Hi Tweets,

A quick rip down to the Iona S Jetty with WA birder Marvin Cooper ahead of
the incoming rain. The Definitive Alternate-plumaged male KING EIDER
Somateria spectabilis was in the enormous mixed-seaduck flocks to the S of
the jetty tip. The most massive flocks were generally staying well out at
distances of about half a kilometer at closest (for a little while) to about
three kilometers and beyond, so you'll need your scope, most likely. Despite
intense scrutiny by many people, there was no sign of the male Common Eider
S. mollissima.

Hard to believe, but the King Eider was difficult to see, even though
distinctively patterned, and even more difficult to relocate afer a dive. It
did stay more-or-less at the sides or ends of the mixed-scoter flock, but
with its black body and mostly grey-blue head (the same color as the water),
it could disappear almost even as one watched it. Many plaintive repetitions
of 'Where was the last place you saw it?' were heard, and the only
satisfactory looks were when it was at its closest and in a line rather than
a crowd. While it was close, everyone wondered how it could be so easy to
lose, such a distinctive-looking bird--and then we'd lose it. Hats off to
Danny Tyson for relocating it more often than the rest of us combined, often
at distance and while the bird was in a bogglingly huge crowd.

It appears to be in either Definitive Alternate, or very close to it. The
orange and yellow frontal shield was well-developed and colored, and
narrowly outlined black, the forecheek showed pale lime-green separated
cleanly from the blue-grey cap and dependant nuchal crest and the throat and
white frontal shield was noticeably suffused pink. Body black with white
streak rearward from shield along wing/side division; white rear flank
patch; upper surface of wings black with white forewing patch, underside not
seen; back, tail, rump and ventral area black; sides and belly black (when
reared out of water); the two 'speed-fin' feathers on back not visible even
at closest approach.

As far as these enormous scoters flocks are concerned, they began showing up
at Iona and Point Grey at the same time wind-surfing and kayaking became
introduced to Boundary Bay. Though I have no objective proof of connection,
there is no longer any doubt in my mind these huge flocks are flocks
displaced from there: the timing is just too close. Since no-one as far as
I've ever heard has ever done boat transects of B'Bay, we've lost a
waterfowl and seabird site where *huge* numbers staged and wintered, and
where thousands of subadult scoters and possibly hundreds of loons remained
through the summer, a massively important seabird site, even before we
pulled out the thumb we were sitting on to bother to find out what was
there. Scoter/loon/grebe/etc. numbers declining? Gee whiz, I wonder how
come? Can't the birds, you know, like, move, or something? Another brilliant
success for the multi-use approach to the most sensitive conservation site
in Western Canada.

IONA SOUTH JETTY

Red-throated Loon 8
Pacific Loon 3
Common Loon 11
Horned Grebe ~25
Red-necked Grebe 2
Aechmophorus grebe sp. 5
Double-crested Cormorant 3
Pelagic Cormorant 2
Great Blue Heron 3
Canada Goose 4
swan sp. 12
American Wigeon ~200
Mallard ~50
Northern Shoveler ~20
Northern Pintail ~200
Canvasback ~75
Greater Scaup ~100
Lesser Scaup ~500
KING EIDER 1 Alt m
Surf Scoter ~12-15,000 formed several 'scoter islands'
White-winged Scoter ~300
Black Scoter ~25 vocal, 1 'cone' courting flight
Long-tailed Duck ~200 very vocal
Bufflehead ~20
Common Goldeneye 6 in pairs
Barrow's Goldeneye 3 1 pair
Red-breasted Merganser ~200 much courtship
Ruddy Duck ~75
Bald Eagle ~12
Mew Gull ~50
Thayer's Gull 1 ad
Glaucous-winged Gull ~20
Western X Gl.-winged Gull ~15
Northwestern Crow 1
Tree Swallow 6
Snow Bunting 1
Western Meadowlark 1

Michael Price A brave world, Sir,
Vancouver BC Canada full of religion, knavery and change;
mprice at mindlink.net we shall shortly see better days.
Aphra Behn (1640-1689)