Adak, Alaska Spring 2004 Trip Report

9 May – 20 May 2004

by Phil Davis
Davidsonville, Maryland
for
High Lonesome BirdTours

1. TRIP REPORT

General
During the spring of 2004, Adak Island, Alaska began to host the first commercial bird tour groups. Adak
is located in the Andreanof Island group in the western/central Aleutians, approximately 1300 miles
southwest of Anchorage. Since Attu (the westernmost Aleutian Island) closed to birders in 2001, Adak is
now the westernmost destination available to commercial birding tours. The main Adak attraction is the
possibility of Asian vagrants, as well as western Alaska specialties (including pelagic species) and
Aleutian Island endemic subspecies that could possibly be split in the future. Our High Lonesome
BirdTours group was the first group of the year to visit. Including our pre-trip scouting period and birds
seen by only one or a few observers, we tallied 61 species for this trip.

Abridged Adak History

Adak was built up as a military base, beginning just after the Japanese bombing of Dutch Harbor in 1942
and for the subsequent invasion of Attu and Kiska in the western Aleutians. At its peak, 90,000 troops
were housed on Adak to turn back any Japanese invasion of Alaska. After the war, Adak became a
strategic military communications and surveillance post. In 1995, the decision was made to close Adak as
a military facility as a part of the Base Realignment and Closure Act (BRAC). At that time, the population
of Adak was over 6,000 military personnel and their family members. The title of the military property
and facility officially changed hands from the US Navy to the Aleutian Development Corporation in April
2004, just a month before we arrived. Today, the permanent population of the island is only 95 people.
The town of Adak (Alaska’s newest incorporated community) is still searching for its future, relying on
fishing, hunting, birding, and other recreational and tourist ventures; as well as some continued military
presence, including a future role in the new “star wars” space defense initiative. The expansive abandoned
facilities can seem strange and eerie at times; for example, when driving by the $11M Navy barracks
building (complete with furniture and lamps visible in the windows) that was built in 1995 but was never
occupied.

Schedule, Leaders, and Participants

High Lonesome BirdTours Leaders Dave MacKay and Phil Davis arrived on 9 May to scout the island
and make final logistics arrangements for housing, meals, and rental vehicles. The main tour group
arrived on 13 May, accompanied by High Lonesome BirdTours owner and leader, Forrest Davis. Besides
our three leaders, the group consisted of 16 participants for the week of 13-20 May, with two additional
participants due to arrive on 17 May and stay until the entire group was scheduled to depart on 20 May.

Airlines
Alaska Airlines flies to Adak from Anchorage twice weekly (on Sunday and Thursday). The flight stops
each way at Dillingham, AK on the Alaska Peninsula, departing from Anchorage in the morning and
returning from Adak at approximately 2 pm. The 17 May flight (midway during our tour) was cancelled
due to mechanical problems. When flights are cancelled—“infrequently”, we are told—the flights are not
made up. Our additional two people, scheduled to arrive on that flight, never made it to Adak and food
supplies for the restaurant were also delayed.

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Weather
Unfortunately, we were “plagued” by good weather during our entire Adak stay. No major pressure cells
dominated the weather and the days were characterized by light winds and clear skies. Some days, near
the end of the stay, we did experience precipitation, but typically it was light and occurred during the
evening, night, and mornings. With no blowing storms, especially from the west or southwest, few Asian
vagrants were pushed to the island and, for any that were; there was little weather to keep them grounded.
Temperatures were typically 35 degrees (f) plus or minus 5 degrees during the nights and 45 degrees (f),
plus or minus 5, during the days.

Lodging
Adak visitor lodging is in the Sandy Cove housing area (including the virtual “Adak Hotel”) and consists
entirely of multiple 2 bedroom, 2-1/2 bath condo-type townhouses. Each person had his/her own separate
bedroom and bath. Each unit had a full kitchen, dinette, living room, garage, foyer, solarium, washers and
dryers, and lots of closets.

Communications
Each unit also had a cable television; however, available stations were limited. During our stay, the local
town phone system went down for several days. (We were told that the phones were once down for a
week). No regular cell phone service is available on Adak (however, world-wide satellite cell service does
work). My PC dial-up modem would not connect with my Earthlink ISP for email service; however,
Forrest Davis could connect (albeit, irregularly and at a slow speed) his Macintosh system with the same
ISP.

