Dear Birders,

The following is a list of birds seen at Point Roberts, Whatcom
Co., on January 4, 2000 between about 10 A.M. and 2 P.M. The weather
was bright and sunny, but with strong westerly winds (20 to 25 mph).
This made birding somewhat difficult at Lighthouse Marine Park and
along the west side of the park, as the rough sea conditions made it
hard to spot waterbirds, and kept the landbirds down. On the other
hand, the east side of the point, and parts of the interior, were
sheltered from the wind, and birding was quite good there. Areas
covered included Lighthouse Marine Park (LMP), the west end of Gulf
Road (GR), Rex Street (RS), Edwards Drive (ED), APA Road, Pauls Road
(PR), the Lily Point area (LP) and Maple Beach (MB).

The list of species observed was as follows:

Red-throated Loon 6
Pacific Loon 250 (large flock off LP)
Common Loon 10 (most off LP)
Horned Grebe 30 (most off LP)
Western Grebe 1
Double-crested Cormorant 75 (most on pilings, GR)
Pelagic Cormorant 20
Great Blue Heron 12
American Wigeon 6 (in large pond, ED)
Canvasback 3 (in large pond, ED)
Greater Scaup 25
Harlequin Duck 25 (LP)
Oldsquaw 130 (most off LP)
Black Scoter 70 (most off MB)
Surf Scoter 20
White-winged Scoter 30
Common Goldeneye 40
Bufflehead 50
Red-breasted Merganser 30 (most off LP)
Bald Eagle 2
Red-tailed Hawk 1 (PR)
Mew Gull 50
Western Gull 1 ad. (LMP)
Glaucous-winged Gull 100
Common Murre 5 (LMP)
Rock Dove 6
Downy Woodpecker 1 (LP)
Northern Flicker 1
Northwestern Crow 20
Black-capped Chickadee 12
Chestnut-backed Chickadee 10 (LP)
Bushtit 20 (MB)
Red-breasted Nuthatch 2 (RS, LP)
Bewick's Wren 2
Winter Wren 5
Golden-crowned Kinglet 20
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 3
American Robin 5
Varied Thrush 5 (PR, LP)
European Starling 30
Hutton's Vireo 1 (LP)
Spotted Towhee 6
Fox Sparrow 4
Song Sparrow 16
Lincoln's Sparrow 1 (brush on APA Road)
Golden-crowned Sparrow 10 (PR)
Dark-eyed (Oregon) Junco 15
House Finch 4
Pine Siskin 20 (MB)


TOTAL 49 species

The large group of Pacific Loons off Lily Point was somewhat
unusual but certainly not unprecedented in January. They were not
actively feeding, and appeared to be taking shelter from the strong
winds on the other side of the point. Also a little unusual were the
Canvasbacks and the Lincoln's Sparrow, neither of which is seen too
often on the Point in winter. (However, this has been a great winter
for Lincoln's around Vancouver, judging by CBC counts-- no doubt
because of the mild weather.) The Oldsquaw count was high for
midwinter.
Notable for low counts were Western Grebe (usual flock off the NW
shore of the point absent or not visible) and Common Murre, and for
their absence, Red-necked Grebe, Pigeon Guillemot and Marbled
Murrelet. The last 3 may have been present but not easily visible in
the rough waters off Lighthouse Marine Park.

Sorry for the late posting, but I did not have E-mail access for
the first 10 days of January (my computer's in Kamloops).

Point Roberts has been one of my favorite birding spots since I
first visited it in 1968, and it continues to be to this day.

That's all for now!

Wayne C. Weber
Kamloops and Delta, B.C.
wayne_weber at bc.sympatico.ca