Some Alaskan Notes
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270 GABRIELSON,SomeAlaskan Notes L[Auk April SOME ALASKAN NOTES BY IRA N. GABRIELSON (Concluded[romp. 150) CALn*ORNIAMumu•, Uria aalgecali[ornica (Bryant).--This was prob- ably the mostabundant species observed on the trip. We did not see California Murres until we reachedSeward (June 10) where there was a large colony associatedwith the still more numerousPacific Kittiwakes.The deepwater at the baseof the cliff allowedus to drift the boat closeand in the clear depthswe could see the birds literally flyingunder the water as expertlyas fishes. Often they came to the surface,saw the boat, and instantly dived again. The great coloniesof the Semidisand Kagamil Island were the largest,composed largely or entirely of this species. In the former island group, wheneverwe approachedthe precipitouscliffs dosely enough to see distinctly,we found every available shelf and nook crowdedwith tourres. At Kagamil Island we traveledin the 'Brown Bear' for at least two miles along cliffs similarly occupied,and the water was covered with birds. These were two of the most impressiveof the bird coloniesseen on the trip. On BogoslofIsland an almostequally large concentra- tion of tourrescontained both this speciesand the next. PALLAS'SMumu•, Uria lornvia arra (Pallas).--Thisnorthern species was first found on BogoslofIsland (June 24). At St. GeorgeIsland (July 8) and St. Paul Island (July 4-6) Pallas's Murre was common,while at Walrus Island (July 7) the enormous murre colony was comprisedlargely, if not entirely, of this species. I saw only one bird there that I thought was a California Murre and it movedaway before I couldbe sure. Pallas'sMurre wasabundant also at St. Matthew Island on July 8 and 9. PIGEONGUILLEMOT, Cepphus columba Pallas.--The Pigeon Guille- mot was widely distributedbut never in great numbers. It was first seenat PortageBay (June 4) and wasnoted throughoutthe trip along the Alaska Peninsula and through the Aleutians. MARBLF•MURRELET, Brachyramphus marmoratus (Gmelin).--A Marbled Murrelet found dead on the street in Ketchikan (June 8) was the first one noted in Alaska. The specieswas common at Peters- burg and PortageBay (June 4), and was particularlyabundant in Glacier Bay and adjacent waters (June 7). A number were noted and one collectedin the upper end of Iliatuna Lake. It wascommon in PrinceWilliam Sound (August10), and aroundSitka (August12). Vol.6t] GA•PaELSO•,Some Alaskan Notes 271 •944 a On August13, at Little Port Walter, a singlejuvenile wasfound above the weir apparentlyunable to get out; it remainedall day and dived away from us acrossthe pool wheneverwe approached. ANCXENTMI•RRELET, Synthliboramphus antiquus (Gmelin).- Un- doubtedlyAncient Murrelets were presentamong the thousandsof birds noted at distancestoo great for certain identification,but they were definitely recordedon only four occasions--allbut one in the Aleutian Islands. Two were seenclose to the boat in Tanaga Bay (June 27), two othersat the Ogliuga Island on the sameday, and ten or more on the west side of Atka Island on June 30. A singlebird allowedour boat to approachclosely about forty miles off St. George Island on July 3. CASSlN'SAmCLET, Ptychoramphus aleuticus (Pallas).--Severaltimes auklets,which were almostcertainly of this species,were seenabout Kodiak Island and in the Aleutians,but the only positiveidentifica- tions were made in SalisburyStraits on August 12 and around the southend of Baranof Island on August 13. PAROQUETAUKLET, Cyclorrhynchus psittacula (Pallas).--Wesaw aukletsin the Shumaginsthat we were reasonablysure were of this species,but the first observedat closerange were at Chagulak (June 20) where there were numbersinhabiting the samerock slide with a much greatercolony of CrestedAuklets. The specieswas present in smallnumbers on Amukta (June25), and on KasatochiIsland (July 26). St. GeorgeIsland (July 3) had a great number of Paroquet Aukletsbut theywere relatively inconspicuous in the incrediblemasses of Least and Crested Auklets that swarmed over and around the island. They were much more evident in the smaller colonieson St. Paul (July 4-6), and werealmost lost again among the greathosts of tourres and gullson Walrus Island (July 7). Paroquet Auklets were the most abundan,tauklet on St. Matthew Islandand PinnacleRock (July 8-9), considerablyoutnumbering the otherspecies in the partsof thoseislands that we explored. CR•ST•r)AVKLV. T, Aethia cristatella(Pallas).--This striking species, whosegeneral outline and carriageare somuch like thoseof the Cali- fornia Quail, wasfirst seenat ChagulakIsland (June25) which har- bored a large colony. We saw enormousswarms of auklets,many of themof this species,off Koniuji Island (July 26) wherelarge col- onies are known to exist. The greatestauklet colonywe visited in the Aleutianswas that on KasatochiIsland (June26) wherethe pres- ent specieswas secondin abundance. Off Tanaga Island, a seaotter made severalhalf-hearted attempts 272 GABm•LSON,Some Alaskan Notes I.