Attu, Alaska Birding Cruise Photo Gallery by Mike O'Malley at pbase.com

Attu, Alaska Birding Cruise

These images are from my September, 2006 birding trip with VENT (Victor Emanuel Nature Tours) to Attu, Alaska. The trip began in Anchorage. We then boarded the Spirit of Oceanus cruise ship for our voyage west along the Aleutian Islands where we observed some amazing seabirds, whales and scenery. We then arrived at the western most island in the Aleutians-Attu, for a week of wonderful weather and terrific birding. We then headed west for Petropavlovsk, Russia and our charter flight home. The VENT leaders were just the best as was the entire ships crew. I hope you enjoy the photo's!

pages 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 ALL

Attu Sunrise	Birding Spenard Lake in Anchorage	Red-necked Grebe-immature-Anchorage	American Dipper-Anchorage
Pacific Loon-Anchorage	Turnagin Arm, AK	Northwestern Crows in Whittier, AK	My cabin on the Spirit of Oceanus
Cabin 421 on the Oceanus	Leaving Whittier for Attu and beyond	Orcas (Killer Whales)	Red-necked Phalaropes
Sunrise through the forest set up on the stern to attract passerines	Aleutian Sunrise	Haystack Rock	Thousands of seabirds
Seabirds among the rocks	Baby Islands	Steller's Sea Lions	See the doorway?
Tufted Puffins	Haystack Rocks	Volcano in the Aleutians	Chumming for seabirds
Forest birding!	All three albatrosses l-r Laysan, Short-tailed, Black-footed	Black-legged and Red-legged kittiwakes (check out the leg colors)	Dave Sonneborn, Pete Dunne and Sam Febba
Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel	Herring Gull (Vega)	Mottled Petrel	Peregrine Falcon-we saw these daily at sea
Black-footed Albatross	rare Short-tailed Albatross	rare Short-tailed Albatross	Orange-crowned Warbler flew in to the forest for a visit
Spirit of Oceanus in Dutch Harbor at dawn	Dutch Harbor, Alaska	Glaucous-winged Gull	Whiskered Auklet
Whiskered Auklet	Whiskered Auklet	Over one million Short-tailed Shearwaters!	Humpback Whale amongst the Shearwaters
Humpback diving	Humpback Whale tail fluke	Northern Fulmar	Humpbacks and Shearwaters-an amazing sight!
Short-tailed Shearwater	Black-legged Kittiwake	Red-breasted Nuthatch checking us out on the ship!	Cruising the Aleutian Islands
Northern Fulmars-light and dark adults	rare Short-tailed Albatross landing	Short-tailed Albatross	Short-tailed Albatross-subadult
Red-legged Kittiwake	Pomarine Jaeger	Marshall releasing a Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel	Leach's Storm-Petrel that landed on the deck
Victor Emanuel briefing us	Least Auklet taking off	Dall's Porpoise	immature Black-legged Kittiwake
rare Baird's Beaked Whale diving	Our first look at Attu at daybreak-note the Coast Guard station.	Marshall scouting Alexai Point	Some heavy duty terrain!
Common Snipe in the kelp	Snipe flying-note the white stripe at bottom of secondaries.	An old relic on Attu	I made it tu Attu!
Western Sandpiper at Alexai Point	Loading the zodiac in the slippery kelp is tricky	Debris Beach near the Peaceful River-rusted WW II debris	Slogging through the slippery kelp.
Gray-tailed Tattler	Smew Pond in Henderson Marsh	Dave Sonneborn in Henderson Marsh	Spotted Redshank-our first Attu rarity!
Looking at the Redshank at Smew Pond	Victor giving directions	Henderson Marsh	Pink Salmon working up the river
Larry Balch and Victor Emanuel	Lapland Longspurs are common	Victor on the radio	Mike, Dave and Harvey on a zodiac ride
In the hot tub after a long day of hiking!	Attu sunrise!	Rock Sandpiper	Baikal Teal-very rare!
Navy Town relics	Eurasian Wigeon and Glaucous-winged Gull in Smew Pond	Sharp-tailed Sandpiper	Sharp-tailed Sandpiper stretching
Harvey and Alan napping	Harvey back on Attu after ten years	Jeri Langham-one of our great leaders	Lunch at Peaceful River
Japanese WW II monument	Hiking the three miles back from the monument	Hiking down from the monument-see the ship?	Green-winged Teal
Aleutian Cackling Geese	Linda and Harvey on the main runway	The Coast Guard station	Hiking up Artillery Hill
The flowers were small but pretty	On top of Artillery Hill-great views!	Thede and Lisa on Artillery Hill	View of Coast Guard station and airfield from Artillery Hill
The walk down was easier!	Coast Guard Commander, Victor and the Ship's Captain	Don sings Christmas carols for the "Coasties"	"Santa" Terry and the Commander at our Christmas party for the "Coasties"
Victor on our only real rainy morning	Song Sparrow-larger here and common	Rock Sandpiper	Lapland Longspur
Red-faced Cormorants	Massacre Bay late afternoon	Rainbow over the Coast Guard antenna	Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches
Coast Guard C-130 lands at Attu every two weeks	Back to the ship	Approaching the stern of the Oceanus	Tufted Duck
Taking a look at the Tufted Ducks	Red-necked Stint-on Alexai Point	Cruising along the southern coast of Attu	Entering Etienne Bay on Southwest Attu
Yellow-billed Loon	Pete Dunne and Victor Emanuel on shore at Etienne Bay	My only shot (see it flying away on right?) of the elusive, rare Yellow-browed Warbler. Only the third N.A. record!	Marshall listening for the Warbler
Returning from the successful Warbler sighting	Harvey and I leaving Attu	Laysan Albatross	Dozens of Laysans following us
The chum brings in the birds at Stalemate Bank	WOW-an adult Short-tailed Albatross!	This Pacific Golden-Plover flew around the ship several times calling	Our wonderful VENT leaders! A great group
Solander's (Providence) Petrel west of Attu	Solander's (Providence) Petrel-several of this rare bird were seen	Solander's (Providence) Petrel	Arrival at Petropavlovsk, Russia-see the border guard lower left!
Slaty-backed Gull	Russian ships in the early morning fog	Black-headed Gull in Russia	Petropavlovsk, Russia and volcanos
Me in Russia!	A quick birding stop-too foggy!	Russians fishing from the bridge	Traffic and shoppers
Small chapel at the airport	Our Miami Air charter at Petropavlovsk airport	Petropavlovsk airport	Migs!
Huge helicopters	More Migs from our plane as we took off	Russian volcano's as we leave for home

