it into the
“cat hole”, and then replace your divot! It really wasn’t that bad.

Landscape. This region of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is an incredible

sight of wide river beds lined with steep rocky cliff that often tower over 2,000 feet
above you. Absolutely breathtaking!

Mammals. We did not see any bears, however, we did see fresh bear tracks.
Bob does carry a shotgun, but only as an implement of last resort. We also saw
wolf and fox tracks and several distant family groups of Dahl Sheep.

4. Day Two (6/10). Lucky to have found the chickadee the first day, our task was
now to hike the distance to the longer take-our airstrip, upriver from the shorter
put-in strip. We quickly realized that the rest of the trip would be strenuous, but
somewhat anticlimactic, from a birding standpoint. Bob decide to take the long
way around the hill next to where we camped, which added about 1-1/2 miles of
distance but avoided the 500-foot climb back over the soft tundra. The longer

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way, as well as being flat, also provided more solid footing. The highlight of this
day was seeing several breeding plumaged and vocalizing Smith’s Longspurs.
What a beautiful bird – I think I’ll take my Oklahoma winter plumaged sighting off
my life list and replace it with this one. More ubiquitous species included Mew
Gull, American Tree Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Common Redpoll, and
American Robin. More notable species added to our trip list on this day included
Gyrfalcon, Long-tailed Jaeger, (T aiga) Gray Jay, and Northern Shrike. Our Day
Two hike took us about four miles and then we camped along the river. The
sounds of vocalizing Upland Sandpipers and Wandering T attlers bade us good
night and also good morning. Since we were above the Arctic Circle, it never got
dark.

5. Day Three (6/11). We made good progress on this day by traversing “aufeis”
(pronounced “off ice”) that is found along the sides of the river. Aufeis are thick
layers of ice formed by successive freezing of stream overflows during winter. By
using the aufeis we were able to detour around much of the soft, soggy tundra
footing. We made the opposite direction river crossing on this day, without
incident. This crossing was easier (shallower and narrower) than the original
crossing on day one. We covered about two miles this day and again camped by
the river. Our two-mile this day was leisurely and we made camp early. New trip
species seen this day included Arctic T ern, Common Raven, Hoary Redpoll,
American Pipit, and Cliff Swallow.

6. Day Four (6/12). On the last day of hiking we had to only cover a mile or so to
reach the take-out strip. Since we had made such good progress towards the
take-out strip, we were able to be very leisurely and we spent much time eating
lunch and lounging around a beautiful lake where we picked up some additional
trip species, including Bank Swallows, Red-necked Phalaropes, American Pipits,
Horned Lark, and a Golden Eagle. We made camp at our take-out airstrip. As the
evening progressed, the ceiling closed in and we conjured up visions of the bush
pilot not being able to take us the next day.

7. Day Five (6/13), the Take-Out. The weather was marginal in the morning, but
cleared somewhat as the day progressed. About 11 am, we heard a plane and
saw our pilot. He made a pass over us and then headed to the lower strip to drop
off the first load of three participants for the second trip. Next, he flew up to our
strip and picked up Aaron and took him down to join the group at the lower strip.
He next returned to our strip and picked up our first outbound load three. Since
none of the three couples wanted to split up on the return (on the off chance that
a load should get stranded somewhere due to weather or mechanical
complications), we drew straws. The Shraders left first and David accompanied
them. About an hour or so later, the plane again passed overhead and dropped
off the second load of three inbound passengers at the lower strip and then
returned to pick up Barbara and me. At Arctic Village, our bush pilot loaded up
the last two inbound passengers and then stopped at the upper strip to pick up
Bob. The pilot dropped off that load at the lower strip and then returned to the

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upper strip to pick up Bill and Ruth Brooks and returned them to Arctic Village. It
all worked, somehow; the weather held over the pass and everyone got to where
they were supposed to without incident. Our Wright Air Cessna Grand Caravan
met us at Arctic Village and took us back to Fairbanks … and to soft hotel
mattresses … and greasy cheeseburgers!!!

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Chapter III. Dutch Harbor – Ticking the Whiskered Auklet.

