Hi Tweets,

A bitingly raw day, but some migration-related changes showing up.

Sunset Beach/English Bay

11.55 AM -- 12.15 PM PST
Conditions: temp. 8 Celsius, dropping; wind S veering to E 15 km/hr; barom.
rising; cloud cover 7/10; precip. trace; sea state 1, tide ebbing, near
slack low.

Common Loon 2 (1 Bsc, 1 Def Alt)
Red-necked Grebe 5 (4 Alt, 1 Bsc)
Aechmophorus Grebe sp. 1
Double-crested Cormorant 2 (1a, 1 im)
Pelagic Comorant* 2
Great Blue Heron 1
Mallard 10 (5 pr)
American Wigeon 7 (4m 3f)
Harlequin Duck 3 (2m 1f)
Common Goldeneye 2 (1 pr, 1m)
Barrow's Goldeneye 15 (7 pr, 1f)
Mew Gull 4 (3a, 1 im)
Glaucous-winged Gull 18 (13a, 5 im)
Rock Dove 5
Northwestern Crow 13
American Robin 2
European Starling 28
Song Sparrow 2 (2m in song)
Pine Siskin 2

Western X Gl.-winged 2 ad

Dog, Leashed 3
Dog, Unleashed 15
Harassment Incidents 4




A flock of 5 Alternate-plumaged Red-necked Grebes cawing and honking at
each other are definite migrants, as is the Def Alt Common Loon.

The Pelagic Cormorants have spread out from their original colony on the
cliffs of Prospect Point in Stanley Park (60-odd pairs except when the
Vancouver Park Board chooses early to mid-March to do blasting on the
cliffs: when they're not cutting down trees and clearing brush from March
to June in the Park; what have they *got* against wildlife?...) and are now
nesting under all the major bridges of Vancouver. There are reported to be
at least 150 nests under the Second Narrows Bridge in East Vancouver, and
an unknown number each beneath the Burrard Street and the Granville Street
Bridges downtown. Ironically, the Lion's Gate Bridge has none though it's
only a few hundred meters east of Prospect Point.



Lost Lagoon

12.20 -- 2.00 PM PST
Conditions: temp. 5 Celsius; wind E-NE 15-20 km/hr; cloud moderate
overcast; precip. trace.

Double-crested Cormorant 1 im
Great Blue Heron 2
Trumpeter Swan 1* (rehab)
Mute Swan 8**
Canada Goose 35
Wood Duck 10 6m 4f
Green-winged Teal 3 2m 1f (A.c.carol.)
Mallard 753
Gadwall 2 (1 pr)
American Wigeon 19 (10f 9m, 5 pr)
Canvasback 15 8m 7f
Ring-necked Duck 8 5m 3f
Greater Scaup 208
Lesser Scaup 2,347
Common Goldeneye 18
Barrow's Goldeneye 5 4m 1f
Bufflehead 13 8m 5f
Hooded Merganser 1 f
Bald Eagle 1 im
Red-tailed Hawk 1 ad m
American Coot 37
Mew Gull 1 ad
Glaucous-winged Gull 9
Rock Dove 21
Northwestern Crow 17
Black-capped Chickadee 10 3m
Chestnut-backed Chickadee 6
Bushtit 2
Brown Creeper 1 m
Winter Wren 3 3m
Bewick's Wren 1 m
Golden-crowned Kinglet 5 2m
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 5 3m
American Robin 33
Varied Thrush 1
European Starling 75
Spotted Towhee 3 2m 1f
Fox Sparrow (all 'Sooty') 3 1m
Song Sparrow 16 8m
Dark-eyed Junco (all 'Oreg.) 7 3m
Red-winged Blackbird 7 4f 3m
House Finch 2 2m
Pine Siskin 5 1m
House Sparrow 3 2f 1m

45 sp., 1 hybrid 3,737 individuals

Western X Gl.-winged Gull 4 4a


Grey squirrel (grey morph) 1
Grey Squirrel (black morph) 3
Red (Douglas) Squirrel 2
Raccoon 4

Dog, Leashed 2
Dog, Unleashed 0
Harassment Incidents 0

*
last Saturday a New Brunswick birder named Ron Arsenault saw a wild flock
of *12* Trumpeter Swans fly into the Lagoon and settle for about an hour,
likely the most ever for Lost Lagoon. One was still there when I ran into
him. Singles or much smaller, usually northbound, flocks sometimes drop in,
attracted by the bugling of the rehab bird, who's probably dying to join
them.
He and I also found 17 Ring-necked Ducks on Beaver Lake in the center of
Stanley Park, in addition to 8 on Lost Lagoon.

**
A free-flying Mute Swan, likely one of the Lagoon regulars, was doing
circuits of the Lagoon this afternoon.

The above count of Lesser Scaup were of birds on the water; there were
about 300-400 Lesser Scaup in and out of the Lagoon, very restless.

Migrants into the Lost Lagoon area are the Green-winged Teal (northbound
migration is about the only time GWTE ever bother with the Lagoon), the
Gadwall pair, and an influx of Ruby-crowned Kinglets, including singing
males.

Two raccoons were copulating on a small floating island at the west end of
the Lagoon, further good news for the ground nesters in the area.

In the West End, near the intersection of Haro and Nicola Streets, there
was an out-of-place male Hutton's Vireo singing from the top of a small
evergreen.

Over near Kitsilano Beach, a Merlin in undulant pseudo-songbird flight
didn't fool anybody: the place erupted anyway. When are they gonna learn
that robins and flickers simply don't fly at 200 km per hour?

Boy, was it a cold count today.


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