Subject: Pacific Loons in Eastern washington
Date: Dec 28 09:00:50 2001
From: Douglas Canning - dcanning at nisquallyestuary.org


On 27 Dec 2001, Andy Stepniewski wrote:

> I ask this is because I seem to
> chance upon Pacific Loons more frequently on flowing waters than not.
> I have never seen data to support this observation for eastern
> Washington other than my own, so wish to raise this question and raise
> awareness that Pacifics might favor a particular type of river
> conditions.

On the afternoon of 19 October of this year I saw two Pacific Loon
drifting and diving on the slack water of the lower Okanogan River
embayment of Pateros Lake. (More specifically, just downstream of the
US 97 bridge.) They may have been drifting down the river: when I had
walked by this reach of the river two hours earlier they were not
there, and while I had them in view for a few minutes they were
moving downstream. This is the only observation I have of Pacific
Loon in the Columbia Basin.


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Douglas Canning
Olympia, Washington
dcanning at nisquallyestuary.org
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