Tweeters,

I'd like add some details to Bob Boekelheide's comments on
Brandt's Cormorants. One of the main concentration points in winter,
known for decades to B.C. birders, is Active Pass (between Galiano and
Mayne Islands), on the ferry route between Vancouver and Victoria (or
more precisely, Tsawwassen and Swartz Bay). The strong tidal currents
here create ideal feeding conditions for seabirds, which are exploited
by thousands of Brandt's Cormorants and Pacific Loons, and smaller
numbers of several other species. There are several other narrow
passages in B.C.'s Gulf Islands which have large concentrations of
these two species. The flocks move around a great deal, depending on
which way the tide is running, and they may move from one passage to
another in the course of a day. It does not surprise me at all that a
flock of 1000 Brandt's would be seen off Orcas Island, even if that is
not an everyday occurrence.
The numbers of Brandt's Cormorants in Active Pass can be gauged
somewhat from the Pender Islands, B.C. Christmas Count, which includes
the entire passage. Counts of Brandt's here often exceed 2000, and
some of the highest counts have been 3667 in 1983, 3551 in 1984, and
3238 in 1979.
Although Brandt's is the most abundant cormorant in places like
Active Pass, it is often the scarcest of the 3 in nearshore areas such
as around Vancouver. Bob's observation that they like to roost on
offshore rocks and islets is quite accurate for the Vancouver area.
The two easiest spots to see Brandt's around Vancouver are on the
Burnaby Shoal channel marker in Vancouver harbour (off Brockton Point
in Stanley Park), and on several rocks and small islands off
Lighthouse Park in West Vancouver. The other two cormorant species are
widespread.

Wayne C. Weber
114-525 Dalgleish Drive
Kamloops, B.C. V2C 6E4
Phone: (250) 377-8865
wayne_weber at bc.sympatico.ca



-----Original Message-----
From: Bob Boekelheide <bboek at olympus.net>
To: gbenton at rockisland.com <gbenton at rockisland.com>; Tweeters
<tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Date: Sunday, December 19, 1999 7:38 PM
Subject: Re: Brandt's Cormorants


>Gayle & Tweeters,
>
>Thank you for the report about the Orcas Island CBC.
>
>Your report about Brandt's Cormorants is a good one. When I worked
at
>the Farallon Islands off San Francisco, one of my jobs was to tally
band
>recoveries of BRCO. We banded a few hundred BRCO chicks every year
in
>one of our study colonies, and got band recoveries from up and down
the
>Pacific Coast from Canada to Mexico. The Farallones has the largest
BRCO
>colony in the world, so these band recoveries are probably fairly
>indicative of what BRCOs do in the winter.
>
>Interestingly, other than central California, one of the main spots
for
>Farallon Island BRCO band recoveries in winter is southern British
>Columbia. They may form large offshore feeding flocks -- Kees
Vermeer of
>the Canadian Wildlife Service has reported feeding flocks containing
>several thousand BRCO in Haro Strait. Many of the band recoveries we
>received from BC are subadult birds, showing that many young Farallon
>BRCO fly north along the coast after the breeding season. Most adult
>band recoveries are from California, suggesting that ages may
segregate
>during the non-breeding season. (But it might also mean that young
birds
>have higher mortality at the northern part of their wintering range,
so
>more are found dead by beachwalkers.)
>
>Brandt's Cormorants seem to prefer roosting on offshore rocks and
islets,
>rather than on piers and pilings like Double-cresteds and Pelagics.
>Consequently, we don't seem to see as many of them near shore. Maybe
>that is why they seem relatively scarce compared to their congeners.
>
>So keep looking for Brandt's Cormorants in the winter -- they're
really
>here.
>
>Bob Boekelheide
>Sequim
>