Pacific

Least Auklets

Seabirding the Ring of Fire - continued from Page 2

Monday 10 June

….Still quite a swell this morning, and it was overcast with light rain. Our course was set towards Kamchatka and the Russian mainland. Seawatching produced a few skuas, both Arctic and Long-tailed, and now and again a small flock of Ancient Murrelets would come flying past, skimming the waves. Our first Red-legged Kittiwakes were four birds that flew alongside. I hadn't realised that the upperwing on this species could be so dark (some books have the wings portrayed too light e.g. Sibley’s North American Bird Guide).

….At the mouth of the fjord a shout went up - 'Steller's'! Was it sea-lion, eider? No, here was the 'big one', the Steller's Sea Eagle - a huge bird, standing imposingly on the cliff edge. Enormous white flashes in the wings stood out like beacons, and then there was the bill, an unbelievably massive bill. Then, we saw that just below, on another ledge, a nest with another sitting bird. This was one of the birds everybody on board had wanted to see on this trip.

Tuesday 11 June

….We awoke to find ourselves alongside the quay in Petropavlosk, Kamchatka, Siberia. This city had only been open to any visitors for ten years as previously it held huge military bases for the Russian Navy and Air Force.

….We set off through the city of Petropavlosk. It was all in a rather sorry state. Most buildings were old, of crumbling concrete and paint peeling. Some blocks of flats were in a dire way - many windows broken, graffitti everywhere - with no money to repair or update anything. It looked grey and with the cold and damp weather most people looked miserable also.

….We stopped alongside the road at a small marsh where there was a Black-headed Gull colony. A snipe was in display flight overhead - Common Snipe at this latitude.

….Our bus took us to superb woodland where we could walk. Four groups were formed with myself taking one, of about eight persons. Here was a mature birch forest, which held an excellent selection of eastern Asian species. Included were Arctic Warbler, Rustic Bunting, Siberian Rubythroat, Olive-backed Pipit, Grey-streaked Flycatcher and Taiga Flycatcher (a certain split from Red-breasted in the offing!)

….For our next stop we were taken to a large marsh….very productive with Brown Shrike, singing male Yellow-breasted Buntings, some interesting Yellow Wagtails (the race simillima?), and a few Pacific Swifts flying around.

Wednesday 12 June

….Just offshore we saw a few small groups of Long-billed Murrelets. We sailed for nearly three hours to another bay called Morzhovaya. On the way two first-summer Red-legged Kittiwakes flew past the ship.

….We entered the bay where the zodiacs were launched. An interesting gull flying in the flock around the ship was the eastern form of the Common Gull - it is larger than the one found in the UK and there is a case to split this and call it Kamchatka Gull.

….Our walk ashore was in rain and wind - not good for birding. Conditions did improve slightly but it was hard work seeing the singing Olive-backed Pipit or our ‘common bird’, the Siberian Rubythroat. The slopes leading away from the beach were covered with snow. A large Brown Bear (also called Grizzly Bear) was seen crossing the snow slope, maybe three hundred yards from us. Only twenty minutes earlier, some of the ship's passengers had been walking in this same area! The first rule on these Kamchatka landings is to always walk in couples or groups, never alone. As we returned to the ship the tannoy announced two more bears were visible on the hillsides. These were large bears, the Kamchatka race known to be bigger than most (although the largest are found on Kodiak Island off Alaska).

….We hit a 'purple patch' for seabirds when Mottled Petrels started appearing, and the count in one hour went to twenty-five. Numbers increased of Laysan Albatrosses with birds coming by every few minutes. Brue found the first Black-footed Albatross for the cruise and more skuas were seen, both Arctic and Long-tailed. A Fork-tailed Storm-petrel had been found dead by one of the crew in an electrical room on an upper deck – this stowaway must have come aboard a few days back.

….It was decided to commence a course to the east, and Bering Island in the Komandorsky Islands (Commander Islands).

Thursday 13 June

….Bering Island, which was in sight at midday. Another seabird was added to our list, Glaucous-winged Gull. This was to prove very common as a number breed on the Commander Islands.

….we sailed to two offshore rocky islets, which were covered with seabirds - a veritable avian metropolis for guillemots and gulls. A number of Red-legged Kittiwakes, these very localised gulls of the North Pacific, were on the ledges - they mixed readily with the Black-legged.