Meals
We took our meals at the “Bake and Tackle,” located in the former cafeteria of the old high school
building (where the city offices and police chief also have their offices). The restaurant proprietors,
Violet, Rex, and Mike were most hospitable and the food was excellent. Yes, the name is “Bake and
Tackle” … Violet is an excellent baker (great breads and desserts) … and Rex also makes and sells
fishing lures. We joking called this our $20M restaurant, since that is what the school cost to build.
Currently, only a few of the classrooms are still used for education since there are just 14 children in the
island’s K-12 school. There is one other restaurant, the island VFW grill, but it is only open Thursday
through Saturday (and the food is reported to be either steaks or fried food).

Time Zone
Adak observes Hawaiian Time, which is one hour later than Anchorage.

Island Access
Basically, we were free to go anywhere on the island we wanted with the exception of a few well-marked
“hot” areas where unexploded ordnances (UXO) still exist. Maps were few and hard to come by.

Stores
The local general store was open from 3-7 pm during weekdays, only. A local liquor store is also open for
limited hours on certain days. (Liquor prices are generally twice that found in Anchorage.)

Vehicles
We rented three vehicles for our group; two Ford F-350 six-passenger pick-up trucks and an eight-
passenger van.

Pelagic Trip Plans

We had made arrangements to use a small charter fishing boat for multiple pelagic trips. However, in
April we were informed that this boat had gone to drydock in Seattle. We located the captain of another

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commercial fishing boat, the only other suitable boat on the island. He verbally agreed to run our pelagic
trips, but he had to “work out some details” that would be taken care of when our advance team arrived.
Apparently, however, he was not licensed to take passengers. In addition, the black cod season started the
week we got out there, and that was a much more lucrative use of his boat. Lack of a boat was especially
disappointing because we know that there were many seabirds and auklets offshore that people might get
to see including the Whiskered Auklet, up to three species of Albatross, and others.

US Fish and Wildlife Presence

The USFWS headquarters for its Aleutians operations is located on Adak. From this point, employees and
summer staff depart for wildlife research projects and operations elsewhere in the western Aleutians. The
USFWS staff was extremely helpful with birding advice and answers to questions.

Birding Areas
We birded the following areas:

Adak Naval Station (city)

Main St
Bayshore Hwy
Hillside Blvd
Finger Bay Rd
Contractor’s Camp (wetlands)
Kuluk Bay
Gannet Rocks
Sitkin Sound
Bering Sea
Adak “National Forest”
Clam Lagoon
Palisades Lake
Palisades Overlook (Kuluk Bay)
Candlestick Bridge
Zeto Point
Smith Lake
“The Overlook” (Sitkin Sound)
Head Rock
NSAG Facility
Mount Adagdak
Old LORAN station
Lake Andrew
Log Cabin
Mount Moffit
Shagak Bay
Airport Slough Ponds
Smew Pond
“weapons storage area”
“western lakes”
Bayshore beach
Seawall/Sweeper Cove
Small boat area
Southern lakes
Mitt Lake
Lake Leone

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 Finger Bay

2. SPECIES ACCOUNTS

A columnar trip list has been prepared as an accompanying separate document. The following are species
notes of interest:

BIRDS

Bean Goose. On 10 May, Dave MacKay and Phil Davis watched

a flock of 49 Aleutian Canada Geese flying by the Contractor’s
Camp as a single Bean Goose flew toward the flock from behind,
trying to catch them. A few minutes later, a single Bean Goose
flew by the same location heading the same direction directly in
front of our view. Due to the timing and direction of flight, it
was felt that two birds were seen, however, this is not
conclusive. On 17 May a Bean Goose was seen on the ground by
our entire group and photographed by Phil Davis at the
Contractor’s Camp wetlands. The scope views and photographs
showed the bird to be likely a Tundra (thick-billed) race and not
a “long-billed” Tiaga form. The “Tundra” Bean Goose
subspecies, serrirostris, is the expected one, rather than the
western “Russian” Tundra subspecies, rossicus. The bird was Bean Goose at Contractor’s Camp wetlands,
present during both the morning and evening of 17 May and was Adak, AK. 17 May 2004. Photo by Phil Davis.
also present on the morning of 19 May.

