Subject: missing terns continued
Date: Jul 8 15:56:10 1996
From: Thomas Cotner - tcotner at u.washington.edu



Dennis and fellow tweeters,

My thanks to Dennis for reporting on his bird sightings whilst kayaking.
Frequently when birding by kayak, especially in areas that are tidal, I am
curious about where the birds THAT I AM NOT SEEING are. Since I spent
yesterday kayaking over a 15 square mile area just south of where Dennis
was, I thought I would offer you a report from a complementary area to the
one covered by Dennis.

We spent yesterday kayaking a few miles south of Dennis in the Skagit
Bay area to the east of Deception Pass on down to the mouth of the Skagit.
Like Dennis, we saw more than 200 Caspian terns, all in flight, with the
greatest concentrations occurring in the shallows associated with the tidal
flow around the Skagit channel. Just prior to low tide in this area, there is
a pretty rapid transition from shallows to mud flats and the terns can be seen
dive-bombing the fish. Unlike Dennis, we observed very few gulls in the
area--fewer than 50 glaucous winged gulls and only 2 ring-billed gulls!


For most of the morning, the most numerous birds (more than 100) were
pigeon guillemots. Some could be seen touching bills and circling. On
one occasion, one bird of a presumed pair did something I have never seen
before. When it was making a close swimming circle with its "partner", it
had a small fish in its mouth. At no time did it appear to offer the fish
to its "dance" partner and the fish disappeared when the bird was facing
away during one of its slow close spins. Maybe just a good way to attract
the other bird's attention!

If you haven't visited this area, the area near the Skagit breakwater
offers a wonderful opportunity to observe birds in a fascinating habitat.
Oystercatchers are often observed on Little Deadman Is. and other small
rocky islands in the area and they appear on the jetty lining the
Skagit jetty as low tide approaches. I have heard reports that they breed
not far from here on some of the islands to the West of Deception Pass.
At low tide yesterday we saw six oystercatchers on the breakwater picking
over the exposed rocks. They were very vocal, chattering for minutes,
when glaucous winged gulls landed nearby. Despite what would appear to
be ideal habitat, there were no surfbirds or turnstones here this time of
year, suggesting they do not breed close by.

Both the Caspian terns and great blue herons take advantage of the
enormous tidal changes in the area. At low tide, small fish
can be seen streaming frantically past at a great rate as the tidal flush
causes the water level to drop from the normal 3-4 feet to inches (and in some
places to zero). The herons begin to align themselves in the shallows
in a long line. Yesterday there were a high of 19 herons in one long line
and 7 more in a second line. There is no need to establish a pecking
order here--there was obviously enough fish for everyone.

At higher tides the herons roost on trees on both Deadman and Little
Deadman Islands and, in lesser abundance, on top of the dry haycolored,
treeless slopes of a few of the rocks in the area. It is quite a sight to
see herons on, what looks from a distance, to the be orange haystack
appearance of these rocks. Ironically at this distance, your first
thought (O.K., my first thought), is what are these herons doing in such
unheron-like territory?

My last comment relates to kayaking decision making. If you need to
decide which way to go to avoid being stranded as low tide approaches, you
may choose to "read the herons" instead of the common kayaking technique of
"reading the water". If you should find yourself completely surrounded by
herons, THIS IS NOT A GOOD SIGN!

Tom Cotner
(206)543-6755