….We arrived at the village of Nikolskoye and went ashore by zodiacs. The crossing was a little rough and it took about ten minutes to reach the shore. A rocky part of the beach had three Rock Sandpipers and a splendid summer-plumaged Lesser Sand Plover.

….We walked to the north of the town alongside an estuary. It was raining and birding was becoming difficult. Small groups of Glaucous-winged Gulls sat on the sandy spits and many Dunlins were uttering their ‘churring’ song but having difficulty in rising to start their song flights due to the wind. Two terns came up river, their white foreheads visible with the birds being head on - these were Aleutian Terns - this species also has a limited range around the Aleutian Islands in summer. The winter range for this bird is still not known.

….We passed a small military base on our walk. Soldiers came outside to look at this unannounced group walking casually by carrying binoculars, telescopes and cameras. I wondered what they really made of us, as only a few years back this situation would have been unthinkable. This base would have been part of the front-line defence for the USSR, as the next island in the chain to the east belongs to the USA.

Friday 14 June

….We were at sea all day. The Captain ….called an impromptu meeting with all passengers to explain a change to the scheduled plans. The US Customs and Immigration officials who were due to meet us on Attu could not land and had returned to the island of Adak, further east. Currently their ’plane was grounded due to weather. They would not give permission to let us land on American soil without full clearance, which includes individual checks of each passenger. Our only choice was to steam to meet them on Adak, thus going past the islands of Attu and Kiska.

….Seawatching produced more of the same species. Sometimes Laysan Albatrosses were seen in flocks! Regularly we could see fifty and more in the field of view from the decks. Everyone, by now, had caught up with Mottled Petrels - during the morning some seventy were counted. Both Fork-tailed and Leach's Petrels could be studied side by side.

….Some serious lobbying easily convinced the Captain that a visit to Sirius Point on Kiska really was a 'must' and that we should head there before Adak Island. Off Attu were hundreds of Laysan Albatrosses. I counted one hundred and twenty sitting together in one group on the sea. Three small groups of Ancient Murrelets were seen well as the sea had subsided and was now calm. Dall's Porpoises came to join the ship momentarily - their distinct white dorsal fins seen easily in the better sea conditions.

