Subject: 06-14-04 "Red-faced Cormorant" obs. at Ediz Hook most likely inaccurate
Date: Jun 21 14:51:46 2004
From: Eugene and Nancy Hunn - enhunn323 at comcast.net


I just got back and am reading these old e-mails, but no one seems to have
noted the fact that Red-faced Cormorants have pale yellowish-white bills
which are quite distinctive.

Gene Hunn.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ned McGarry" <ned.mcgarry at verizon.net>
To: <bruceb at olypen.com>; "Tom Aversa" <Tom.Aversa at Zoo.org>; "Tweeters"
<tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Cc: "Bob Norton" <norton36 at olypen.com>; "Bob Boekelheide"
<rivercenter at olympus.net>
Sent: Tuesday, June 15, 2004 8:16 AM
Subject: Re: 06-14-04 "Red-faced Cormorant" obs. at Ediz Hook most likely
inaccurate


> Looking at Sibley and reading the note at the bottom of page 52, one might
> make a pretty good argument for the Pelagic. They have red at the base of
> the bill during breeding (through May), and Sibley notes about Pelagics
that
> "large individuals occur throughout range". There's only a 1" difference
> between them, and the bill size isn't radically different.
> ______________________________________
>
> Ned McGarry
> Sammamish, WA
> ned.mcgarry at verizon.net
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Bruce Moorhead" <bruceb at olypen.com>
> To: "Tom Aversa" <Tom.Aversa at Zoo.org>; "Tweeters"
> <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
> Cc: "Bob Norton" <norton36 at olypen.com>; "Bob Boekelheide"
> <rivercenter at olympus.net>
> Sent: Tuesday, June 15, 2004 8:04 AM
> Subject: 06-14-04 "Red-faced Cormorant" obs. at Ediz Hook most likely
> inaccurate
>
>
> > Thanks, Tom, I too wondered about that (i.e., how often has this bird
been
> > reported in WA). Therefore, given what I could see of the bird, I'm not
> > going to accept it myself as a detailed enough observation to validate
it
> as
> > a Red-faced Cormorant. It was windy and overcast and the light was not
> > great, so I'm skeptical now that I may have misread the color at the
base
> of
> > the bill as red. But the bill was definitely too long and thick for a
> > Pelagic Cormorant. So, despite being quite close to the bird, I'm going
to
> > drop it as an observation to try and detail further. Anyone observing
> > cormorants out there, however, would be well to look more closely to see
> if
> > there could in fact be a "Red-faced" Cormorant around now. But at this
> > point, with nothing more to go on, I suspect it may have simply been a
> > Brandt's Cormorant that I misidentified.
> >
> > Bruce Moorhead
> > Port Angeles, WA
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Tom Aversa" <Tom.Aversa at Zoo.org>
> > To: "Bruce Moorhead" <bruceb at olypen.com>
> > Sent: Tuesday, June 15, 2004 6:56 AM
> > Subject: RE: Red-faced Cormorant obs. at Ediz Hook
> >
> >
> > > Hi Bruce,
> > > Thanks for the cc. This bird has only been seen once before in WA.
It
> is
> > extremely rare.
> > >
> > > If it's not too much trouble, it would be good to write up more
detailed
> > notes, and send them off to the WA Bird Records Committee (accessible
from
> > the WOS website).
> > >
> > > Thanks,
> > > tom
> > >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: Bruce Moorhead [mailto:bruceb at olypen.com]
> > > Sent: Mon 6/14/2004 7:19 PM
> > > To: Tweeters; Tom Aversa
> > > Cc: Bob Norton; Bob Boekelheide
> > > Subject: Red-faced Cormorant obs. at Ediz Hook
> > >
> > >
> > > At 4 p.m. today while walking (near the radio tower) on the outer Ediz
> > Hook road along Port Angeles harbor on a windy day, I noticed a largish,
> > thicker-billed dark black cormorant about 100 ft from me in the water
near
> > the shoreline, with a smaller and obviously finer-billed Pelagic
Cormorant
> > nearby about 30 ft from it. White was also obvious on the flanks and
back
> of
> > the larger bird, which didn't seem like a Brandt's (which are common
> here),
> > so I put my binocs on it and to my surprise could see red coloring
obvious
> > around the base of the bill. The white markings were in rather dorsally
> > prominent, ragged streaks along the back and flanks; guide book
> > illustrations (in Sibley and Harrison) indicate only more delimited
> patches
> > of white on the flanks, similar to those on Pelagic Cormorants.
> > >
> > > Didn't one of you Bob's see a Red-faced Cormorant here too recently?
> > What's the past history of them being around here; this is the first one
> > I've seen one in all my years here.
> > >
> > > Bruce Moorhead
> > > Port Angeles, WA
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> >
>