On 11/21 our son, a Washington State Department of Fish and
Wildlife employee, was tending nets set to catch White Sturgeon for
tagging in the Columbia River near Crow Butte State Park, Benton County,
WA. He said the fog was so thick that they could not see the net buoys
from a hundred yards and had to use a GPS to locate them. Several times
they had birds that seemed to be lost in the fog circling the boat,
species other than waterfowl included Mourning Doves. As they finished
pulling the nets and were heading back to the boat ramp they came across
at least 36 BLACK-BILLED MAGPIES that had apparently become lost and had
drowned. The birds were all floating on their bellies with their wings
outstretched and show no signs of violence such as gunshot wounds.
Wilson Cady
gorgebirds at juno.com