Birding in Dutch Harbor: Sea

Feeding frenzy in the Bering Sea

My last post was about birding on land and this one covers birding at sea. It might be a bit confusing because we actually did our first full day of birding at sea, followed by a full day of birding on land. But, because we did some additional land birding before and after the boat trip, I opted to write about the terrestrial portion first. It's not relevant except to note that the other group that was birding at the same time had a flipped agenda: they had a full day birding on land while we were at sea and we switched the next day. I'll explain why that's important shortly.

The official name of our tour was Dutch Harbor: The Whiskered Auklet. So, of course, part of the tour was pelagic birding. This is something I probably couldn’t have put together if I hadn’t gone on a birding tour and this was a favorite part. 

Whiskered Auklets

We spent one day out on the ocean aboard the Miss Alyssa, captained by the affable Captain Jimmer, cruising around the northern part of Unalaska looking for seabirds.

Photos: MissAlyssa.com

Now, unlike most boats I have been on for birding, Miss Alyssa was obviously not built for touring. It was small (all of us could have fit in the cabin, but it would have been tight). The back had such a low railing that rough seas could have easily pitched us over. Seating was in simple deck chairs or on whatever surface you could find. 

On the back; Photo: Scott Stevens

There was a bridge at the top you could bird from, but climbing up and down was a bit dicey (especially since there was duct tape over one of the hand holds).

But, on the other hand, Captain Jimmer’s hospitality was unmatched.

For lunch, boats like this normally pick up some turkey subs from Safeway and call it a day. Not here. Jimmer made delicious glazed salmon, rice and salad with homemade dressing, all cooked from scratch in his tiny galley.

Sue and Captain Jimmer in the cabin/galley (fresh fruit, too!)

By the way, there is nothing wrong with Safeway subs. We had some that we picked up before we departed for the airport and they were delicious. I just didn't expect a steaming hot gourmet meal on such a basic boat.

There is a lot to love in Unalaska!

I was most worried about the pelagic part of the trip because I do not like rough seas. I came equipped with wristbands, Dramamine and trepidation. 

We were pleasantly surprised. It was cool, but calm. 

At times the seas were as smooth as glass. Stephan said that the calmness actually impeded birding because the big soaring birds, like Albatrosses, need wind to fly. But, after expecting chop, I was happy to have calm and even a little sun.

Like glass!

I am not exactly certain where we went because I am not good at gauging distances traveled on water (and because I was watching birds rather than paying a lot of attention to the land). 

Akutan Pass is between Unalaska and Akutan

I know that, at least part of the time, we were in Akutan Pass, which is between Unalaska and Akutan, two of the Aleutians dubbed the Fox Islands. Akutan Pass is about three miles wide in its narrowest part. There are many treeless tundra-covered islets and lots of rock spires, many serving as bird rookeries. 

Most of the perching birds were Black-legged Kittiwakes and a variety of Cormorants

Even though I was concentrating on birds, I must report that I was gobsmacked by the scenery. 

It is gorgeous everywhere you look

Now, here's why it was important to clarify that we birded on the ocean on our first full day while the other group was on land, switching the next day. 

We had a relatively calm, pleasant day. They reported dreadful conditions: starting with three-foot seas and eventually reaching 10-foot! On that tiny boat. Some people got sick. Some just hunkered in the cabin. And, even those with stomachs of iron couldn’t even use binoculars or cameras because it was too rough. I feel bad for them, but so thankful for our schedule.

We REALLY lucked out

What a difference a day can make!

Captain's Bay Eagles

Our day at sea produced phenomenal birds. Right off the bat, we passed some nesting Bald Eagles in the harbor, called Captain's Bay. 

Right in the middle of the Bay

There were three adults, so I have no idea what the dynamics were. Two were definitely building or refurbishing a nest, even though mating would not begin until February. 

A pair plus one

Coming in to the nest

Although pairs mate for life, Bald Eagles have been known to form unusual relationships to raise their young: two females, father/daughter, three adults. If an Eagle dies, the survivor picks a new mate. Occasionally, a pair that repeatedly fails to produce eggs will split up and find new mates.

Males participate significantly in nesting, incubating and feeding their offspring. Bald Eagles generally produce one to three chicks per season. 

In larger clutches, parents may favor the healthier chicks, resulting in the smallest dying or even being killed by its siblings. About 87 percent of broods produce at least one successful fledge and 66 percent fledge all the offspring. 

I mentioned in my last post that we saw Bald Eagles almost everywhere we went. Turns out that there are at least 600 Bald Eagles in Dutch Harbor, the most in any single community in Alaska (take that, Haines!). 

Alaska, in its entirety, has between 40,000 and 50,000 Bald Eagles.

Even though we passed rather rapidly and it was a little bit misty, I got some of the best Bald Eagle pictures I have ever taken.

