Hi Tweets,

Lost Lagoon yesterday Nov 23, hosting *large* number of Lesser Scaup (with
about the same or slightly smaller number at their feeding location, the
docks at the foot of Salisbury Street in East Vancouver BC, according to
Evelyn Whiteside; much flight back and forth).

a quick rip up to Second Beach & Ferguson Point to Prospect Point foreshores
on the W side of Stanley Pk in Vancouver BC (about 5 km), and then back to
the bus stop through the forest (about 3 km). Below freezing, overcast, some
popcorn snow, 2-5 cm snowcover on the ground. High tide. I was too darn cold
yesterday to age 'n sex these critters, with a few exceptions, so settle for
totals only.

In forest, there seemed to be more woodpeckers than usual. They might be
driven down by cold down from the local mountains. According to Dick
Cannings, it usually takes a week of sustained freeze to stop the sap from
moving in the trees up there, and it's only then that one sees increased
numbers of sapsuckers and Hairy Woodpeckers (HAWO) in winter down at sea
level here. Of the HAWO, only one had the greyish coastal-race plumage, the
others were northern/Interior birds, clean white below with extensive white
wing-spotting.

Winter Wrens, Varied Thrushes, and Song Sparrows very numerous. Hard to know
if the snow's brought them in off the mountains, or out to the coast from
the Fraser Valley, or they're here anyway but the snow makes them
conspicuous by removing hiding places.

All three eagles (2 young Baldies, 1 unidentifiable) were *very* high,
making me wonder if we're beginning to see the annual move of Baldies out to
the coast finally underway with the week-long freeze. Though I'm sure
there's exceptions, and this may be one of them, over the years I've
observed that the local (Stanley Pk, West Vcr, Point Grey) eagles don't
usually bother going for extreme altitude, but migrant eagles in the March
to April movement do.

Lost Lagoon, 11/23/96, 40% ice-covered. Incomplete count.

Double-crested Cormorant 3
Canada Goose c120 incl 2 small, stub-billed birds
Mallard c500
American Wigeon 131
Eur X Amer. Wigeon 1 m
Canvasback 37 at least 21 ad m
Redhead 1 f
Ring-necked Duck 11 7m 4f (4m subad)
Lesser Scaup 5-6,000 70% ad m, 20% f, 10% subad m
Greater Scaup 2 (where's all the GRSC this winter?)
Common Goldeneye 16
Barrow's Goldeneye 7
Bufflehead 6
Hooded Merganser 5 2m 2f 1jv (m?)
Common Merganser 1 1f
Mew Gull 112 110 ad, 2 Bsc 1 (at Devonian Pk)
Ring-billed Gull 4 3a 1 Bsc1
Thayer's Gull 1 a
Glaucous-winged Gull 51
Western X Gl.-winged 5


Stanley Pk West Foreshore, 11/23/96

Red-throated Loon 2
Pacific Loon 1 ad Bsc
Common Loon 3
Horned Grebe 7
Red-necked Grebe 1
Western Grebe 158
Aech. grebe sp. 34
Double-cr. Cormorant 5
Brandt's Cormorant 2
Pelagic Cormorant 14
Great Blue Heron 3
Mallard 16
Eurasian Wigeon 1 m, ad
American Wigeon 210
Eur X Amer. Wigeon 3 m
Canvasback 1 f (unusual on StanPk saltwater)
Greater Scaup 45
Harlequin Duck 19 14m 5f
Black Scoter 16 13f 3m
Surf Scoter c250 60% m, ad
White-winged Scoter 4 1m, ad; 1m subad; 2f
Common Goldeneye 4
Barrow's Goldeneye c350
Bufflehead 13
Red-br. Merganser 2
Bald Eagle 2 2 jv
eagle sp. 1 all 3 eagles very high
Red-tailed Hawk 1 ad, usual small dark overwintering male
Black Oystercatchers 3 ad, at lge boulder, S end of Ferguson Pt.
Black Turnstone 9 Bsc, on sandstone bench, N end of FP
Sanderling 9 all Bsc 1, Third beach
Northwestern Crow 41
Common Raven 2
European Starling 24


In forest:

Red-breasted Sapsucker 2
Hairy Woodpecker 4 (3 very white 'Interior'-race birds)
woodpecker sp. 3
Black-capped Chickadee 22
Ch.-back'ed Chickadee 12
Bushtit 10
Brown Creeper 3
Winter Wren *46*
Golden-crowned Kinglet 8
American Robin 3
Varied Thrush *68*
Spotted Towhee 3
Fox Sparrow 17 all but 2 at Stone Bridge (see note below)
Song Sparrow 29 6 at SB
Dark-eyed Junco 33 1 'cismontanus' at SB
Red-winged Blackbird 3 at SB
House Finch 1
Pine Siskin c200 1 flock

2 solid blackish 'fuliginosa'; remainder paler 'unalaschcensis'-type.

Michael Price When I found out that one of my years was seven
Vancouver BC Canada of theirs, I started biting absolutely everything.
mprice at mindlink.net -Max Carlson (Ron Carlson's Dog)