Greater White-fronted Goose. One bird associated with a flock of approximately 18 Aleutian Canada
Geese (B. c. leucopareia) on the grassy area at the NE corner of Calm Lagoon. The bird was observed on
14-16 May.

Canada Goose. A flock of 49 B .c. leucopareia (Aleutian) birds flew by the Contractor’s Camp on 10
May. A flock of approximately 18 birds was present most days at the NE corner of Clam Lagoon in the
grassy area. A single bird was seen several times in several places (near the airport and on the road up
Adagdak Mountain) that may not have been an Aleutian form.

Eurasian Wigeon. A few birds were observed at the slough ponds and at Clam Lagoon.

Mallard. This species was observed at multiple locations.

Northern Shoveler. A few birds were observed at the slough ponds and at Clam Lagoon.

Northern Pintail. This species was observed in moderate numbers primarily at Clam Lagoon.

Green-winged Teal. Most of these birds seen were of the “Common Teal” appearance; however, due to
the range are considered to be A .c. nimia (Aleutian form). However, on 13 May (at the slough ponds) and
16 May (at Clam Lagoon), one of the smaller and distinctive American form (A. c. carolinesis) was seen.
At Clam Lagoon, the size comparison between the larger nimia and smaller carolinesis was obvious. The
British BOU has split the Eurasian form of “Common Teal” and the American form and it is expected that
the AOU will follow suit in the future. The Brits kept the larger Aleutian form of Green-winged Teal
(nimia) as a subspecies of the Common Teal. When the AOU does act to split Green-winged Teal, there is
a possibility that the Aleutian form could become a separate species.

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Tufted Duck. The number of this species varied during our stay. The numbers ranged from four birds on
10 May to a peak of 17 birds on 16 May and then down to 4 birds on 17 May and then back up to 17 on
20 May. Most of the birds seemed to be paired and most were found at the runway slough ponds.

Greater Scaup. This species was observed at Clam Lagoon, Palisades Lake, and at the slough ponds.

Harlequin Duck. Present in moderate numbers along rocky shores.

White-winged Scoter. A couple birds were found in with a flock of Black Scoters in Sitkin Sound off the
north end of Clam Lagoon on 14 May.

Black Scoter. A flock was seen on 14 May in Sitkin Sound above the north end of Clam Lagoon.

Long-tailed Duck. Present at Clam Lagoon and at other locations.

Bufflehead. Present at Clam Lagoon and other locations.

Common Goldeneye. Present at Clam Lagoon and other locations.

Barrow's Goldeneye. A single female was found with a flock of approximately 20 (mostly) female
Common Goldeneye at Clam Lagoon on the evening of 14 May. The different head shape was clearly
visible, along with the smaller and yellow bill.

Red-breasted Merganser. Present at Clam Lagoon and Sweeper’s Cove.

Rock Ptarmigan. This species was common in the tundra and grassy areas at both low and mid
elevations. Males were obvious flying and displaying. We were told that just two weeks before we
arrived, during the hunting season, the birds were difficult to find. The subspecies found on Adak is L. m.
chamberlaini. This subspecies, one of approximately eight Aleutian Island forms, is endemic to Adak and
a few adjacent islands. At Adak, where no Willow Ptarmigan are present, this species inhabits lower and
grassier areas. These birds are darker and larger than what would normally be expected within the cline of
the approximately 20 subspecies of Rock Ptarmigan. [This is a potential “bank” species].

Common Loon. One bird in alternate plumage was found in Sitkin Sound at the north end of Clam
Lagoon on 14 May.

Horned Grebe. A few were seen in various locations.

Red-necked Grebe. A few were seen in Sitkin Sound.

Albatross, sp. On 16 May a large (longline?) fishing vessel was observed actively circling and trawling
north of Adak Island in the Sitkin Sound with many seabirds trailing. While distant, scope views showed
that the mix of trailing birds consisted of white birds (certainly Glaucous-Winged Gulls), many dark birds
(most likely Short-tailed or Sooty Shearwaters), and 4-6 large dark birds that flew like albatrosses. Most
likely these latter birds were Black-footed Albatrosses, but without a better look, this species was not
added to the official trip list.