Nice start

Later, we saw some Bald Eagles out at sea, perched on rocks, flying and (as you will see later) hiding in coves.

Perfect location for a bird that primarily eats fish

Plus, three accompanied us as we returned to port at the end of the trip.

Part of the welcoming party

Variety

I saw more Puffins than I have even seen in one place.

On the sea and in the air

Most of the ones we saw in Unalaska were Tufted Puffins. 

Not always a graceful bird

You’ll recall most of the Puffins I saw at Silver Salmon Creek Lodge (SSCL) were Horned Puffins, the other Puffin species that lives in the Pacific. About 2 million Tufted Puffins live in Alaska, compared to 760,000 Horned.

At least 90 percent were Tufted, with just a few Horned (that's a Horned lower right)

I even got a photo of a juvenile Horned Puffin, which is something you don’t see that often.

Far less colorful

There were a lot of birds out there ...

We saw some Common Murres, but not nearly as many as in SSCL

Surprisingly, we saw just a few Pigeon Guillemots; I expected more

We saw Double-crested, Red-faced and Pelagic Cormorants

I was thrilled to get photos (not great because of distance and mist, but photos) of a Kittlitz’s Murrelets, a bird I had seen on my 2022 trip to Alaska but not captured with my camera.

We saw quite a few just as we were leaving Captain's Bay

We also saw Ancient Murrelets, a lifer for me because I had missed the one spotted on my Pacific pelagic birding trip back in 2019.

My first Ancient Murrelets (they don't look that old)

We even saw a small contingent of Harlequin Ducks and a group of Common Eiders that had one King Eider in their midst. This is the second time I have seen just one King in the middle of a bunch of Common Eiders very, very far away …

Eiders, top, and Harlequin Ducks, bottom

And, sometimes we had to really look to see birds along the shore.

Do you see the Black Oystercatcher and the Bald Eagle?

Whiskered Auklets

As for Whiskered Auklet, we saw lots!

They fly in groups low to the water

This rare bird lives only around the Aleutian Islands and on some islands off Siberia.

Range map: All About Birds

One of the smallest Alcids, the Whiskered Auklet is named for the long white feathers on its face that are part of its breeding plumage and may help it find its way into and out of its nest at night.

The "whiskers"

They usually feed in relatively shallow water within 10 miles of land, eating small crustaceans, marine worms, mollusks and krill.

Like other Auks, they are small and round, often having difficulty lifting themselves up off the water to fly. If they have eaten too much, getting airborne can be impossible.

An inelegant take-off

They like rough water where currents converge or where tidal currents cross shallows or pass through narrow passes between islands. 

Enjoying the swells

Like Puffins, they nest in colonies among rocks or cliffs. Unlike Puffins, most of their nesting activity is at night (hence those whiskers).

Feeding by day, nesting by night

Allegedly, the Whiskered Auklet's plumage smells like citrus. We didn’t get that close. 

The number of Whiskered Auklets is highly uncertain because it is difficult to estimate the population size of crevice-nesters. It's probably less than 120,000. Attracted to lights at night, they sometimes crash into lighted fishing boats.

We saw so many

I spent a lot of the trip trying to catch photos as these cute little critters rapidly took off as our boat approached. As difficult as it was, I got more good photos than I expected.

I am pleased

We also saw some shy Cassin’s Auklets, which I have struggled with photographing before …

Top: my only photo; Left: eBird; Right: Stephan's shot from our trip

Allegedly, there were also some Parakeet Auklets, but I don't think I saw any. Not to worry, I saw them in Kenai Fjords in 2022. 

They look a lot like Whiskered Auklets; this photo is from 2022

Gulls and Soaring Birds

Among the other birds we saw were Northern Fulmars, a common Arctic and Subarctic bird. We saw both dark and light morphs, although Stephan said the light morphs were not as common in the Aleutians. 

We saw thousands

I thought I got a lifer on this boat trip when we saw some Short-tailed Shearwaters. When I got home, I discovered that I had actually seen one on my Kenai Fjords boat tour a few days earlier. On this trip, we saw hundreds. Maybe thousands. 

New for this trip

Of course, we saw Gulls, primarily Glaucous-winged, a common Gull in Alaska.

Very large Gulls that are more than two feet long with a 47-59 inch wingspan

Another target for this trip was Albatrosses. In order to see them, Stephan chummed the water with squid he had purchased in town. 

It's tough job

It took awhile, but we finally attracted one Black-footed Albatross. 

Success!!!

The smaller birds came in first, but the Albatross is king

The feeding frenzy was fun to watch

This was not a new bird for me. I had seen some back in 2019 on my pelagic birding trip. 

The wingspan can nearly eight feet!

Birding can be fun

But, Scott had never seen one and he was impressed. Heck, they are impressive birds.