[Auk April to catchone of two CrestedAuklets sitting on the water near the kelp beds. The otter's effortsdid not seem to bother the auklets as they merely flew a few yards and settled down again. On St. GeorgeIsland (July 3) this specieswas second in abundance in the great bird assemblageand it was common on St. Paul (July 4-6) and fairly abundanton St. Matthew (July 8). LE•,sTAUX•LET, Aethia pusilla (Pallas).--Thesetiny seafowlwere un- believablyabundant in someplaces. We were in two of the largest coloniesand passedclose by a third. Gray saysthat farther to the westward in the Aleutians there are other great auklet coloniesin which this speciesfurnishes a dominatingelement. The first Least Auklets we sawwere conspicuousin the great swarms of birdsfound to the north of Koniuji Island on June 26. We visited a major colonyat KasatochiIsland (June 26) and the greatestof all at St. GeorgeIsland (July 3). In addition to thesevast concentra- tions we saw numbersof the birds in small flocksat Tanaga. The specieswas common on St. Paul Islandand alsoon St. Matthew Island. While watching a great mass of Pallas's Murres on Walrus Island (July 7), somethingfaintly incongruousin the landscapeattracted my attention. It was a single Least Auklet sitting solemnly on a small rock amid the thousandsof larger birds. It was the only one noted on that island. So few naturalistshave been privileged to observethese great Alaskan bird concentrationsthat a reproductionof my noteson two of them may be justified. On KasatochiIsland the great attraction was the auklet colonymade up largelyof this speciesand the Crested Auklet. This island is a mountain peak rising abruptly from the water, so precipitous,in fact, that in only a few spotswhere slide rockhas weathered off the cliffsor brokentheir sheerfaces is it possi- ble to ascend. We made a somewhatprecarious landing at the base of one of theseslides and slowlyworked our way upward. My notes on this occasion are as follows: "I dimbed a rock slide trying to collectone of the Aleutian wrensbut, failing to get within range, sat on a rock and watchedthe show put on by the auklets. There were three species,the Least Auklet by far the most abundant, with the CrestedAuklet secondin numbers,and the ParoquetAuklet representedby a few pairs. Scatteredpairs of Tufted Puffinsalso were present. Gray saysthat in 1936 this island had a large puffin colony and attributes its decreaseto the introduction of blue foxes on the island." (Note: This is one of severalbird islandsfrom which the foxes are being re- moved. As we saw three foxes on the one slide and as there are neither beaches from which the foxes may obtain sea food or rodents, it is evident that the foxes are entirely dependentfor food on the bird population.) Vol.61] GABRIELSON,Some Alaskan Notes 273 •944 a "From the looserocks of this slide came a great medley of chatter and ducks. Th• louder, coatset notes were those of the Crested Auklet, which looks like a red-billed quail. They talk among themselvesexactly as do quail coveys. The LeastAuklets have a softervoice, but they, too, chatterincessantly in the slides. "The Crested Auklets predominated in numbers at the bottom of the slides while the Leastswere most abundant in the smaller rocks toward the top. "As the birds leave the nesting crevices,they walk out to a rock that is in the dear and pitch off. Aviatorsmight well have watchedthese little sea fowl per- form to get the idea of power diving. That is exactlywhat they do. They dive from the rockswith wingsworking at top speed,pitching straight down the slopes. By the time they reach the water and flatten out to dart away over the sea they have attained terrific speed. The wings of the two specieswhistle in different tonesas they dive, that made by the CrestedAuklet being deeper. As the birds straighten out over the water, they occasionallyrock from side to side as I have seenquail do at high speed. Sometimesin the dive they sideslip--behavingas do teal and other small duckspitching down from a height. "As evening advanced,the flocksof Least Auklets, with a few of the larger crested speciesoften intermingled, increasedin size until the clouds of individuals were like the great blackbird swarmsof the Middle West and Gulf Coast. These flocks circled and swirled as ribbonsand drifts of black, or occasionallywhite, smoke on the skylineor as shadowsover the w•ter, twistingand turning in fantasticfigures. "When one of the flocksswerved in over the rock slide the roar of wings was almost deafening. The bulk of the birds sweptback out to sea but dozensout of each flock dropped like falling leavesto alight on the rocksnear their par- ticular domiciles. "Some, seeing me, immediately took off again. Others would look me over, cockingtheir headsfirst to one side and then to the other, before finally deciding that I was unimportant. When that decision was made they went about their business,which consistedof posingon the rocksor strutting about a bit, like half- grown quail, before popping into their holes. The absurd gravity of the Least Auklets, with their spotted coats and big eyes, made apparently bigger by the scattered,stiff, white feathersabout the head, was one of the most amusing traits noted in a lifetime of bird watching.