Date: Tue, 25 Jun 2002 10:45:29 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding <MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM> Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding <MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM> From: Henry Armistead <74077.3176@COMPUSERVE.COM> Subject: bunker oil illegal!; off-topic in Alaska MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline 1. I am indebted to Wanda Cole, who has had enforcement experience at the MD Dept. of Natural Resources, for informing me that the use of bunker (a.k.a. fish or menhaden) oil is, in fact, illegal in Maryland. Apparently it is not good for the water, messes up the oxygen exchange, etc. Having used it 3 times I will find a home for what remains with a pelagic trip leader I know (out of state). Thank you, Wanda, for straightening me out on that, and I was relieved it was not a prelude to "You have the right to remain silent ... " and other deathless lines of prose. 2. Yes, WAY off-topic but some of you might be interested in hearing of son, George, and the exploits of his colleagues on Alaska's Pribilof islands, St. Paul in particular. George is the head guide for the Tanadgusix Corporation's St. Paul Island Tour. The way I understand it any tour group such as Field Guides, VENT, etc., plus cruise ships that put in at St. Paul contract with St. Paul Island Tour to show and drive them around, since Tanadgusix has a small fleet of buses. George has been in Alaska since late April. In late August he will be going back to Anchorage and then will help lead a WINGS tour with Paul Lehman at Gambell on St. Lawrence Island south of the Bering Straits. He will stay on for a week or so after the tour until c. September 9. Gambell is on the extreme west end of St. Lawrence Island less than 30 miles from the International Date Line. St. Paul is c. 300 statute miles off the Alaska mainland, slightly less to the north of the Aleutians. I mean ... it is OUT THERE. Its population of a few hundred is composed mostly of Aleuts (pronounced Alleeyoots). There is some Russian colonial influence here with a striking Orthodox church. The Pribilofs are the setting for Kipling's story of the white seal. There are no trees except for 3 fairly old but still small imported ones. Some of you have been there already and know all this. I've never been to Alaska. St. Paul's bird list is about 250 species, including an astounding 55 shorebirds (4 of them curlew, 3 snipe) and 40 waterfowl. The only breeding landbirds are: Skylark (formerly), Winter Wren, White Wagtail (formerly), Lapland Longspur (abundant), Snow Bunting, McKay's Bunting (casual), and Gray-crowned Rosy Finch (common). George recently saw a shrew, a species endemic to St. Paul. Lemmings occur nearby on St. George (where there are no shrews) but not on St. Paul. Old World Reindeer (as opposed to Caribou) have been introduced. Arctic Foxes are ubiquitous. Countless thousands of seals breed there, countless tens of thousands of alcids (15 recorded species, not all breeders). They've seen Gray Whales several times. George is also collecting insects for the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. It has been many decades since any insects were collected on the Pribilofs. There is one butterfly record but there are many craneflies and other goodies. Right now the sun is setting there after Midnight and is up again before 7 A.M. Much of the time it is overcast, temperature in the 40's with considerable wind and frequent rain. At Latitude 57 it is not that far north, being farther south than, say, Churchill and St. Petersburg. Gambell, however, at latitude 64 is getting up there. Scarce Arctic species and Siberian vagrants (known fondly as Sibes) are what most high-powered birders hope to see at St. Paul. So far these species are among those seen this year, many of them multiple times: Yellow-billed Loon, Short-tailed Shearwater, Red-faced Cormorant (common), Emperor Goose, Eurasian Wigeon (sometimes over 30), Green-winged Teal (Eurasian race), Tufted Duck, King Eider (several hundred on a few days; the local hotel is the King Eider Hotel), Smew, Pacific Golden Plover, Common, Wood, and Terek Sandpipers, Common Snipe (Eurasian form), Bristle-thighed Curlew, Bar-tailed Godwit (85 on one day), Temminck's Stint, Long-tailed Jaeger, Slaty-backed Gull, Red-legged Kittiwake (common), Aleutian Tern, 10 alcid species, Snowy Owl, Skylark, Gray-spotted Flycatcher (new for the Pribilofs; most easterly Alaska record by several hundred miles; "best" bird so far), an unidentified Eurasian cuckoo, a Siberian Rubythroat (one observer said its throat color makes a hummingbird's gorget look dull), Red-throated Pipit, and Golden-crowned Sparrow. Almost as interesting to me are vagrants from the North American mainland such as: Black Oystercatcher, Upland Sandpiper, Franklin's Gull, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Bank Swallow, and Barn Swallow (both Old and New World forms). Who knows what will show up, especially when the fall migration begins? Vagrants that have been seen here in other years include: Short-tailed Albatross, Chinese Pond Heron, Bean Goose, Whooper Swan, Eurasian Hobby, Fork-tailed Swift, Common House-Martin, Hawfinch, Middendorff's Grasshopper Warbler, etc. Best to all.-Henry T. Armistead, 523 E. Durham St., Philadelphia, PA 19119-1225. 215-248-4120. Any off-list responses, please, to: harryarmistead@hotmail.com ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================