Thursday 1 May 2008

1st May 2008 At sea north of the Commander Islands being our last day in Asia E2

Laysan Albatross 250
Fulmar 1,000
Short-tailed Shearwater 1,000
Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel 100
Stejneger's Scoter 1
Pomarine Skua 12
Arctic Skua 3
Long-tailed Skua 25 ex.
Kamchatka Gull 3
Vega Gull 5
Slaty-backed Gull 10
Glaucous-winged Gull 8
Kittiwake 10
Brunnich's Guillemot 50
Crested Auklet 20
Least Auklet 10
Tufted Puffin 20
Short-eared Owl 2 at sea
Skylark 10 on deck
Black-backed Wagtail 8 on deck
Mealy Redpoll 1 on deck
Brambling 35 on deck
Lapland Bunting 25 on deck


Tufted Puffins north of the Commander Islands


Pomarine Skua north of the Commander Islands

Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel north of the Commander Islands









Passerines aboard the MS Statendam north of the Commander Islands

Whilst we were anticipating it being a day spent sea-watching it soon became apparent that a number of Old World Passerines were soon to become ship-assisted vagrants in the New World...




Black-backed Wagtails aboard the MS Statendam north of the Commander Islands

Alaskan Kodiak birders were getting ready to provide the red carpet treatment for a couple of these ship-assisted individuals that proved the first records for the island

Bramblings alongside the MS Statendam north of the Commander Islands

Bramblings seemed content to join the ship to be displaced to the New World





Bramblings aboard the MS Statendam north of the Commander Islands




Mealy Redpoll aboard the MS Statendam north of the Commander Islands








Lapland Buntings aboard the MS Statendam north of the Commander Islands





Skylarks aboard the MS Statendam north of the Commander Islands


Short-eared Owl checking-out the ship mid-Ocean north of the Commander Islands