Subject: [Tweeters] Re: Bird patterns in Puget Sound
Date: Jan 5 18:59:27 2006
From: Brad Waggoner - wagtail at sounddsl.com


Hi Tweets,

In comparison to last year, I do believe that bird numbers in the Central
Puget Sound are down this year. I would like to believe it is just a normal
cyclical thing, but?????

In August I took a few salmon fishing trips to an area just off of the
ferry docks at Vashon Island. Schools of herring were much less plentiful
than in previous years. I also found this to be the case out in the Straits
of Juan de Fuca in July. Salmon Fishermen are always looking at either the
depth finder or the water surface for bait-fish activity. It just wasn't
happening this year. I guess I feel that this translates into what we are
seeing this year when it comes to bird numbers in the Sound. Less food means
less birds. Any biologists out there studying the waters of Puget Sound that
perhaps could shed some additional information on this subject?

Alcids have been kind of the "indicator" birds when I have thought about the
low bird numbers this year. However, additionally I noticed much less jaeger
and tern activity this year. In fact, I only had one Parasitc Jaeger off of
the shores of Bainbridge Island this past Fall and it was a fly-by. Normally
a few can be seen harassing terns in our waters during the season. There
just didn't seem to be gulls and terns working bait-fish schools. Even the
productive waters of Point no Point had fewer terns and jaegers this Fall.
In 2004 my high count for Parasitic Jaegers was 20 compared to just 4 this
past Fall.

Monday I took my boat out to see if I could find some lingering Red
Phalaropes. No such luck for me. Maybe for the phalaropes this is a good
thing as that strong southeast wind may have pushed them back out to where
they belong. Anyway, I had a few Common Murres, one Rhinoceros Auklet, a
couple Brant, and 20 or so Mew Gulls. There wasn't much going-on!



Brad Waggoner
Bainbridge Island, WA
mailto:wagtail at sounddsl.com