Hi Tweets,

Ruth Sullivan writes:

> I din't try to beeing critical, when I wrote about the snow goose on ocean
>shores.at that time we found this bird,myself includet, verry unusual.I
>also took photos, this for the record.

No offense taken, Ruth. Please don't hesitate to criticise if you think it
warranted, preferably constructively and privately, but publicly if you
think necessary.

About the Snow Goose, you're quite right: any Snow Goose this far south in
summer is definitely out of place. There are some species--just about any
species of goose (not the local introduced layabout Canada's) or any diving
duck species but scoters--that normally completely clear the region between
their north- and southbound migrations, and conventional wisdom says that
any individual remaining is too sick or injured to make the flight.

That the pressure to migrate is stronger than their desire to hang around
and enjoy the good city life is illustrated by the thousands of scaup and
hundreds of goldeneye at Lost Lagoon: though they're human-fed and the
livin' is easy, they still leave the lagoon empty by May and are
absent--except for one or two individuals of either scaup or either
goldeneye species, a Bufflehead and/or a Long-tailed Duck or two, and I've
noticed that most of the handful of scaup or goldeneye that remain at Lost
Lagoon here are subadult birds that often seem fairly lethargic--until their
return in October.

The scoters, like seabirds, find the wintering territory a great place to
park the subadult birds, though, and we have thousands of first- and
second-year Surf and White-winged and a few Black Scoters throughout the
summer here. No sense in them competing for resources and getting in the
adults' hair on the breeding territories--they have enough to do just to
raise the kids.

>I am so happy having a
>computer,responding to questions what otherwise would be not queston ore
>answerd

Yeah, ain't it *great*, Ruth? We live in wonderful times.

>thank you michael.

And you, Ruth! Keep those wonderful photographs rolling in!

Michael Price The Sleep of Reason Gives Birth to Monsters
Vancouver BC Canada -Goya
mprice at mindlink.net