Subject: fall birds/loon feeding
Date: Aug 30 21:43:11 1999
From: Marissa Benavente - junebug at pol.net


Hi Tweets!

i think the nip of fall is in the air.. over here on vashon i can see my
breath and was forced to put on a turtleneck early this morning. the
birds are returning and i was quite excited to see 2 loons out front
over the weekend, still in summer plumage. a behavioral question for
you ornithologist types out there. i watched one of the loons catch a
fish and then for the next 2 minutes or so, repeatedly dunk the fish in
and out of the water. initially i thought he may be trying to position
the fish in order to swallow, but after a while he swallowed the fish
quite quickly in exactly the same position it had started in. i never
noted any squirming or flapping of the fish during the loon's dunking
ceremony. what was he doing??? can you actually "drown" a fish that
way??
i ventured across to seattle via the passenger ferry on saturday and saw
several groups of rhino auklets, some pigeon guillemots and the usual
mix of gulls out in the sound. i also saw one group of 3 phalaropes, i
think red necked??

good birding!
marissa on vashon