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		Least Auklets

Seabirding the Ring of Fire - continued from Page 2

	Monday 10 June ….Still quite a swell this morning, and it was overcast with light rain. Our course was set towards Kamchatka and the Russian mainland. Seawatching produced a few skuas, both Arctic and Long-tailed, and now and again a small flock of Ancient Murrelets would come flying past, skimming the waves. Our first Red-legged Kittiwakes were four birds that flew alongside. I hadn't realised that the upperwing on this species could be so dark (some books have the wings portrayed too light e.g. Sibley’s North American Bird Guide). ….At the mouth of the fjord a shout went up - 'Steller's'! Was it sea-lion, eider? No, here was the 'big one', the Steller's Sea Eagle - a huge bird, standing imposingly on the cliff edge. Enormous white flashes in the wings stood out like beacons, and then there was the bill, an unbelievably massive bill. Then, we saw that just below, on another ledge, a nest with another sitting bird. This was one of the birds everybody on board had wanted to see on this trip. Tuesday 11 June ….We awoke to find ourselves alongside the quay in Petropavlosk, Kamchatka, Siberia. This city had only been open to any visitors for ten years as previously it held huge military bases for the Russian Navy and Air Force. ….We set off through the city of Petropavlosk. It was all in a rather sorry state. Most buildings were old, of crumbling concrete and paint peeling. Some blocks of flats were in a dire way - many windows broken, graffitti everywhere - with no money to repair or update anything. It looked grey and with the cold and damp weather most people looked miserable also. ….We stopped alongside the road at a small marsh where there was a Black-headed Gull colony. A snipe was in display flight overhead - Common Snipe at this latitude. ….Our bus took us to superb woodland where we could walk. Four groups were formed with myself taking one, of about eight persons. Here was a mature birch forest, which held an excellent selection of eastern Asian species. Included were Arctic Warbler, Rustic Bunting, Siberian Rubythroat, Olive-backed Pipit, Grey-streaked Flycatcher and Taiga Flycatcher (a certain split from Red-breasted in the offing!) ….For our next stop we were taken to a large marsh….very productive with Brown Shrike, singing male Yellow-breasted Buntings, some interesting Yellow Wagtails (the race simillima?), and a few Pacific Swifts flying around. Wednesday 12 June ….Just offshore we saw a few small groups of Long-billed Murrelets. We sailed for nearly three hours to another bay called Morzhovaya. On the way two first-summer Red-legged Kittiwakes flew past the ship. ….We entered the bay where the zodiacs were launched. An interesting gull flying in the flock around the ship was the eastern form of the Common Gull - it is larger than the one found in the UK and there is a case to split this and call it Kamchatka Gull. ….Our walk ashore was in rain and wind - not good for birding. Conditions did improve slightly but it was hard work seeing the singing Olive-backed Pipit or our ‘common bird’, the Siberian Rubythroat. The slopes leading away from the beach were covered with snow. A large Brown Bear (also called Grizzly Bear) was seen crossing the snow slope, maybe three hundred yards from us. Only twenty minutes earlier, some of the ship's passengers had been walking in this same area! The first rule on these Kamchatka landings is to always walk in couples or groups, never alone. As we returned to the ship the tannoy announced two more bears were visible on the hillsides. These were large bears, the Kamchatka race known to be bigger than most (although the largest are found on Kodiak Island off Alaska). ….We hit a 'purple patch' for seabirds when Mottled Petrels started appearing, and the count in one hour went to twenty-five. Numbers increased of Laysan Albatrosses with birds coming by every few minutes. Brue found the first Black-footed Albatross for the cruise and more skuas were seen, both Arctic and Long-tailed. A Fork-tailed Storm-petrel had been found dead by one of the crew in an electrical room on an upper deck – this stowaway must have come aboard a few days back. ….It was decided to commence a course to the east, and Bering Island in the Komandorsky Islands (Commander Islands). Thursday 13 June ….Bering Island, which was in sight at midday. Another seabird was added to our list, Glaucous-winged Gull. This was to prove very common as a number breed on the Commander Islands. ….we sailed to two offshore rocky islets, which were covered with seabirds - a veritable avian metropolis for guillemots and gulls. A number of Red-legged Kittiwakes, these very localised gulls of the North Pacific, were on the ledges - they mixed readily with the Black-legged. ….We arrived at the village of Nikolskoye and went ashore by zodiacs. The crossing was a little rough and it took about ten minutes to reach the shore. A rocky part of the beach had three Rock Sandpipers and a splendid summer-plumaged Lesser Sand Plover. ….We walked to the north of the town alongside an estuary. It was raining and birding was becoming difficult. Small groups of Glaucous-winged Gulls sat on the sandy spits and many Dunlins were uttering their ‘churring’ song but having difficulty in rising to start their song flights due to the wind. Two terns came up river, their white foreheads visible with the birds being head on - these were Aleutian Terns - this species also has a limited range around the Aleutian Islands in summer. The winter range for this bird is still not known. ….We passed a small military base on our walk. Soldiers came outside to look at this unannounced group walking casually by carrying binoculars, telescopes and cameras. I wondered what they really made of us, as only a few years back this situation would have been unthinkable. This base would have been part of the front-line defence for the USSR, as the next island in the chain to the east belongs to the USA. Friday 14 June ….We were at sea all day. The Captain ….called an impromptu meeting with all passengers to explain a change to the scheduled plans. The US Customs and Immigration officials who were due to meet us on Attu could not land and had returned to the island of Adak, further east. Currently their ’plane was grounded due to weather. They would not give permission to let us land on American soil without full clearance, which includes individual checks of each passenger. Our only choice was to steam to meet them on Adak, thus going past the islands of Attu and Kiska. ….Seawatching produced more of the same species. Sometimes Laysan Albatrosses were seen in flocks! Regularly we could see fifty and more in the field of view from the decks. Everyone, by now, had caught up with Mottled Petrels - during the morning some seventy were counted. Both Fork-tailed and Leach's Petrels could be studied side by side. ….Some serious lobbying easily convinced the Captain that a visit to Sirius Point on Kiska really was a 'must' and that we should head there before Adak Island. Off Attu were hundreds of Laysan Albatrosses. I counted one hundred and twenty sitting together in one group on the sea. Three small groups of Ancient Murrelets were seen well as the sea had subsided and was now calm. Dall's Porpoises came to join the ship momentarily - their distinct white dorsal fins seen easily in the better sea conditions.

			Click here for Page 4