1. Introduction. On June 14, we planned to leave from Fairbanks and connect

through Anchorage to Dutch Harbor where we had reservations to stay at the
Grand Aleutian Hotel and take a pelagic trip on June 15 to see the Whiskered
Auklet. Mother Nature, however, had other designs. A storm was hammering
“Dutch” and the winds were especially high, too high for our 737 to land. Dutch
has a very short runway and operates under an FAA exemption to land large jets.
Dutch is considered by Alaska Air to be the “most difficult place” they fly. Alaska
Air has been weathered out (rarely, thank goodness) for as much as several
weeks at one time. Given this, you would think that the airline would have solid
processes for dealing with weather delays … if so, it was not apparent to us.

2. The Waiting Game (6/14). When we were told that our 10 am flight was
delayed and then subsequently cancelled due to weather, we were herded to a
designated “standby area” in the main airport lounge area along with about 25
other Dutch “standbys”. Here we were told to wait for an announcement at noon
regarding the afternoon (2 pm) flight. At noon, we were told who would be
standby for the next flight. The Brooks’ and Davises were on this list. We later
figured out (nobody told us) that the priority scheme was: #1: full fare passengers
first, and then #2: alphabetical order. Since we were full-fare passengers (for an
over $700 airfare from Anchorage to Dutch Harbor, round trip), they announced
that the four of us would be on the top of the standby list for the 2 pm flight.
Great! There were other birders heading to Dutch who had no slack for bad
weather in their plans. Since they were flying free on frequent flier miles, they
were out of luck. We processed-in for the 2 pm flight and then at the gate we
were told that it was also cancelled due to the weather. They further announced
that all flights to Dutch were booked until June 17 th … leaving us to think we were
now “SOL”. So, we reluctantly decided we would cancel the Dutch portion of our
trip and proceed on to Juneau. While we were leaving the concourse, we passed
one of the airline security personnel (whom we had talked to earlier during one of
our many security screenings about going to Dutch to see the auklet). We told
her that we had been cancelled would not be able to get to Dutch. She yelled to
us as we passed, “Come back at 8 am in the morning, we usually add other
section (i.e., additional airplanes) to get people down there after the weather
clears.” Well, this was a different story from “sorry, everything’s booked until the
17th”. We decided to check into a hotel and see what would happen in the
morning. From the hotel, both Bill Brooks and I independently called Alaska Air to
make sure we were on the “standby list”. I was told, however, that there is no
official standby list for Dutch, although, unofficially, they were interested in
knowing how many people still wanted to get to Dutch and they took our names.
Bill, however, was told flat out that there is no standby list and no names were
taken from his phone call. Neither of the 1-800 reservation agents acknowledged
that Alaska Air would put additional sections on once the weather cleared.
Hmmmm …..

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3. Try Again (6/15). The next morning, we arrived at the airport standby area just
before 7:30 am (well in advance of the 8 am time that the security employee had
mentioned to us), at which time an Alaska Air employee (the same one that was
working the Dutch Harbor problem yesterday) came out and took a role call to
see who was present and wanted to get to Dutch. HUH? This was 7:30 am, what
if we had not arrived until 8 am like the other employee told us? Why didn’t the 1-
800 number tell us anything about a 7:30 role call??? This Alaska Air agent
would not admit that additional sections might be added, but she did say that she
was “optimistic” and that she felt that we would have a good chance of getting
there.

