The Aleutian Islands, Alaska
Like emerald stepping-stones set across the Pacific, the Aleutian Islands rise from the sea. Fog-shrouded much of the year, from May through August, seabirds harking from the reaches of the Pacific Ocean gather to the cliffs and the fish-rich waters that surround them.
Nesting birds crowd the island rookeries — pelagic and red-faced cormorants of the snaky necks; black-legged and red-legged kittiwakes that cling like barnacles; horned and tufted puffins that look like footballs with food-processor blades in flight.
Raspy-voiced Arctic and squeaky-voiced Aleutian terns work the surf, and farther out, in the cold green depths, ocean wanderers from southern waters — like the Laysan albatross and short-tailed shearwaters — skim the waves and seine food from the sea.
In late May and June, the outermost islands act as magnets for Asian waifs, and hardy birders travel to the island of Attu to search for these birds. Nearly every year, Asian species make their first North American appearance on the island.
Although the cost of reaching Attu may exceed $5,000, there are those who regard even the possibility of a northern hobby, a spoon-billed sandpiper or a Siberian blue robin well worth the asking price.
Birds you might see
- Red-faced cormorant
- Emperor goose
- Harlequin duck
- Steller’s eider
- Red-legged kittiwake
- Least auklet
- Kittliz’s murrelet
- Tufted puffin
- Snow bunting
- Gray-crowned rosy-finch
Top 10 Birding Spots was compiled by Pete Dunne who is the director of the New Jersey Audubon Society's Cape May Bird Observatory and author of "Tales of a Low Rent Birder," "Feather Quest" and "Before the Echo."
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Photos: Bald Eagle over Alaska. Photo © Dr. Len Radin; Tufted puffins. Photo © Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART.
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