Hi Tweets,



On Sunday, Oct 3, Nancy Taylor and I birded Iona jetty and sewage ponds.
While scanning through the DC Cormorants, Surf Scoters and Boneparts Gulls
at the tip of the jetty, a light morph adult Parasitic Jaeger flew into my
scope view! (about 75 meters away from us) It flew spiraling circles around
a BOGU who was trying to take evasive action. We had great views of it's
wedge-shaped tail and pointed central retrices, yellow face and white belly
as it circled. The Jaeger then spotted another BOGU and repeated this
action. It's flight was fast, powerful and very falcon-like. After harassing
a third BOGU, it headed left on a long slowly descending glide and landed in
the water. It rested there for nearly 3 minutes floating high in the water,
holding its head high in a long-necked appearance. It then took off on
another hunt to the south east. It located and circled a frantic BOGU
several times, sometimes above it, sometimes below it, the small gull unable
to escape from the jaeger-cylinder around it. The Boneparts finally spit out
a small fish which the PAJA retrieved from the water as the gull made its
escape. Fueled up and back on the wing, the Jaeger then went into a long
fast power-flight to the north heading for another BOGU. When it was about
100 meters away, it shifted into hyper-drive, and jetted even faster past
the BOGU, then threw itself into a wing pivot and banked into a braking spin
around the gull. After a couple dizzying spirals up and down around this
gull, it flew over to another, made a few half-hearted of spins around it
and then headed off into the distance towards a group of feeding gulls.



That alone was enough to satisfy my birding soul for a few days, but
then we checked out the sewage ponds at high tide and located a juvenal
Sharp-tailed Sandpiper among some Pectoral Sandpipers. Had both species in
the same scope view for quite a while. The PESAs look gray-chested compared
to the bright golden color chest color of the STSA. Not much interesting
behavior, although twice a PESA walked over and pecked the STSA off of its
feeding spot.







Mary Teesdale



mteesdale at hotmail.com



Bellingham, Wa





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