Around 9:30 am we were told that the 10 am flight was full and no standbys
would be boarded! We decided that we had enough of this, and we needed to
decide what to do next. I also had to visit the rest room and headed off to take
care of business. As I was washing my hands, Bill Brooks rushed in and said
“Come on, we’re going!” While I was in the men’s room, the agent had come
back to the standby area and announced that five standbys would be boarded,
the Brooks’, the Davises, and one other. It’s a good thing that I was with our
small group of travelers or otherwise; I’d have been SOL (again). They rushed us
through the boarding pass process, took our checked baggage to X-ray, gave us
a “pass” to expedite us through the security checkpoint (which did nothing for us-
we still had to remove shoes, and get wanded, etc.), and literally ran us to the
gate. Then at the gate, the Brooks began to board, and we were suddenly
informed that there was only one more seat available, not enough for Barbara
and me! We had originally discussed with the Brooks’ that if we all could not go,
then none of us would … rather we would do the Auklet Trip to Dutch next year—
and instead we would press on to Juneau. However, this news came in the
middle of the boarding process, Bill and Ruth had already surrendered their
boarding pass and were proceeding down the ramp. I yelled to them to “go
ahead”. I felt confident that we would make it onto the next (2 pm) flight and meet
them there. He headed back to our “prison” … the standby area. Later in the
afternoon we were told that 10 standbys would be boarded on the 2 pm flight,
which we did finally make.

You would think that since Dutch frequently experiences weather problems, that
Alaska Air would have well-defined process for dealing with this situation, and
especially, for communicating with the passengers. Rather, it seemed that
everything was being made up as if this was the first time that they had
encountered this situation. Grrrr…..

4. Dutch Harbor. Sheryl Johnson, Sales and T our Coordinator, of the Grand
Aleutian Hotel met us at the gate in Dutch along with Ruth and Bill Brooks. Sheryl
was super and provided excellent customer service to us and made sure that all
of our wishes were accommodated. I can’t say enough good things about Sheryl.
The Grand Aleutian Hotel, overall, however, was overrated. I expected more. The
service in the restaurant was slow (e.g., it tool three hours to get through one

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dinner and for a flambéed dessert for two people one evening, our server started
making the sauce with two CUPS of butter – yuk! – obviously a recipe mistake).
The rooms were OK. The lobby of the hotel seemed to be constantly full of young
people, mostly napping or talking on the telephone. At night, the lobby was full of
people smoking. There are lots of seasonal workers in Dutch who work at the
seafood processing plants, maybe this had something to do with the “itinerates”
in the lobby, but it certainly was not becoming of a “first class” hotel. Room
service trays were left for days in the hallways and laundry was not automatically
returned to the room after it was done.

5. The Whiskered Auklet Trip. Sunday morning (6/16), we loaded up for our
pelagic trip out to see the Whiskered Auklet. We found out that the well-know
birding captain, John Luckett, would not be taking us out, but rather, his first
mate, Treavor, a very pleasant nineteen year-old young man with a clear vision
of his future as a summertime boat captain until he finishes his college degree in
ship design. It was unclear to us when we would be back in from the pelagic.
Sheryl suggested the she pick us up around 4 pm while Trevor thought that
around 3 pm would be good, or he would call her if it would be later. It turns out
that we got back in around 12:30. This was all very confusing. I am used to
pelagic trips that go out for a set period of time to see all that you can see. Our
trip seemed to be a cross between a sightseeing trip to look Whiskered Auklets
(pretty much a “gimme” once you get out to Baby Island) and a pelagic to find
some sought after target birds: albatrosses (Laysan and Black-footed) and the
Mottled Petrel. Whiskered Auklets are notorious for lifting off the water and flying
directly away from the boat, making it difficult to get a satisfying look at the
whisker field marks, however, persistence eventually pays off. After we had all
seen the auklet to our satisfaction, we headed further out and did find a close
Laysan and a more distant Black-footed. But, from that point, we just headed
back to port. I would have preferred to stay out as long as we could to try and
find a Mottled Pettrel, better looks of albatrosses (Black-footeds would have been
“lifers” for Barbara and Ed Clarke of Fairbanks who was on our trip) or, better yet,
a Short-tailed Albatross. I guess the confusion was ultimately our fault for not
trying to better understand the terms of this boat trip or more strongly stating our
desire to stay out longer. This issue could certainly be made more clear in the
future.

6. Bald Eagles Galore. Barbara and I are from the Chesapeake Bay area of
Maryland, a very productive area for Bald Eagles; in fact, a pair nests about a
mile from our house. Y ou would think we would be sensitized to seeing Bald
Eagles. Wrong! We were blown away. They are everywhere and in every age
class. Along the road by the landfill, we counted over 50 eagles in view at once,
perched on the cliffs and the hills and also soaring overhead. What a beautiful
sight!