We had also hoped to see a Laysan Albatross (I have seen) and perhaps a Short-tailed Albatross (that would be a lifer), but with the low wind, neither showed up.

We had to be satisfied with the Black-footed. And we were.

Impressive and a little bit goofy

We saw a relatively small number of Black-legged Kittiwakes, which are generally seen in larger numbers at sea and I didn’t even photograph any from the boat because they were all far away. Oddly, we saw fairly large numbers in the harbor two days later, possibly driven in by the storms that created the high seas that our fellow birders had to endure.

Black-legged Kittiwakes

What Else?

We also saw a couple of marine mammals, including some distant Harbor Porpoises, a relatively unremarkable Humpback Whale that was just cruising by, a curious Steller Sea Lion and a couple of Sea Otters …

The sea is full of interesting creatures

Back at the hotel, we met a member of the Town Council who told us that later in the summer Humpbacks often come into the harbor and swim around. That would be cool.

The weather was lovely as we motored back toward the dock. You can watch our final leg here. The sun came out to show us the dramatic mountains and cliffs that surround Dutch Harbor.

Beautiful Dutch Harbor (and one of our Eagle escorts)

Since I am a relatively new birder and have so many more birds to get, I often don’t even realize what I should be looking for or expecting to see. And, I don't like to create unreasonable expectations that could diminish my trip enjoyment. That brings me to the Red-legged Kittiwake, which I had never even heard of before this trip.

A bird I should have been seeking

Apparently, seeing one at sea here was not an unreasonable expectation and it was a prime target for one of our fellow travelers who was on her fourth attempt to see one.

We did not see one from the Miss Alyssa. So, I simultaneous learned about it and was disappointed.

A Late Trip Surprise

Imagine our excitement after our day of land birding when the other tour group called us as they were returning from their horrendous day at sea to tell us that they had seen a Red-legged Kittiwake at the dock in town. 

Here?

We had just ordered our dinner at the Grand Aleutian, so we couldn’t all get up and run to the dock. So, as everyone was quibbling over who would go and who would stay, I volunteered to stay just so they would go (and maybe come back so the rest of us could go).

When they returned, they reported that maybe they saw one off in the distance. After dinner, Stephan asked if anyone wanted to go back and try again. Most said no, but a few of us said yes.

When we arrived, there was a line of Black-legged Kittiwakes sitting on a distant pier. 

Some are hard to see

Once again, maybe one was a Red-legged. I took a photo that seemed to confirm it, but it wasn’t very fulfilling. Then, we struck up a conversation with some commercial crabbers who seemed quite knowledgeable about birds. One of them said, casually, “I can get that bird to come over.”

He surreptitiously threw some chum in the harbor (I got the impression that he really wasn’t supposed to do that) and instead of attracting the birds, it scared them away. He apologized, but we were fine with it because they had been so hard to see anyway.

They flew farther away

As we were talking, a few Black-legged Kittiwakes started to fly in to scoop up some of the chum.

The lure of food was too much

And, then, there it was, right in front of us.

The exceptionally rare Red-legged Kittiwake

No maybe about it! 

With a close-to-shore range even more restricted than the Whiskered Auklet, the Red-legged Kittiwake spends the winter at sea, coming near shore only in summer to breed.

A very limited range

Similar to its better-known relative, the widely distributed Black-legged Kittiwake, it has a shorter bill, larger eyes, a larger, rounder head, darker grey wings and the bright red legs for which it is named. 

The inside of its mouth is also bright red

We couldn't believe it!

The Red-legged Kittiwake has a global population of about 350,000 and its breeding range is 74,000 square miles.

It is listed as "vulnerable" by the IUCN, as the population appears to be in decline. Its numbers are thought to have decreased by about 3 percent between the mid-1970s and the mid-1990s, possibly because of excessive commercial fishing or climate change. 

In contrast, there are about 15 million Black-legged Kittiwakes, found all across the northern coasts of the Atlantic, from Canada to Greenland as well as on the Pacific side from Alaska to the coast of Siberia.

What a cool wrap-up for our formal birding. I am just sorry that our companions who opted not to come back out didn't see it. At least the one who had made four tries did!

Ending the day with a really rare lifer

At the hotel

The End of a Great Trip

I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Dutch Harbor and was pleasantly surprised that weather didn’t cause us any problems. Scott enjoyed it too, even though he is not a birder and there were no Bears.

We had booked an extra day in Anchorage in case we had flight issues. We didn’t.

Most of our fellow birders had same day connections, but that’s a lot of flying all at once. We were pretty tired when we got back to Anchorage, so we didn’t do anything to report about on our final day.

I was so happy, despite our crappy weather in the middle of the trip, with our time in both SSCL and Dutch Harbor.

Another successful Alaskan adventure!

Trip date: June 16-29, 2023