Subject: SEAWATCH: SJCR 10/20/2001
Date: Oct 20 14:04:32 2001
From: Mike Patterson - celata at pacifier.com


Todd Thornton and I put in about an hour at the South
Jetty of the Columbia River this morning. There was
a very good sized swarm of SOOTY SHEARWATERS in fairly
close. We saw at least 6 SHORT-TAILED SHEARWATERS which
were cruising in very close to our observation post up
on the jetty. A single dark-phase NORTHERN FULMAR also
made a nice close pass.

The best bird for me, however, was an adult POMARINE
JAEGER trailing complete spoons (or spatulas or rackets
or whatever you want to call them). I'm fairly sure
this a personal first from land for me, though I have seen
them during a couple of pelagics.

On a more grissly note: two hatch-year CALIFORNIA GULLS
were fighting over the remains of another, dead, California
Gull (which had the looks of being the leavings of a
PEREGRINE FALCON'S breakfast). While I'm sure it happens
regularly, this is the first time I've actually noted gulls
scavanging gulls of their own species.

Birds seen (in taxonomic order):

Red-throated Loon 5
Common Loon 2
Western Grebe 50
NORTHERN FULMAR 1 [1]
Sooty Shearwater 20000
Short-tailed Shearwater 6 [2]
Brown Pelican 200
Brandt's Cormorant 3
Pelagic Cormorant 4
Surf Scoter 300
White-winged Scoter 8
Northern Harrier 2
Peregrine Falcon 2
Pomarine Jaeger 1 [3]
Parasitic Jaeger 2
Heermann's Gull 100
Mew Gull 10
California Gull 50
Western Gull 10
Glaucous-winged Gull 1
Black-legged Kittiwake 5
Unidentified gull 200
Common Murre 2
Savannah Sparrow 1
Lapland Longspur 1
Red-winged Blackbird 25
House Finch 2

Footnotes:

[1] dark phase at aboout 200m distance
[2] several in as close as 100m
[3] with spoons

Total number of species seen: 27
archived at: http://birdnotes.net/

--
Mike Patterson When I despair, I remember
Astoria, OR that all through history
celata at pacifier.com the way of truth and love have always won.
There have been tyrants, and murderers,
and for a time they can seem invincible,
but in the end they always fall.
Think of it...always.
- Mahatma Gandhi

http://www.pacifier.com/~mpatters/bird/bird.html