Subject: 10-25-98 Des Moines, WA, Marina Follow-up
Date: Oct 25 11:39:19 1998
From: Maureen Ellis - me2 at u.washington.edu


Hi Folks (and thanks to Jim Flynn for reply about the Pied-billed grebes),
What a nice day---near dead calm water, and the sky is coming out after
all the grey of yesterday. Up to 2000 birds of varying species were out
on the Sound within easy view of the fishing pier until the adult BALD
eagle cruised over. I noticed different behavioral strategies: The
American wigeon freaked and scattered in the air, while the Surf scoters
stayed put on the water and bunched themselves a bit more.

Up to 5 WHITE-WINGED scoters were seen on the margins of the Surf group,
and small numbers of COMMON loons could be seen further out. A few female
Goldeneyes have joined the 2 male Barrow's; 1 of these was a COMMON
goldeneye female; no male Common's are here yet. The WESTERN grebes were
seen again, perhaps 5-8. The HORNED grebe wintering population is clearly
growing, now maybe dozens of birds in our proximate area. And a few MEW's
gulls were seen flying about making a good comparison to the other small
gull species we have here now, the BONEPARTE'S. I haven't seen any
Franklin's gulls yet, but will watch for them.

The biggest treat of the morning was spotting the pod of 8-12 DALL'S
porpoise Phocoenoides dalli. This group was swimming south in the middle
of the Sound and passed the point between the Maury Island Lighthouse and
the end of our fishing pier about 10:30AM PT. I have also been able to
tentatively id the large jellyfish I saw yesterday at the surface
of the water just off the fishing pier, perhaps it was the quite common
MOON jellyfish Aurelia aurita and they can grow to over 40 cm in diameter,
even larger than the one I saw. If I had known to look, the gender of
this creature could have been discerned from the colors of the visible
internal organs.

The forest area near the Senior Center was very quiet with only a few
chick-a-deeing noises from a couple of Black-capped's......and bunches and
bunches of crows, of course. I'm still looking for our wintering Robins
and White-crowned sparrows to arrive.

A lovely day indeed,

Maureen Ellis me2 at u.washington.edu Univ of WA and Des Moines, WA

"Finding the occasional straw of truth awash in a great ocean of
confusion and bamboozle requires vigilance, dedication, and courage."
-Carl Sagan-