On Tue, 20 Aug 1996, Dennis Paulson wrote:
> And what happened to the reporting of bird records on tweeters? Is no one
> going birding? Is no one seeing anything worth reporting? I just got a
> letter from someone who reported seeing a couple of Elegant Terns around
> Indian and Marrowstone islands. Has anyone else seen any?

Oregonians have been reporting Elegant Terns on the coast for I think
a couple of weeks now (obol).

Mea & I spent 3 days the weekend before last on San Juan Island and
the birding was tres slow -- slower than on any other summer visit in
the three previous years. Only a few peeps on False Bay. Four Greater
Yellowlegs at Jaeckel and Third lagoons, along with a couple of Spotted
Sandpipers. Eight Red-necked Phalaropes on the ferry. But it's hard to
dwell on the lack of birds with the scenery, and the salt air. This is
one of the few birding trips we've squeezed in of late -- and not much
to report. But what about all the folks seeing multiple Stilt Sandpipers
up on Whidbey & Spencer islands...?

Incidentally, are the Rhino Auklets that are carrying fish in their
beaks at the end of the day the only ones taking food back to
nestlings? If a Rhino is flying home at the end of the day with no
fish in its beak, does that imply that a brood will go hungry that
night? (Or that that particular bird has no nestlings to feed? Or
do they also regurgitate to feed young?) A quick scan of Bent
yielded no answers here. It seemed like many fewer rhinos (e.g.,
<1% at Cattle Point) had fish showing this year than in previous
years (including other mid-Aug. visits) and we're wondering what,
if anything, that might mean.

David Wright
Seattle, WA
dwright at u.washington.edu