On 1 August 1999, at about 1400 ADT, Mike Greenfelder flushed a large Ardea heron from the shore of Weather Bureau Lake on St. Paul Island in the Pribilof archipelago, Alaska (57°09'N, 170°14'W). The bird disappeared into dense fog before it could be identified to species. Greenfelder and Smith searched fruitlessly the rest of the afternoon, and in the evening they were joined by Burton and several other birders.
We finally saw the bird in flight near its original location. The heron alighted briefly at Rocky Lake, then continued flying west, calling repeatedly. Although the light was poor and our views were distant, we tentatively identified the bird as an adult Gray Heron (Ardea cinerea) in breeding plumage, on the basis of coloration and voice. We followed it by automobile to Southwest Point, where the road becomes essentially impassable, and the heron disappeared behind bluffs, heading north as if to circumnavigate the island.