In response to Anna Coles' question about estuarine birds in late May:

Anna, the end of May is a low time for bird use of those estuaries,
which is primarily in winter and migration. However, birds breeding in the
area that use shallow saltwater habitats should be there. I would think
this would include Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Mallard,
Osprey, Bald Eagle, Glaucous-winged Gull, Caspian Tern, Pigeon Guillemot
(deeper water), and Belted Kingfisher, at least. There may also be
summering individuals of species that don't breed in the area--possibly
Common Loon, Western Grebe, Surf and White-winged Scoters and others. I'd
be curious to know what you do find if you do any extensive studies.

Dennis Paulson

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Date: Thu, 24 Mar 1994 15:18:32 -0800
From: Dennis Paulson <dpaulson at ups.edu>

Anna, I meant to add that it is clear how important fish are to marine
birds, as most of the species on the list I just sent are fish-eaters. The
Mallard is the only exception to that, in fact, and maybe you won't find
that many Mallards out on salt water in the summer! How many non-fisheaters
you find, in fact--maybe summering scoters, which eat bivalves--will be of
interest.