* Alaska
* St. Paul Island, Pribilofs
* May 15, 2005
* AKSPI 0505.15


Hello Birders, this is the St. Paul Island rare bird alert for the week of May
9 - 15, 2005 sponsored by St. Paul Island Tour. The following sequence of
sightings is in taxonomic order; an asterisk denotes a species of less than
annual occurrence or one of particular note.  Birds Mentioned:

Greater White-fronted Goose
Cackling Goose (leucopareia, minima)
*TUNDRA SWAN
*GADWALL
Eurasian Wigeon
American Wigeon
Mallard
Northern Shoveler
*CANVASBACK
Greater Scaup
*STELLER'S EIDER
King Eider
Common Eider
White-winged Scoter
Black Scoter
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Red-breasted Merganser
Pacific Loon
Horned Grebe
Red-necked Grebe
* BALD EAGLE
Sandhill Crane
Pacific Golden-Plover
Lesser Yellowlegs
*WOOD SANDPIPER
Wandering Tattler
Whimbrel (hudsonicus)
Bar-tailed Godwit
Ruddy Turnstone
Western Sandpiper
Dunlin
Short-billed Dowitcher
Mew Gull (brachyrhynchus)
Glaucous Gull
Long-tailed Jaegar
Ancient Murrelet
*RHINOCEROS AUKLET
Snowy Owl
Short-eared Owl
Common Raven
Cliff Swallow
Hermit Thrush
American Pipit
Fox Sparrow
Common Redpoll
Hoary Redpoll

The winter of 2004-2005 was an extremely mild one.  According to the locals
only trace amounts of snow occurred, and the island's lakes remained ice-free.
Isolated patches of snow remain in a few locations on the island as a result of
the one winter storm which dumped some snow in mid March.  When we arrived on
May 9, the island was already beginning to "green-up" and we experienced 5 days
of unseasonably warm (low 40's) and sunny conditions.  Over the weekend however
a series of low pressure zones to our east gave up strong northerly winds,
patchy fog and the occasional snow flake.

This week we scoured the island in search of any lingering winter birds and any
new arrivals.  We have an unusual numer of ducks on the island including such
rarities as CANVASBACK (2nd Island Record), three GADWALL (4th year in last
12), a female Common Eider on 5/14, and a Steller's Eider (1st Spring record in
4 years).  Larger than normal numbers of Glaucous Gull, Greater White-fronted
Goose, Northern Shoveler, Northern Pintail and Black and White-winged Scoters
are also in evidence.  An incredible 75 Red-necked Grebes were found on 5/15
along the islands sheltered South shores.  Possiby tied in to the warmer
winter, Pelagic Cormorants are much more numerous this year, with several
alernate plumaged adults being spotted throughout the week.  As was the case
last year, both Ancient Murrelets and Rhinoceros Auklets are present around the
island as is our resident Bald Eagle (now a full adult).

On the shorebird front small numbers of some of the more regular spring
migrants have put in an appearance with up to 10 Bar-tailed Godwits, 2 Western
Sandpipers, 1 Dunlin (5/10-11), 1 Whimbrel (5/14), 1 red Phalarope (5/14) and 4
Pacific Golden-Plovers (5/12) joining the throngs of returning Rock Sandpipers.
Rarer species provided some excitement in the form of a Short-billed Dowitcher
and a Wood Sandpiper at Lake Dune on 5/11, and a Lesser Yellowlegs on Pumphouse
lake for much of the week.

A few passerines were detected this week with an early Cliff Swallow soaring
along the cliffs at Zapadni (4th in last 12 years), stealing the show from the
Fox Sparrow that was found on 5/13 at the tip of Reef Point and the Hermit
Thrush on 5/14 on Zapadni Cliffs.

Other noteworthy sightings include two individual Mew Gulls, an adult in the
Salt Lagoon on 5/12 and a 1st yr at Webster Lake on 5/14-15, a group of 10
Sandhill Cranes at Northeast Point and two Tundra Swans on 5/9, with one
continuing to weeks end in Rocky Lake.


Regularly occurring species now present on the island:

Northern Pintail
Green-winged (Common) Teal
Harlequin Duck
Long-tailed Duck
Northern Fulmar
Red-faced Cormorant
Pelagic Cormorant
Semipalmated Plover
Least Sandpiper
Rock Sandpiper  (ssp. ptilocnemis)
Red-necked Phalarope
Glaucous-winged Gull
Black-legged Kittiwake
Red-legged Kittiwake
Common Murre
Thick-billed Murre
Pigeon Guillemot
Parakeet Auklet
Least Auklet
Crested Auklet
Tufted Puffin
Winter Wren  (ssp. alascensis)
Lapland Longspur
Snow Bunting
Gray-crowned Rosy Finch (ssp. umbrina)

For tour information or to make travel arrangements visit our website
http:www.alaskabirding.com or call 1-877-424-5637. This is Gavin Bieber
(kingbird77@hotmail.com), Rick Knight and Dylan Radin , the 2005 St. Paul
Island Tour guides thanking you for your interest and wishing you good birding!