COASTAL OBSERVATION AND SEABIRD SURVEY TEAM Breaking News Reports 06–07 In the quest for personal best, COASST topped Aleutian Islands nearly all of last year’s records. In the words of Bert Seasonal staff at the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Johnstone, more than 450 surveyors “strategically Refuge are the backbone of COASST in the Aleutian strolled and scrupulously scrutinized sun-seared Islands. Getting there can be pretty harrowing at times, sands, surf-swept swaths, and straggle-strewn strands, but once on the islands, accessing the beach isn’t such scruffily scrounging and skillfully scanning stricken a hard task; the Oystercatcher beach directions form strays, surfeited surfers and squandered squab.” But notes “from the cabin, take a leisurely stroll down to even after all that scrounging and scrutinizing, we the beach; less than a minute.” And no shortage of actually found fewer total birds than last year. birds—the Aiktak Island crew of Joel Helm and Tyra Zeman found two Tufted Puffins within days of each Bering Sea other, brought in by strong northerly winds and “seas Our northernmost sites started adding new species of more than 8-10 feet that pushed the wrack way up.” to the COASST master list right off the bat. In July, Years and years of harsh North Pacific storms also the first Benson Beach team of Casey Brewer, Aaron take their toll on the islands themselves, occasionally Mieus, Scott Irons and COASST executive director bringing down large slabs of volcanic rock, and with Julia Parrish found five birds, including COASST’s them, a few hapless victims. A bit farther west down the first Crested Auklet. In the following month, Phil chain on Buldir Island, Rachael Orben, Corey VanStratt Zavadil, Casey Brewer and Erika Lekanof tacked and Stephan Lorenz found a couple of birds, including on another COASST first, a Thick-billed Murre. a Black-legged Kittiwake and a murre, which they Before “the ice came in” and covered the beach suspected were “killed by rockfall—found at the base in a slushy slurry, Ram Papish and Karin Holser of the colony cliff.” 7 snuck in another new species for COASST, a Sandhill Crane, found on Staraya Artil on St. George Island. e Northern populations of Sandhill Cranes (those nesting in Alaska, Canada and Russia) typically head south to winter in California, Texas, New Mexico and Mexico. Found more than 250 miles from breeding populations on the mainland, this SACR ended up e pretty far from its intended destination. “Ready for surveying, pack included!” Tonsina Beach, along with 43 others in dec Alaska, joined the COASST ranks this year. 1 D. Trobaugh Gulf of Alaska No birds washed ashore at Halibut Point Recreation At times, folks in the lower 48 would rather be hit by Area either, but Peggy Reeve and Steve Ash did find falling rocks than measure another Common Murre two deer hides on the beach. Luckily, the hunter who chick, but in Alaska, they’re not quite so common, at abandoned them did not turn up on the beach while least on the beach. The chick Joyce Robinette and Bree they were there. Murphy found at Mariner Park in September was still Slim pickins’ at Sea Mart to Sandy Beach as well, sporting its egg tooth! both for COASST volunteers like Floyd Tomkins and We weren’t sure what to think when Bette Seaman for the resident eagles—so hungry, “one local eagle and Chris Szymoniak reported “what appeared to be a started killing other eagles.” If a bird carcass floated any- joint” on Bishop’s Beach East in November. Luckily, the where near shore, they’d be waiting, “and if the eagles photos showed the remains of some large mammal, not didn’t pick it up, then the minks would be waiting.” illegal contraband. After the snow and ice melted off Kristine Sowl’s Puget Sound beach in Cold Bay, all sorts of cool scavengers started Admiralty Inlet’s tag team of Jim Todd and Carolyn appearing, including “a red fox eating barnacles clutched Watts walk the beach a lot, to holdfasts of beached bull kelp.” which certainly improves Though we haven’t had any report of foxes their chances of intercepting in Seward, local COASSTers have certainly been a bird. When one does on the look-out for bears. With their eyes come around, which isn’t peeled in all directions, Ami Wright, all that often, it’s pretty Laurel Schoenbohm, and Matt Gray fresh. A Barn Owl and found two stunning sets of wings — juvenile Pigeon the brown-green-white speculum Guillemot washed in from a Green-winged Teal and the white-blue-white speculum of a Mallard. SOUTHE A ST Benson Beach N AL A SK A Lukanin S Buldir Transect A BERING Polovina North Beach Buldir Transect B SE A Buldir Transect C Buldir Transect D Staraya Artil Buldir Transect E Zappa Halibut Point Rec Seamart to Sandy Kruzof SE Palisades Kruzof SW South Beach Oystercatcher Landing Cove GULF OF ALEUTI A N AL A SK A SL A NDS Old Camp to New I Petrel Cove Southeast Alaska On Kruzof Island, Leslie Slater, Emily Tompkins and Egg Island Kim Morris not only warn potential surveyors to “be Diamond Afognak Beach Creek W Mariner Park Airport Beach prepared to encounter a brown bear” but also “watch Anchor 4th of July S River S Lowell Point N South Bulldog Cove for changing sea conditions to avoid being stranded or Bishop’s Land’s Lowell Point S Beach W End Pederson Peninsula North Verdant Cove Seward Waterfront taken by the tide!” Though they saw tracks, no bears— Bishop’s Spring Creek Beach Mid Northwestern Spit Tonsina James Lagoon Bishop’s Beach E or birds—were recorded this year. 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