May 1996
by Macklin Smith
We were scheduled to be on Attu for four weeks from May 13 thru June 11, but arrival was weather-delayed (fog) four days and departure was weather-extended (fog) one day. During our first week on the island, the jet stream was unusually south of us, and our weather consisted mainly of a high pressure system interupted by insignificant lows. Thereafter, a series of 4 moderate storms, apparently all west to east from Kamchatka, passed by, affecting migratory patterns.
All told, migration seemed late and sparse, with minimal movement of waterfowl and shorebirds observed on Attu, but with an unusual variety of passerines. Highlights of the trip included the first North American breeding record of Whooper Swan (5 cygnets), the first North American nesting record of Brambling (nest with 2 eggs found), and the occurrence of Great Spotted Woodpecker and Yellow-breasted Bunting, both second North American records. Species observed were as follows, with unusual records in boldface:
Red-throated Loon
ARCTIC LOON
Pacific Loon
Common Loon
Yellow-billed Loon
Red-necked Grebe
Laysan Albatros
Short-tailed Shearwater
Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel
Pelagic Cormorant
Red-faced Cormorant
WHOOPER SWAN (breeding)
Emperor Goose
Brant
Canada Goose
Green-winged Teal
Mallard
Northern Pintail
Gadwall
Eurasian Wigeon
Tufted Duck
Greater Scaup
Common Eider
King Eider
Spectacled Eider (continuing from 1993)
Stellers Eider
Harlequin Duck
Oldsquaw
Black Scoter
White-winged Scoter
Common Goldeneye
Bufflehead
Red-breasted Merganser
White-tailed Eagle (both adult and immature seen)
Peregrine Falcon
Rock Ptarmigan
Black-bellied Plover
Pacific Golden Plover
Mongolian Plover
Common Greenshank
Wood Sandpiper (only 2)
Wandering Tattler
Gray-tailed tattler (2)
Common Sandpiper
Whimbrel
Bar-tailed Godwit
Ruddy Turnstone
Red-necked Stint
Long-toed Stint
Pectoral Sandpiper
Rock Sandpiper
Dunlin
CURLEW SANDPIPER (2d Attu record, very rare in Alaska)
Ruff
Common Snipe (only two; nominate race)
Red Phalarope
Pomarine Jaeger
Parasitic Jaeger
Black-headed Gull
Kamchatka (Mew) Gull
Herring Gull
Slaty-backed Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Glaucous Gull
Black-legged Kittiwake
Red-legged Kittiwake
Common (River) Tern
Aleutian Tern
Common Murre
Thick-billed Murre
Pigeon Guillemot
Marbled Murrelet
Kittlitzs Murrelet
Ancient Murrelet
Parakeet Auklet
Crested Auklet
Tufted Puffin
Horned Puffin
ORIENTAL TURTLE-DOVE (2d Attu record)
Common Cuckoo
GREATER SPOTTED WOODPECKER (2d Attu record)
Common Raven
Winter Wren
Gray-spotted Flycatcher
Siberian Rubythroat
RED-FLANKED BLUETAIL (3)
Eyebrowed Thrush
Yellow Wagtail
Black-backed Wagtial
Olive-backed Pipit
American Pipit
Song Sparrow
Lapland Longspur
Rustic Bunting
YELLOW-BREASTED BUNTING (2d Attu record)
Snow Bunting
Brambling (nesting!)
Rosy Finch
Common Redpoll
EURASIAN BULLFINCH (2 single-observer sightings)
Hawfinch
Macklin Smith
University of Michigan
macklins@umich.edu