Hi Tweets,

Cliff Drake writes:

>There was a cormorant at the locks this morning with white "whiskers".
>Otherwise it appeared to be a normal DCCO. The white whiskers ran from
>the eye to the top of the head. They looked like the picture of Brandt's
>Cormorant on the Audubon CD but higher, and it had the standard orange
>face of the Double Crested. Brian the fish guy saw it last week, today
>was my first sighting. ?

That sounds typical of Alternate-plumaged Double-crested Cormorant
Phalacrocorax auritus. They often have the white plumes as 'eye-brows'.

>Also present is a alternate plumage Red-necked Grebe and the largest
>flock of Barrow's Goldeneyes I've ever seen there, at least 70. The flock
>that winters there varies from 16 to 20 something, should I suspect a
>migratory flock?

Good chance of it, Cliff, especially the grebe; other possibility is a local
bunch massing at a location their internal calendars tell them has good eats
at this time of year. There seem to be less around Stanley Park as well,
though whether that's normal migrational timing or the result of getting
displaced from Park waters along with everything else by kayakers is an open
question.

>The steelhead run is quite small this year,
>but thankfully the Sea Lions are too.

Yeah, I'd rather meet a small Sea lion in a dark alley than a big one,
anytime. '-)

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)