Laysan Albatross. On 17 May, this species was observed from a seawatch at the old LORAN station,
passing from west to east. During a 45 minute period, Don Whitehead counted 21 birds passing. On 19
May, more birds were seen from the same location.

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Northern Fulmar. During a 17 May seawatch from the old LORAN station, a number of dark morph
Northern Fulmars were observed. Additional birds were observed from the same location on 18 May.

Shearwater, sp. Some dark shearwaters were observed trailing a ship on 16 May (see the albatross, sp.
account, above). Other distant birds also were seen from the sea watch from the old LORAN station 17
May and again on 18 May.

Red-faced Cormorant. Only a few birds were seen well. One bird in alternate plumage was seen in
Sweepers Cove on 9-10 May. One was seen in Finger Bay on 14 May.

Pelagic Cormorant. Birds were seen at various locations on multiple days in open waters.

Bald Eagle. Many birds of all age groups were present on the
island, mostly found along the beach (especially on the runway
light stanchions), at the Contractor’s Camp, at the dump, and on
cliffs. High count visible from a single place was 50 on 10 May,
from the Contractor’s Camp area, where birds could be seen
perched and in flight over the dump.

Gyrfalcon. On 17 May, an adult, gray morph Gyrfalcon was seen

behind the Sandy Cove housing area, above the Kuluk Bay beach.
On 18 May, another bird—a juvenile gray morph—was seen at the
old LORAN station.

Peregrine Falcon. A dark F. p. pealei bird was seen near the

beach on 14 May and on 16-17 May. On 19 May, a dark bird was
seen in the area of the Contractor’s Camp.

Pacific Golden-Plover. Five birds were found in the Contractor’s

Camp area on 18 May.

Semipalmated Plover. This locally breeding species was present

in many gravelly and open locations.

Black Oystercatcher. A flock of eight birds was seen flying

around Finger Bay on 14 May and the species was seen in smaller Bald Eagle, Adak, AK. 19 May 2004. Photo
by Phil Davis.
numbers daily at various locations.

Wood Sandpiper. On 17 May a sweep of the Contractor’s Camp wetlands flushed approximately 20
birds, apparently overnight arrivals. The same approximate number of birds was also present on 19 May.
Two shorebirds were kicked up in the rain on the southern peaty edge of Clam Lagoon on 19 May; they
were not positively identified but were likely two more Wood Sandpipers.

Bar-tailed Godwit. A single bird was seen during the scouting period by MacKay and Davis on 9 May
on the sandy flats at Clam Lagoon.

Sanderling. One bird in basic plumage was found on the Kuluk Bay beach near the mouth of Runway
Creek on 14 May.

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Rock Sandpiper. The local, expected, subspecies of Rock Sandpiper
is C. p. cousei, the Aleutian Islands form, which differs from the
Pribilof Islands (C. p. ptilocnemis) and Bering Sea form (C. p.
tschuktschorum). The Pribilof’s subspecies is the largest and palest,
while the Bering Sea form is smaller and darker. The Aleutian form
lies in the middle, morphologically. We had heard from USFWS
personnel that the Pribilof’s form had been seen on the island; this
prompted us to keep our eyes peeled for them and several were found
and photographed on the west side of Clam Lagoon. (I am continuing
to investigate the status of this subspecies on Adak with respect to the
Asian form, C. p. quarta, which is found in the Kuriles, on the
Kamchatka Peninusla, and in the Commander Islands.)
Rock Sandpiper (C. ptilocnemis) at
Clam Lagoon, Adak, AK. 16 May
Wilson's Snipe. Several snipe were seen displaying over the runway 2004. Photo by Phil Davis.
slough ponds and the Contractor’s Camp marsh on 13-14 May.
Another bird was flushed on 18 May from the wetlands area at the NE corner of Clam Lagoon. While
some observers commented that white trailing edges to the secondaries were visible, and other observers
commented that some birds appeared to have light underwings; looks with scopes showed that most birds
studied appeared to have dark underwings. No bird was observed by multiple observers that presented
both white trailing secondaries and white underwings. Birds were heard “winnowing,” however most
vocalizations generally sounded like Wilson’s Snipe. On 19 May, two birds (apparently paired) were seen
flying and briefly on the ground at the NE wetlands corner of Clam Lagoon. Try as we might, we were
unable to unequivocally turn any of these Wilson’s Snipe (Gallinago delicata) into the recently split Old
World species, Common Snipe (G. gallinago), which is found further west in the Aleutians.

