Hi Tweets,

A quick mid-day spin around Lost Lagoon. Some spring signs: whisper-singing
Winter Wrens, Red-winged Blackbird males in full mouth, Great Blue Herons
into food-nest commute mode, big flights of itchy scaup in and out of
Lagoon. A jump in the usual number of Song Sparrows at the Stone Bridge
(possible migrants joining the usual wintering birds?) Report of
diminutive-race Canada Goose seen in the morning. Unusual was a
Red-throated Loon, possibly ill, hanging about within a few meters of shore
in Coal Harbor at the outflow from the Devonian Park display pond.

Female Tufted Duck in SE corner, male Redhead in NW corner. Odd gull on
concrete apron of the Lagoon's S edge.

Conditions: temp. 7 C;, wind W-NW 5-10 km/hr; barom. high, falling as
Pacific Low approaches from W; cloud cover 0%, vis. unlimited; precip 0;
all waters open; 12.15 PM--2.50 PM PST.

Double-crested Cormorant 1 im
Great Blue Heron 6
Tundra Swan 1 (rehab)
Mute Swan 8 (intro.)
Canada Goose 124
Mallard 727
American Wigeon 9 6m 3f
Canvasback 16 9m 7f
Redhead 1 m
Ring-necked Duck 1 m, subad
Tufted Duck 1 f*
Greater Scaup 209
Lesser Scaup 3,709** (66% of total indiv.)
Common Goldeneye 292
Bufflehead 9 7m 2f
Hooded Merganser 2 (pair, male displaying)
Common Merganser 3 3f
Bald Eagle 1 im
Red-tailed Hawk 1 ad m, dark rufous morph
American Coot 37
Mew Gull 2 2 pre-alt 1
Ring-billed Gull 1 ad
Glaucous-winged Gull 177
Rock Dove 62
Northwestern Crow 117
Black-capped Chickadee 4
Chestnut-backed Chickadee 9
Winter Wren 3 (2m in whisper song)
Golden-crowned Kinglet 2
American Robin 11
European Starling 8
Spotted Towhee 2
Fox Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 11 (some migrants?)
Dark-eyed Junco 7 (all 'Oregon'-type)
Red-winged Blackbird 16 8f 8m, 2m on territory
Pine Siskin 6
House Sparrow 6

Western X Gl.-winged Gull 8 ad

Gull sp.*** 1

38 species 1 hybrid 1 family/genus-only ID
Total individuals: 5,612
*
as conventional ad. female Tufted Duck, blackish-brown back, flanks broadly
barred brown, with apprx 1.5 cm horizontal spike, quite thick at base,
emerging from top rear-crown, and bright yellow eye. Had distinct sheen
(could not see color at distance from bird) to blackish-brown face in some
lights. Also showed very distinct white undertail coverts and *distinct*
white subterminal ring at bill-tip, almost as conspicuous as Ring-necked
Duck (see illustration 119c or e, Plate 38, in Madge & Burns' Waterfowl).
With mixed-scaup flock in SE section of Lagoon. Could this have been a
subadult male beginning molt from juv/Basic 1 plumage, as many of the imm.
scaup are beginning to do, and not an adult female?

**
many large (00's) scaup flights in and out of Lagoon; I counted only birds
actually on the water. There may have been as many as another 750-1,000
scaup: I've certainly seen the Lagoon more crowded than it was today.

***
Got someone to take some photographs of this one. Initially thought a adult
Western X Glaucous-winged hybrid in pre-Def. Alternate molt, except:

1. eye was white, tinged faint lemon yellow, not the pale amber-brown of a
WEGU, GWGU, or WE X GW running low on iris pigment; at their palest, those
gulls have white eyes and never show any citron-yellow hue.
2. area immediately around eye was smudged grey with a small grey
comma-tail extending from eye to upper rear crown, as in Def.
Basic-plumaged Herring, Glaucous, Slaty-backed, 'Kumlien's'
Iceland/Thayer's; can't remember ever seeing this mark on a WEGU, GWGU, or
hybrid.
3. the greenish-yellow bill was comparatively (that is, directly compared
to any of the apprx 35 GW's and WE X GW's also present) longer, straighter,
and narrower, with noticeable gonys, then narrowing toward tip with no
downturn, with a smallish pale pink-red gonydeal spot.
4. head streaking restricted to some short broad pale brown-grey streaks on
nape and slightly on rear side-neck only, unlike cold dark grey-brown
mottle and barring of GWGU and hybrids; direct comparison.
5. size was just marginally smaller than the GWGU's and hybrids, wing
extension past tail greater.
6. mantle was as pale as average GWGU, paler than usual 'smithsonianus'
Herring, and much paler than any possible Siberian Herring race.
7. outer primaries were as WEGU, black on upperside with one conspicuous
large mirror (I looked but didn't get a great look at the extended wing;
couldn't find a secondary mirror), underside of outer primaries very dark
grey with conspicuous large mirror, as WEGU, no evidence of secondary
mirror.
8. legs pale pink with greyish tone, unlike magenta-suffused pink of GWGU's
and hybrids; noticeably long-legged when standing next to the GWGU's.
9. had a wide, flattened head compared to GWGU's and hybrids.
10. orbital ring color pink, strongly tinged grey.

Jizz was more of a large Herring than WE X GW hybrid, slimmer and longer in
body than the sluggers it was mixing with, but quite large-headed for its
size.
If a WE X GW hybrid, it's the strangest one I've ever seen. Can't wait for
those photographs.

Raccoon 14
Grey Squirrel (black morph) 1
" " (grey morph) 0
Red (Douglas) Squirrel 1

Dogs, leashed 48
" , unleashed 1 (!)

Harassing incidents 0 (!)



Cheers,

Michael Price The only alien planet is Earth.
Vancouver BC Canada
mprice at mindlink.net - J. G. Ballard