Yesterday (11/19) Netta Smith and I watched an immature BROWN PELICAN
flying south well offshore from Point Roberts, WA. Quite an exciting
sighting when all you're thinking about is Long-tailed Ducks and
Ancient Murrelets and other northern birds. It was more or less
heading toward Saturna Island, BC, but was still in US (Whatcom Co.)
waters.

Today (11/20) we saw a female LONG-TAILED DUCK at the south end of
Harrison Lake, BC (at Harrison Hot Springs). Perhaps not surprising
for a lake, that although well inland, has resident harbor seals, and
perhaps a late fall migrant.

For those people who haven't visited that area, it's it's worth a
visit at this time of year. There are swans (mostly Tundra but some
Trumpeter) everywhere, and we counted/estimated about 300 Bald Eagles
in sight from one viewpoint along the west side of the Harrison River
north of hwy 7. There are thousands of dead chum salmon (and guess
what that smells like!) and, at this time of year, still many live
ones, many right at your feet when you get to the river. Perhaps the
neatest thing about it is its scenic beauty. Even today, when there
was lots of fog, the mountains on either side of Harrison Lake were
spectacular, and the views up the Harrison River equally so. To see
eagles and swans and many, many ducks and gulls all around while
looking at snowy mountains is a special treat. A scope is a necessity
to identify the full range of bird species here. If you're a salmon
aficionado, go down to Kilby Provincial Park and walk along the
river. We've seen dead and almost-dead individuals of four of the
region's salmon species (all but pink) at and on the shore, and you
can examine them closely, if odoriferously. You can also see a lot
along Nicomen Slough, between the Harrison River Bridge and Mission
on hwy 7.
-----
Dennis Paulson
1724 NE 98 St.
Seattle, WA 98115
206-528-1382
dennispaulson at comcast.net

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