ALASKA 
Prior to 1995, there were three Black-headed Grosbeak records for Alaska. This 
individual, photographed at Wrangell on 31 May, where it remained through 2 
June, was one of two reported in spring 2009. Photograph by John Morse. 
late, with the best indicator report being the 
Juneau area’s peak of 1200 "Western Sand- 
pipers, which was up to two weeks later than 
usual (RJG). Rare for the North Gulf, a Ruff 
was located on a Moose R. sandbar near Ster- 
ling on the w. Kenai Pen. 22 May [fide TE, 
ph.). This species is rare as a fall migrant e. of 
the cen. Aleutians, but spring records are few. 
Three Wilson’s Snipe displayed around Adak 
wetlands 15-21 May (Wilderness Birding) and 
continue the occasional reports from that cen. 
Aleutian 1. since about 2004. 
A single ad. Sabine’s Gull in Bristol Bay 50 
km n. of Port Moller 28 Apr was possibly 
record early for the s. Bering Sea (AL) and 
amazing given the pelagic ice conditions n. of 
there at that time. Also atypical was a flock of 
25 inshore in Southeast at Nichols Passage 
near Ketchikan 27 May (JL); most migrants 
traverse pelagic waters well off the outer coast 
of Southeast. "Van Vliet provided details of an 
ad. Laughing Gull from Auke Bay near 
Juneau 30 May (tGW). Yet to be substantiat- 
ed in Alaska, this report marks the earliest of 
the Region’s four, all of which are sight 
records between late May and late Aug. Be- 
cause none of the reports are substantiated by 
photograph or specimen, the species remains 
on Alaska’s Unsubstantiated List. St. Paul 
birders reported 2 Kamchatka Mew Gulls for 
the spring season seen between 27 and 31 
May (St. Paul Tours); this Asian subspecies is 
a rare spring migrant in the w. Aleutians but 
casual n. of there. Lor the 2nd spring in a row, 
an ad. Western Gull was found at Sitka 31 
Mar-r (ph. MRG). This species remains casual 
in Alaska, mostly recorded in autumn in s. 
Southeast. Macintosh had 2 Iceland Gulls 
around Kodiak, an imm. near town 18 Mar 
(ph. RAM) and an apparent ad. glaucoides 
nearby 29 Mar (ph. RAM); the species is spo- 
radically found in the Region, mostly in fall 
and winter, although reports of the nominate 
subspecies are very few in North America and 
deserve further scrutiny. We 
received several observations 
of a Lesser Black-backed Gull 
near Juneau 13 Apr- 19 May 
(PMS, ph. RHA, ph. RBB). This 
is almost certainly the same in- 
dividual that was first located 
there in 1991 as an ad. and 
found paired with a Herring 
Gull at an active nest in a near- 
by colony in 1993. Of the usu- 
al scattering of Slaty-backed 
Gull reports away from the 
Aleutian and Bering Sea sites, 
an ad. at Sitka 11 Apr (ph. JB- 
P) was the most interesting. A 
lone Caspian Tern in 
Ketchikan 23 Apr (SCH) was the season’s first 
report, followed by small numbers across 
Southeast through the period. Approximately 
190 Caspians were at the Gull I. nesting 
colony in Icy Bay by late May (MK). North- 
bound jaegers are not typically noted in any 
numbers in Southeast’s inside waters, so a Po- 
marine and 45 Parasitics seen from the state 
ferry near the confluence of Chatham and Icy 
Straits 26 May (MWS) was unusual. Else- 
where, a lone Pomarine Jaeger in Amutka 
Pass in the e. Aleutians 25 Apr (AL) provided 
a new Aleutian early spring record. 
DOVES THROUGH THRUSHES 
The first arriving Band-tailed Pigeons from 
regular Ketchikan haunts were very late on 18 
Apr (KLW), and singles were also noted late 
at Wrangell feeders on 29 Apr and 2 May (JP, 
JM). Single Eurasian Collared-Doves at 
Ketchikan 3 6a: 18 May-r (CAL, PSD) and at 
Sitka 16-18 May (MLW, MET, ph. MRG) initi- 
ated what would become an onslaught of re- 
While still mired in winter conditions, shipboard 
observers conducted Mar transects in the Bering 
Sea pack ice at sites e. of the Pribilofs and s. of St. 
