Today would be the last morning of birding before boarding our flight back to Anchorage. A pair of Hawfinches were in view while eating breakfast. While checking Kuluk Bay, 3 Bar-tailed Godwits flew north along the shore.
While scoping from the "Palisades Overlook", Frank found a group of 13 Bar-tailed Godwits that were way too distant for photos.
We drove up to the Andrew Lake Recreation Center to try one last time for the White Wagtail.
There was no sign of the wagtail, but we did find 4 Bramblings and a Hawfinch and, of course, Rock Ptarmigans.
I had hoped all week to see a Far Eastern Curlew and it sure didn't look like that was going to happen. On the way back to town, we made one last check of Navfac Beach. There was no curlew there, but we did find a total of 16 Bar-tailed Godwits! They were halfway down the beach, so once again, we parked at the notch in the dunes and walked out to the beach where we got photos of the group.
Since we had a little bit of time left before lunch, I asked Frank if we could go check out the Bald Eagle's nest at Sweeper Cove to see if the young were visible. He agreed, and when we got there, two young were sticking their heads up and checking out their surroundings.
We went back to the house to finish packing and have a good lunch since you don't get much to eat and drink on a flight anymore. As I walked into the house, my phone re-established the Wi-Fi connection and a text came through from Marjorie Keefe, one of the birders with the other birding group. The text read, "We had what we're quite sure is a female Common Rosefinch at the Blue Roof feeder spruce trees and then in the road. We put it out on the walkie talkie several times but had no signal to text you until now." I said to Frank, "You better read this!" and asked him what he thought. He said, "Let's go!" We grabbed our gear and took off for the Blue Building, which is at the northern end of Clam Lagoon. Frank did some phenomenal driving, dodging the bigger rocks and holes in the road, and we got there in around 15 minutes! We parked near the front of the building and kept watching the trees. It was a little after noon when Frank said we had until about 12:30 before we'd have to leave in order to get back in time for our flight. Soon after, I saw a small, gray-brownish bird fly in from down the hill and land in one of the spruce trees. It was the Common Rosefinch! We took many photos of it as it perched in the wind-blown tree.
After a while, Frank very slowly edged the car ahead to get us closer.
We were both celebrating. It was a life bird for both of us and would not have been possible had the other group not found it and Marjorie not made the extra effort to contact us about their fantastic find. We left there and headed back to the house. We gobbled down our lunch, loaded up the car, and headed for the airport. That's when I got another text from Marjorie that stated their group had found ANOTHER Common Rosefinch at the Seal Drive feeder area! So, instead of turning left to the airport, we turned right, went a few blocks, and got out of the car to take photos with the others of our second Common Rosefinch of the day.
We left there and watched our jet come in for a landing.
The last-minute find of the Common Rosefinch brought my trip list up to 59 species. It was my only life bird of the trip, but new ones are a lot tougher to get when you reach the 880's, so I really can't complain. Later, Frank mentioned that the two Common Rosefinches were only the 4th and 5th records for Adak! The entire trip list appears at the end of the June 1st entry. More photos from this Adak trip plus my 2024 trip to St. Paul and the 2007 trip to Gambell and Nome can be seen by going to my Alaska Adventures Photos Album.
We made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare and boarded our flight back to Anchorage.
A little less than three hours later, we landed in Anchorage. I got something to eat, went to the observation deck, and watched the planes going in and out during sunset before taking one of the soft seats there to try and get some sleep.
Sunday, June 1, 2025
After a 7-hour layover in Anchorage, I boarded my 1:30 AM flight to Seattle. While near cruising altitude, I took this photo of the sunset at around 2:30 AM.
I had a 4-hour layover in Seattle. I boarded my 10:05 AM flight to Newark and we landed around 6:30 PM. I grabbed my bag, took the shuttle back to the parking lot, and drove home, getting there around 7:30 PM. It was a 38-1/2-hour span from when I woke up on Saturday at 5 AM in Adak until I got home. Once again, the bed was a welcome sight.
Adak, Alaska Trip List - May 24-31, 2025
1) "Aleutian" Cackling Goose
2) Eurasian Wigeon
3) American Wigeon
4) Mallard
5) Northern Pintail
6) Common Teal ("Eurasian" Green-winged Teal)
7) Tufted Duck
8) Greater Scaup
9) Common Eider
10) Harlequin Duck
11) White-winged Scoter
12) Black Scoter
13) Common Goldeneye
14) Common Merganser
15) Red-breasted Merganser
16) Rock Ptarmigan
17) Black Oystercatcher
18) Semipalmated Plover
19) Bar-tailed Godwit
20) Common/Wilson's Snipe
21) Red-necked Phalarope
22) Wood Sandpiper
23) Ruddy Turnstone
24) Ruff (a displaying white male!)
25) Red-necked Stint
26) Dunlin
27) Rock Sandpiper (Aleutians) {couesi}
28) Pectoral Sandpiper
29) Parasitic Jaeger
30) Tufted Puffin
31) Horned Puffin
32) Kittlitz's Murrelet
33) Marbled Murrelet
34) Pigeon Guillemot
35) Common Murre
36) Ancient Murrelet
37) Black-legged Kittiwake
38) Vega Gull
39) Glaugous-winged Gull
40) Aleutian Tern
41) Arctic Tern
42) Red-necked Grebe
43) Red-throated Loon
44) Arctic Loon
45) Pacific Loon
46) Common Loon
47) Pelagic Cormorant
48) Bald Eagle
49) Gyrfalcon
50) Short-eared Owl
51) Common Raven
52) White Wagtail
53) Brambling
54) Hawfinch
55) Common Rosefinch*
56) Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch (Aleutians) {griseonucha}
57) Lapland Longspur
58) Snow Bunting
59) Song Sparrow ("maxima" race)
* Denotes a 'life bird'.
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