Red-necked Phalarope. Present in small numbers at various locations.

Pomarine Jaeger. On 18 May three distant dark morph Pomarine Jaegers were seen during a seawatch
from the old LORAN station.

Parasitic Jaeger. A number of dark morph birds were seen perched on the flats and flying over Clam
Lagoon on multiple days from 14-19 May.

Glaucous-winged Gull. This is the common island gull species.

Glaucous Gull. A single bird was reported by a few observers (Karen Beekman and Ruth Brooks) in
Sitkin Sound off of the seawall north of Clam Lagoon.

Black-legged Kittiwake. This species was seen by a single observer (Don Whitehead) from the old
LORAN station on 15 May.

Aleutian Tern. This species was first seen flying on the opposite side of Kuluk Bay on 14 May. On 16
May approximately 12 birds were flying over Clam Lagoon; on 16 May approximately 20-25 birds were
seen flying at the same location.

Common Murre. A few birds were seen in Kuluk Bay.

Pigeon Guillemot. This species was seen daily in open waters. [By range, the subspecies seen would be
C. c. kaiurka, found from Adak Island west to the Russian Commander Islands. This is a different
subspecies from those found in the Bering Sea Islands, most of Alaska, and the Pacific west coast of the
lower 48. Subspecies differ in body size and the amount of white on the wing.]

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Marbled Murrelet. This species was seen primarily in Finger Bay.

Kittlitz's Murrelet. On 19 May, some of our group hiked the trail from the White Alice site to Shagak
Bay and were rewarded with a flock of five Kittlitz’s Murrelet. The lead bird of the flock was still in basic
plumage.

Ancient Murrelet. This species was seen in small numbers on several days in open waters.

Whiskered Auklet. During the pre-trip scouting period, Dave MacKay saw at a long distance two small
dark alcids flying and landing in the water from the old LORAN Station. They did not appear to be
Crested Auklets (with which he is very familiar from many trips to Gambell) and could have been
Whiskered Auklets; however, the identification was not confirmed.

Tufted Puffin. A few distant birds were seen flying near Gannet Rocks on 13 and 17 May, but were seen
by leaders, only.

Short-eared Owl. One bird was seen flying over the hills above the runway slough ponds on 14 May.
Another bird was flushed on 15 May from the wetlands at the NE corner of Clam Lagoon. On 16 May
two birds were flushed from this same area.

Common Raven. This species was common, especially around the Contractor’s Camp and the dump, and
was of the large Far Eastern C. c. kamtschaticus subspecies rather than the smaller C. c. principalis
species found in most of Alaska, Canada, and the lower 48 states.

Winter Wren. This species was vocal, singing, along cliff faces and remote old buildings. Nesting
behavior was observed at the old LORAN station. The Adak/Central Aleutian form of Winter Wren is one
of about six subspecies of Winter Wren found in the Aleutian Island chain (differing from those found on
Attu and in the Pribilofs). It is an Aleutian endemic subspecies (T. t. tanagensis) that could conceivably
become a separate species at some point in the future.

Song Sparrow. This species was found primarily along roads outside of town. The local subspecies is M.
m. maxima, the considered to be same subspecies that is found on Attu. Its range extends to Atka Island in
the central Andreanof Islands group, 90 miles east of Adak. As an Aleutian endemic, there is always a
possibility that it could conceivable be split at some time in the future.

Lapland Longspur. Males were singing and displaying when we arrived. During our stay, females began
to arrive.

Snow Bunting. This species was present generally at higher elevations and in areas near cliffs.