Lawrence 1. 11-27 Mar (fide KK, TVP). The surveys pro- 
duced fascinating data on rarer akids along with the 
more regular species that manage to winter in such ex- 
treme conditions (e.g., small groups of Spectacled Eiders 
in open leads). Up to 23 Kittiitz's Murrelets, with some 
groups of 5-6 individuals, were identified primarily along 
the e. edge of a large polynya s. of St. Lawrence I. on tran- 
sects run 20-27 Mar. These were considered actually low 
counts because observation periods were often limited by 
available daylight. Black Guillemots were also noted often 
loosely associated with Kittiitz's in similar open ice condi- 
tions in the same period, with a total of 38 tallied on tran- 
sects. There are few previous data to suggest that Kittiitz's 
Murrelets was ever associated with, or made a living in 
winter, in the Bering Sea. 
486 
ports later in summer. These mark the 4th 
consecutive year that collared-doves have 
been found in Southeast. A Morning Dove at 
Ketchikan 6-8 May (ph. JE) was the season’s 
sole report of this normally rare fall visitant, 
which is casual at other seasons in Southeast. 
Two calling Northern Pygmy-Owls at Sitka on 
11 Apr QB-P) add to a very few outer coastal 
reports from the breeding season of this oth- 
erwise rare and local summer visitor, which is 
typically more regular on the Southeast main- 
land at other seasons. 
Pour Black Swifts over the Hyder flats 31 
May (JDL) were early; the species is usually 
not detected at its Southeast Mainland sites 
until the first week of Jun or later. The Re- 
gion’s earliest ever was noted 27 May on the 
Chickamin River. Rufous Hummingbirds ar- 
rived very late: first noted 3 Apr in Juneau 
(RHA) and 5 Apr in Ketchikan the 
species was still missing at some Southeast 
sites until even later in Apr (m.ob.). A patch 
of insect-riddled forest on N. Douglas I. 
across from Juneau produced a nice mix of 
woodpeckers, including 3 American Three- 
toed 'Woodpeckers 3 6a: 13 Apr (PMS) and a 
Black-backed 'Woodpecker on the 13th (ph. 
PMS). The former is a rare and local resident 
in Southeast forests, while the latter is more 
so: there are maybe a dozen total Black- 
backed records for Southeast, and this is the 
first to be documented since Bailey collected 
2 on Mt. Juneau in Apr 1920. 
Noteworthy at an offshore location was a 
"Western Wood-Pewee found at Sitka 28 May 
(W) at the same site as last fall’s first local 
record; this flycatcher is an uncommon mi- 
grant and breeder mainly on the Southeast 
mainland, but it is probably casual on the out- 
er islands. Extralimital Hammond’s Plycatcher 
reports again included birds venturing to the 
n. end of South-coastal Alaska, with singles 
from Mud L. in Palmer 16 May (BM), where 
one has been reported in the past few years, 
and another to the s. of there on Elmendorf 
A. LB. just n. of Anchorage 27-29 May (ph., v.r. 
LD), adding to the few previous Anchorage 
area records, all from the late May window. Al- 
though the first Pacific-slope Plycatcher was 
on the early side of normal at Ketchikan 3 
May (AWP), the species was otherwise detect- 
ed late, with numbers not around until the 3rd 
week of May. A Cassin’s Vireo was in Juneau 
16 May+ (DR, DM, ph. GW), while 2 more 
were located in Juneau 30 May (BAP, M’WS, 
PMS), the season’s only reports of this casual 
spring and summer visitor, which has now oc- 
curred nearly annually over the past decade. 
Juneau remains the focus of most of the Re- 
gion’s records in that time frame, with reports 
in eight of the past 1 1 years. 
ORTH AMERICAN BIRDS 