pages 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 ALL

comment |

Guest		09-Jan-2009 06:53
Beautiful pictures Mike, I work and live on Attu at the Loran Station. I'm glad you enjoyed your trip out here, it's really a magnificent place, and your pictures were able to capture that.

Guest		18-Jul-2008 18:12
Mike, I love the pics taken in Petropavlovsk. I am very much into exploring remote outposts like that. Soviet history facinates me - so much so that I am living in Poland now (I am from Australia). Cheers, Russ - rusranch@gmail.com

victor emanuel		28-Nov-2006 15:30
mike-thanks for sharing those great photos. it was a pleasure being with you on this amazing trip, best, victor

Erika Wilson		17-Nov-2006 03:24
Hi, Mike, Wonderful pictures--many thanks for posting them for all of us to see. Like others before me, I really enjoyed having all the memories refreshed so vividly. I hope you leave them up for a long time. I have looked several times already.

Sam Febba		26-Oct-2006 21:22
Mike, Great photos! I don't know why I bothered to take a camera. You really captured the spirit of the trip.

Guest		26-Oct-2006 16:58
Uncle Mike-- Your nieces and nephews in Dallas have enjoyed taking this adventure with you! All six have been a part of your journey and appreciated different parts of the trip. (Five-year-old Kerry was worried you wouldn't be able to find any Wendy's to eat... ten-year-old Patrick was worried birds may fly over the ship and poop on your head. And your sisters were, well, just worried! We are all grateful you're back, safe and sound :-) Thanks for sharing. Love, Mo

Mary Anderson		25-Oct-2006 06:19
Dear Mike, Here's another "thank you" for sharing your photo collection from one of your fellow "Oceanus Attuvians". It was a life changing adventure. Gratefully, Mary Anderson

Carolyn McGhee		24-Oct-2006 20:14
Hello Mike - Thankyou so much for sharing this beautiful slide show - it brings it all back, what a wonderful ride! Carolyn, from Prince George BC Canada

Mary Landsman		24-Oct-2006 19:28
Mike: The photos are really great. I especially liked the "Forest Birding" and the shearwaters and whales. It was a little like re-living the trip again. Thanks for making them available for all to enjoy. Mary Landsman Gainesville FL

Karen Muller-O'Malley		24-Oct-2006 14:24
Mike! How nice of you to share these with us! I not only enjoyed seeing your beautiful bird photos (how many of them were a first sighting for you?), but the ones of Dutch Harbor, Debris Beach, the pod of orcas, and the Migs were fascinating. My favorite has to be the red-breasted nuthatch... We're glad you were able to experience such a wonderful trip.

Ken Blackshaw		24-Oct-2006 11:49
Thanks so much for posting these Mike. Brought back many memories. Coupled with Marshall's great logs, we have a wonderful review of our adventure. Thanks to Jeri for passing this link along. Ken on Nantucket

Guest		24-Oct-2006 04:29
Beautiful photos. More beautiful memories. What a gem of an adventure! ATTU!!!! From your fellow Attuvian, Karin from CA

click on thumbnails for full image

Type your message and click Add Comment

It is best to login or register first but you may post as a guest. Enter an optional name and contact email address. Name
Name Email
help	private comment

Type your message and click Add Comment

It is best to login or register first but you may post as a guest. Enter an optional name and contact email address. Name
Name Email
help	private comment