howdy all:

today (2/4/08) at about 1515, in a rough formation suggesting either a pheasant drive or some sort of coordinated u-boat tactic a couple dozen common mergansers in company with about six cormorant sp were cruising the snoqualmie river just upstream of the 202 bridge. they were proceeding downstream occasionally putting head under water apparently to scope out the bottom. every so often a bird would dive under the surface. by working downstream while paddling they were moving along a good clip. i had first spotted them from the road around borst lake, so i sped down to the bridge assuming i could get decent closeups from the bridge deck as they came west down the river. unfortunately, they pulled up before getting very close to the bridge. we'll see later whether 200mm was enough to get anything enlargeable (is that a word?).

the great majority of the birds were males in breeding plumage. very hot lookin' birds, they.

regards,

dave templeton
fall city

crazydave65atinboxdaughtcom

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