First I must apologize for the fact that this message contains
no Ross' Gull information !

I birded all day in Canada last sunday (27th) and saw a few
interesting things. I started at Point Roberts at 7:00 where
I flushed a short-eared owl.
Next I drove to Boundary Bay (at the end of 72nd St.) where
I spent a couple of hours scanning for Snowies and Gyrs. After
having braved the cold and intermittent drizzle walking east
as far as the small shed on the dyke I had only succeded in
flushing a Short-earded Owl, although I did get a good look at a
dark-phase Harlan's hawk. (I heard a red-tail calling and when I
spotted it I was surprised to see an all black bird with an
upper tail all white fading into a dusky tip.) A few Rough-legs,
Snow Geese and Merlins were also present.
With no sign of Snowies or Gyrs I was about to leave when a
couple from Seattle pulled up to the end of 72nd with a Bushnell
scope. The man stood there scanning the distant shore for about
three minutes, then stepped back from his scope. "What have
you got ?", I asked him. "Grey phase Gyr !" was his reply. So
I enjoyed my first look at a Gyrfalcon sitting on a log.
The moral is: Three minutes with a scope is more profitable than
two hours with a cheap pair of $40 binoculars from Hong Kong.
Next I proceeded to Iona beach park near the Vancouver Int'l
Airport, where I located a female Tufted Duck, presumably the
one mentioned on the Vancouver hotline. It was similar to a
female Scaup, but with very little white on the upper bill-base
(really visible only when the bird faced me) and a slightly shaggy nape.
The bird was associating with Greater Scaups on the second pond.
I also sighted which appeared to be four Barrow's Goleneyes. The
eye spot was teardrop-shaped and the females had bright orange
bills (in afternoon, the light was very good), but they had obvious green
heads ! Any comments ?
I returned to Seattle via Crescent Beach, where I didn't see much
other than some Thayer's, Glauc-winged and Mew gulls, and a
Greater Yellowlegs.

P.S. Anybody know where I can purchase a cheap second-hand scope ?

Neil J. Fergusson ******************
1405 1/2 NE 56th St. * Baffins *
Seattle, WA 98105 * or *
(206) 517-5466 * bust *
njf7i at kelvin.seas.virginia.edu ******************