Brambling. A first-year female Brambling frequented a bird feeder (presenting mixed bird seed) behind
Sandy Cove housing unit 118D (home of Ray “Grumpy” Nelson). The bird was observed in the mornings
between 13-17 May.

Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch. The local subspecies (L. t. griseonucha, the Aleutian/Kodiak form) was
common around buildings, especially in town.

Redpoll, sp. Two birds were seen flying and calling by a single observer (Don Whitehead) at the Clam
Lagoon seawall.

07/03/2004 3:47 AM Page 8 of 10

MAMMALS

Caribou. This species was stocked by the US Navy decades ago and is reported to grow to be the largest
of all caribou (up to 700-800 pounds!). A bull and up to three cows were see near Finger Bay. Two bulls
and four cows were seen near Shagak Bay.

Northern Sea Otter. Before arriving at Adak, we were told that there were no more otters at Adak.
However, up to twenty were seen in Clam Lagoon on an almost daily basis.

Harbor Seal. These seals were found regularly at the mouth of the Clam Lagoon.

Norway Rat. There were plenty of “signs” of rats, but not many live animals were seen (those seen were
mostly near the fish processing plant).

3. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thanks are extended to Steve Hines (City Manager); Ken Hopkins (Police Chief); USFWS personnel
Brad Benter, Jeff Williams, Kent Sundseth, and Vernon Byrd; Bake and Tackle proprietors Violet, Rex,
and Violet’s brother, Michael; Janet and Ed McNall (housing); and Carrie Long (auto rentals).

4. LITERATURE AND OTHER REFERENCES

Literature Cited
Byrd, Vernon G., David L. Johnson, and Daniel D. Gibson. 1974. The Birds of Adak Island, Alaska. The
Condor 76:288-300.

Gibson, D. D. 1981. Migrant birds at Shemya Island, Aleutian Islands, Alaska. The Condor 83:65-77.

Gibson, D. D. and B. Kessel. 1992. Seventy-four new avian taxa documented in Alaska 1976-1991.
Condor 94: 454-467.

Gibson, D. D. and B. Kessel. 1997. Inventory of the species and subspecies of Alaska birds. Western
Birds 28: 45-95.

Kessel, B. and D.D. Gibson. 1978. Status and distribution of Alaska birds. Studies in Avian Biol. 1:1-100.

Lenz, Timothy. 2004. Adak: the Aleutians Made Easy. Winging It 16(4):4-6.

Floyd, Ted. 2003. Adak Trip Report. Email to Birdchat listserver. 29 Aug 2003.

Taber, Richard D. 1946. The Winter Birds of Adak. The Condor 48:272-277.

West, George C. 2003. A Birdfinding Guide to Alaska. American Birding Association.

07/03/2004 3:47 AM Page 9 of 10

Checklists
Clements, James F. 2000. Birds of the World: a checklist. Ibis Publ. Co., Temecula, California

Dickinson, E. C. (ed.). 2003. The Howard and Moore complete checklist of the birds of the World,
Revised and enlarged 3rd Edition. Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1040 pp

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1987. Birds of Adak Island, Aleutian Islands Unit, Alaska Maritime
National Wildlife Refuge. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Aleutian Islands Unit, Alaska Maritime
National Wildlife Refuge. 1987. Birds of Adak Island (checklist/brochure). April 1987.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1987. Birds of Adak Island, Aleutian Islands Unit, Alaska Maritime
National Wildlife Refuge. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Unpaginated. Jamestown, ND: Northern Prairie
Wildlife Research Center Home Page.
http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/othrdata/chekbird/r7/adakisle.htm (Version 22May 1998).

Web Sites
Adak, Alaska Period of Record Monthly Climate Summary.
http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/cliRECtM.pl?akadak

The History of Adak.

http://www.explorenorth.com/library/communities/alaska/bl-Adak.htm

I Love Alaska: Adak.

http://www.ilovealaska.com/Alaska/cities.cfm?cityid=1

A Pictorial and Anecdotal History of Adak, Alaska, U.S.A., Alaska. 2004.

http://www.orneveien.org/adak/index.htm.

Phil Davis
Davidsonville, MD
mailto: pdavis@ix.netcom.com
July 3, 2004

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