I spent last week salmon fishing off Athlone Island near Bella Bella, on
the central coast of BC. The fishing was slow (although my son caught
a 33 pound Chinook that I'll never hear the end of), but the birding and
constant companionship and leaping antics of 500 or more Pacific White-sided
Dolphins made it a great holiday.

Of the 36 bird species seen, there were some highlights: 2 Sandhill Cranes,
part of the nesting group on that and neighbouring Islands; numbers of
Cassin's and Rhinoceros auklets close to the boat and kelp beds; Peregrine
Falcons, of great interest because these birds may be tree-nesters in this
area...the islands are flat with no cliffs or bluffs; a lone Parasitic
Jaeger; a few Sooty Shearwaters; many California Gulls; and 2 juvenile
Heermann's Gulls, even that far north (52+? N). Unfortunately, I did not
blunder into the possible immature Blue-footed Boobie that was reported by a
commercial fisher in these waters in July (see my Tweeters note of Aug. 16).

Of greatest interest, though, were 3 flocks of Greater White-fronted Geese,
flying high and all moving SE down the coastline. These were obviously
migrants from the north because the habitat and flight pattern were such that
they were not just moving locally.

It seems to me that they were a little early in their passage, so I am
curious to know if these or other white-fronts have made it to s. BC,
Washington or Oregon yet. The flights seen were on Aug 22 (70+ birds) and on
Aug. 24 (175 birds and 50 birds). It would be interesting to try to trace
the flight path and destinations. Have any Tweeters seen or heard reports of
this species arriving in numbers from the north this summer?

Bryan Gates, Victoria
bgates at assessment.env.gov.bc.ca