Many of the birds that we saw on the trip are expected to be there. They are arctic birds that either live on the island or pass through there during migration regularly. But as I eluded to in the last post, those birds are not really the birds that birders go to St. Paul for. Birders go in hopes that birds from Russia and other parts of Europe and Asia get blown over on west winds. Lucky for us, we had 2 days of winds blowing from the west that produced some good "vagrants". We saw a handful that pleased the crowd starting with Olive-backed Pipit.
Olive-backed Pipit
The tough part of the trip for me was that most of the vagrants that we saw were the product of us flushing the bird out of "Putchkie" weeds or flying past so fast that photos were either not possible or really crappy due to the speed of the bird and weather conditions. The Pipit above is just one example.
Another big find for the trip was this Gray-streaked Flycatcher. Again, the bird was flushed from the weeds and barely sat still. Boring little bird from Eurasia but a big find on the island. Look at this lousy photo:
Gray-streaked Flycatcher
While we were looking at this bird, another - even better bird showed up behind us. The bird first landed on the gate across the road but wouldn't sit still long enough for a photo. In fact, the bird took off and we didn't see it again until the next day. And then, only from a distance. Red-flanked Blue-tail is the name of the bird. It is one that I used to look at in field guides and dream of seeing. You can see both the red flank and the blue tail in this photo which is super cropped but identifiable.
Red-flanked Blue-tail
I didn't even get photos of the Brambling or the Eurasian Skylark at all. I managed a few photos of Emperor Goose.
Emperor Goose
And although we saw a few Yellow-billed Loons off the coast, I only managed this shot of one.
Yellow-billed Loon
All of the birders shared sightings and information with everyone else. By the time we left the island, all of the birders had seen the same species. Nobody missed a bird. Having said that - I can say that our group came away from the trip with one special sighting that some of the other birders didn't see . . . the St. Paul Shrew. This little shrew is only found on St. Paul Island and nowhere else. We flipped every piece of wood looking for one. It was a running joke all week with the bird guides. We were so happy to find the rare birds but each time that happened, one of us would say "if only we could find the shrew". And then it happened - I saw one running right down the middle of the gravel road as I was walking back to the van. I yelled "THERE'S THE SHREW! THERE'S THE SHREW!" Of course, everyone thought I was joking until they looked up and watched the little bugger run right under the tire of the van.
Shrew under the tire
We caught the shrew to get a better look. Marty had the great idea of using the cover of his camera lens to make a little corral for the shrew. Check out the schnoz on this shrew.
St. Paul Shrew
The little fella starting shivering so I put him back in the Putchkie to continue with his day. We were one-up on the rest of the birders!
Alaska has 2 island chains in the Bering Sea. The one that sticks out most is well, the one that sticks out most. That long curved island chain called the Aleutians. Those islands have native names like Attu and Unimak. The other island chain is called the Pribilof. Those islands are named after saints like St. Paul and St. George. After my work was completed, Barbara, Todd and Marty met me in Anchorage where we embarked on a birding quest to St. Paul.
St. Paul Island
St. Paul island is pretty well known among Alaska's birding destinations as a place where birds from Russia and Asia are often found ( I kinda see what Sara Palin was inferring ) The island is an extinct volcano that has NO TREES. None. Nada. The whole island looks like this.
Vast St. Paul
The island was settled first by native Alaskans (we used to call them Eskimos) and then by Russians. The Russians found value in the island from the fur seals that provided fur and meat. Hundreds of thousands of seals used the island for rest and breeding making them easy targets for the hunters. I won't depress you with the details but you can connect the dots about how the seals were on the verge of extinction but the good news is that today, the seals are thriving again. Every beach was loaded with them. Check out the video.
The seals are protected by island wildlife rangers and we abided by the signs and kept our distance for the most part. In some areas, the road came close to the beach and provided us with intimate access to the wonders of the colony. This scene reminded me of the Jersey shore - the adults watching the kids playing in the surf.
Kids on the beach
This bull male was all about scratching himself and lounging around.
Big Daddy
This male and female spent hours courting. She was totally into him and kept poking and biting him so that he paid attention to her.
Beach Date
Meanwhile, this mother spent the afternoon suckling her pup to get him ready for a long hard winter at sea. He will need to gain alot of weight before he embarks on his solitary winter journey.
Intimate Moment
The Fur Seals were very curious about us. This gal was spying us from the harbor.
Curious George-ette
The people who live on the island have gone through rough times in the past but today, they protect the Fur Seals and also responsibly hunt them to provide food and continue their culture.
The island has one main industry which is seafood processing. Fish and crab boats that work in the Bering Sea (think Deadliest Catch) offload their catch in the harbor to be processed and sent to restaurants around the world. Why is all of this relevant? Funny you should ask. The native people have a corporation called TDX. They own the airport, the hotel, and most of the land on the island. They also provide the guides for birding tours. Our little group signed up for the TDX tour which included the flight from Anchorage, hotel, meals, and the birding guides. Sounds great. This is a photo of BOTH the airport AND the hotel.
St. Paul Airport and Hotel
Did I mention that the island doesn't have a restaurant. The hotel doesn't have a restaurant either. The "meals" are served at the fish processing plant. We ate in the commissary along with the workers. Sounds bad right? Wrong! The commissary provided excellent meals. Yes, the atmosphere reminded me of the high school cafeteria but the food was actually good - poached halibut, enchiladas, lasagna, fork-tender roast beef, and (not making this up) cheese blintzes!
Trident Seafood Commissary
The "lunch ladies" (my nickname for the commissary workers) were very nice and proud of the food that they served. This was obvious on the morning when our bird guide got a flat tire (shredded) on his way to pick us up for breakfast. We were stranded at the hotel and missed the breakfast time slot which ended at 8 AM.
Never drive on a flat tire
The guide was frazzled. I suggested that we borrow a pickup truck from another hotel guest and drive into town to get the other van. On the way, I had an idea to go to the commissary to get some "to-go" food. The lunch ladies were so happy to see us that they packed up eggs, sausage, bacon, blintzes (I can't make this up) and biscuits for the crew back at the hotel.
Breakfast is served!
Everyone was happy. Our group weren't the only birders on the island. We shared vans and guides with 3 others in the tour and 2 independent "Big Year" birders.
OK, we didn't just eat and fix flat tires. We actually birded the island. We had target birds that are regulars on the island and hoped for some vagrants too. The guides took us immediately to see some of the regulars including Red-legged Kittiwake. There are only 2 types of Kittiwakes - red-legged and black-legged. The Black-legged Kittiwakes are found on the east coast where we see them regularly but the Reds are only found in the Bering Sea. On St. Paul, you can find both.
Black-legged Kittiwake
Red-legged Kittiwake
I think even non-birders can nail the ID on these. In case you need to see a comparison, here they are sitting side-by-side. Notice the subtle differences in bill length and head shape? Forget it, just look at the legs.
Red and Black
Many more birds to tell you about in the next post.
