Attu Island a Birding Adventure

For many years hardcore birders visited Attu Island the end most Aleutian Island U.S. owned, before you reach Russia. Each spring and fall, many, many Asian stray birds make their way to Attu to the delight of visiting birders. You used to be able to fly to Attu Island from Anchorage Alaska but not anymore. For many, many years the United State Coast Guard maintained a Loran Station on Attu. Loran, short for "Long Range Navigation", is a group of land based antenna used for navigation. It was phased out by the use of satellites making Loran obsolete. With the United States Coast Guard no longer present, the runways aren't maintained so trips like this can't be offered anymore by plane.

Larry Balch organized birding tours to Attu. These were very expensive trips to organize as all food, tools, generators, bicycles, ATVs etc. all had to be shipped in. He had to send a crew in a week or so ahead of any groups that were to visit. They had to set up camp in old Coast Guard Barracks that weren't in the best of shape. It was a tremendous undertaking to have these trips go smoothly. Weather played a huge part into whether any trips would go. A few times in the many years of doing these tours, the plane flew the almost 1,500 miles only to turn around because there was fog. They could not land the plane in foggy weather. The plane used was a Lockheed L-188 Electra. Reeve Aleutian Airways which is no longer in business, used these planes in Alaska. The Lockheed L-188 was first flown in 1957. This plane was the perfect size plane that was able to land and take off from short runways. The runways on Attu Island were short making this plane the best choice to fly there.

The movie "The Big Year" featured film footage that looked pretty close to what was actually on Attu. I believe they filmed the Attu section in Canada which looks very similar to what was on Attu. This video was made in 1994 so the quality isn't the best. Now that computers are faster and editing programs better, I decided to share this video. This is how it really was, awful weather but great birding!
Don't forget to see the P-38 Lighting Model G a super rare World War Two fighter!

Some of the better birds seen on this trip, some new to Attu:
Stellar's Sea Eagle
Smew
Spectacled Eider
Spot-billed Duck
Falcated Duck
Ruff
Wood Sandpiper
Slaty-backed Gull
Crested Aucklet
Hawfinch
Common Greenshank
White-winged Tern
Brambling
Bean Goose
Rufous-necked Stint, now Red-necked Stint
Layson Albatross
White-tailed Eagle
Sanderling
Eyebrowed Thrush
Narcissus Flycatcher
Olive Tree Pipit
Black-tailed Godwit
Eurasian Skylark
Bar-tailed Godwit
Long-toed Stint
Red-throated Pipit
Tufted Duck
Eurasian Wigeon
Yellow-billed Loon
Pacific Golden Plover
Yellow Wagtail
Garganey
Emperor Goose
Short-billed Dowitcher
Rustic Bunting
Siberian Rubythroat
Aleutian Tern
Bald Eagle
Stellar's Eider
King Eider
Mongolian Plover
Sandhill Crane
Northern Hobby
Far Eastern Curlew

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