7. The Cuckoo Search. By three days we missed an Oriental Cuckoo that had
been frequently the yard of boat captain (and Dutch Harbor Chief of Police), John

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Luckett. The bird had been present for about a week but was last seen just
before the storm that delayed our arrival. We searched the area where it had
been last seen and other areas of the island without success. The bird would
have been very interested to see, as it was reported to be without tail feathers.

8. Other Unalaska Birding. We briefly birded the roads around Unalaska and
Dutch Harbor via rental car. The islands are beautiful. Besides seeing Bald
Eagles everywhere, we also saw a Rough Legged Hawk, Common Ravens,
Black Oystercatchers, Belted Kingfisher, American Pipits, and Lapland Longspur.

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Chapter IV . Juneau – The Quest for the Steller’s Sea Eagle.

1. Introduction. On June 17, we departed Dutch and made our way through
Anchorage to Juneau. Early the next morning, we arrived for our helicopter
charter appointment with Coastal Helicopters at the Juneau Airport.

2. The Helicopter Search (6/18). We were first somewhat surprised to find that
our pilot was new to the firm and also to Juneau, as of only one month ago. I
guess we made a strategic error in assuming that Coastal was going to take us
to try to find the eagle, rather than realizing that we were just buying the services
of a helicopter and pilot—the difference being that in the later case, we would be
responsible for directing the search, including the location and search strategy.
Our pilot, a nice person and a fine pilot, had never even seen the bird before.
Upon our return, in talking with some Coastal’s other pilots, who were not present
when we departed, we got more complete information on the history of the eagle
and previous sighting locations – however, by this time, we were done with our
search!

3. The Results. The e-mail message below, sent to the Juneau birding listserver
(Eaglechat), summarizes our efforts.

All -

Today (Tuesday, June 18, 2002), four of us (Phil and Barbara Davis of MD and
Bill and Ruth Brooks of NY) chartered a helicopter in Juneau, AK for 1-1/2 hours
from Coastal Helicopters to search for the Steller's Sea Eagle. We did not find it.

We searched the Taku River around Taku Point (where the bird was last seen [?]
in August 2001) and around Swede Point where the bird was found several years
ago.

About 30 Bald Eagles were found in the area (a number which seems low, based
on a search by the Brooks last September).

We searched about 1-1/2 miles up river from Taku Point and about 2 miles below
the point.

There is lots of appropriate habitat along this river and of course in Juneau in
general, so we would encourage people to continue to search for this bird.

All reports, including negative ones, should be posted.

3. The Rub. It turns out that a fixed-wing pilot from another flying service had
seen the eagle in May, but this was unknown to us until we returned to Maryland
from Alaska.

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I received the following message from a local birder on June 22 in response to
our trip status message:

We were unable to spot the Steller’s last Sunday. We were in a fixed wing and
covered a smaller area, Grizzly Bar, Swede Point, Taku Lodge and Taku Point,
and we only saw 6 Bald Eagles. Approximately one month ago, the eagle was
seen flying by a pilot from W ard Air in the Glory Lake area.

4. The Post-Mortem Analysis. Some “Monday morning quarterbacking” …

• It would have been nice if the Ward Air report had been posted someplace …
grrrrr

• If the Ward Air pilot correctly identified the bird, it was and is most likely still
around.

• Fixed wing planes are probably much cheaper than a chopper and should
probably work as well for finding the bird. Once you find it, however, a
chopper might get you a better view of it.

• With this information, and to help future searchers, I annotated the

accompanying map. The bird had been seen last year (2001) around T aku
Point on the east side of the river (in blue) and in previous years at Swede
Point on the west side of the river (also in blue). We searched (in June 2002)
the areas highlighted in yellow. Glory Lake, where the Ward Air pilot saw the
bird in May 2002, is circled in red ... we were very close to it.

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• Had we known what we know now, I think we could have conducted a more
effective search. At least it would have helped to see a map where all of the
previous sightings had been and suggestions from Coastal to help us map out
a plan of attack would have been appreciated (since we are not from the
area!)

• I think there's a reasonable chance of the bird being seen later in the summer
if people keep looking ... especially when the overall eagle numbers increase.

4. A Suggestion. I have found that when a person takes it upon him or herself to
“adopt” a rare species and become a clearinghouse for all sighting information,
the birding community has the best possibility of finding the bird. Classic
examples, include Jane Kostenko of Maryland and her “adoption’ of the Maryland
Kelp Gull; Barbara Volke and her adoption of the 1996 downtown Boston Boreal
Owl. It would be great if someone in Juneau would volunteer to serve as the
clearinghouse for information about this bird.

With this idea in mind, I sent the message, below, to Eaglechat on June 26.

Hi Eaglechatters -

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 Last week I reported on our unsuccessful helicopter attempt to relocate the Steller's Sea-
Eagle on the T aku River on June 18th. After I got back home, I received a private
message from a local birder reporting that a fixed-wing pilot from Ward Air had seen the
bird near Glory Lake (near the T aku Glacier) in May. Had I known of that report, it would
have played a part in our search strategy.

I know that many North American birders saw this bird in the early/mid 90's when it was
being seen more regularly, but there is still an entire "generation" of birders and listers
out there that would love to find this bird ... and many are willing to travel thousands of
miles (and pay lots of $$$) to do so.

It seems to me that an "information clearinghouse" on this bird would be a valuable

service to the North American birding community. If someone would, on an ongoing
basis, collect all sighting reports in one place (putting it on the web would be super!), that
service would be GREATLY appreciated. The local Juneau birding and aviation
communities could be alerted to notify this person/point of contact whenever the bird was
seen ... including negative reports when searches fail to find the bird.

I'm not in a position to volunteer to take on that role at this time ... and I think it would
probably be best it this task were handled in Juneau/Douglas by a local birder ... or
maybe even by one of the air service companies.

Perhaps the local Chamber of Commerce might have an interest in this project, since
positive findings of the bird would attract out-of-town birders to the local air service
companies, hotel, restaurants, shops, etc. (We were very pleased to discover how
beautiful Juneau is and we birded many other areas during our visit).

If anyone is interested in undertaking this project, please let me know ... I have some
information to contribute, including an annotated map (in softcopy) of the area we
searched on June 18th.

Thanks for thinking about this ...

Phil

PS - I included Coastal Helicopters, Ward Air, and the Juneau Chamber of Commerce on
this message. For their benefit, "Eaglechat" is a local Juneau listserver on Juneau area
birding. If any Eaglechatters want replies to this message to go back to Coastal, Ward, or
the C of C, please be sure to include their e-mail addresses directly on any replies.

No responses have been received as of June 29, 2002.

5. Other Juneau Area Birding. During our stay, we birded a few other areas
around Juneau, including the Mendenhall Glacier, the top of Mount Roberts (at
the top of the Juneau aerial tramway), and the road to XXXXXXXX. Some of the
species we saw at these locations included Surf Scoters; Common Mergansers
(female with chick); a (T aiga) Merlin; Spotted Sandpiper; Mew and Herring Gulls;
Arctic T erns; Marbled and Kittlitz’s Murrelets; Vaux’s Swifts; Rufous
Hummingbird; (Northern) Red-breasted Sapsucker; Hairy Woodpecker;
Northwestern Crow; Barn Swallow; Chestnut-backed Chickadee; Winter Wren;
Golden-crowned and Ruby-crowned Kinglets; Gray-cheeked, Swainson’s, and

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Hermit Thrushes; American Robins; Varied Thrushes; Orange-crowned, (Myrtle)
Y ellow-rumped and T ownsend’s Warblers; (Sooty) Fox Sparrow; White-crowned
Sparrow; Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored and Oregon); Common Redpoll, and
Pine Siskin. One of our best birds was a vocalizing and displaying (Sooty) Blue
Grouse at eye level and only 20 feet away at the top of Mount Roberts.

Phil Davis
Davidsonville, MD
mailto: pdavis@ix.netcom.com

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