Greetings Tweeters,
Yesterday Keith Brady and I decided to go down to Brownsmeade OR and spend some time relating to the Arctic Loon that has been seen there recently. The bird was present and very cooperative between 0900 and 1100. Conditions were excellent and the site is very good for observation and photo ops. For those that have not seen this species well, this is a great location.

We located the bird immediately after our arrival at 0900. It spent the entire time feeding in the slough along Pentella (sp?) lane and could be readily observed from various points along that road. The bird was very successful in it's fishing ventures seeming to catch fish on each/most dive(s). At first it looked like it was feeding on salmonid smolts (there are spring Chinnok net pens just upstream), then a few times what looked like sticklebacks. This got me to thinking how long this bird may stay, origin of the food source (Gnat Creek, hatchery, or lower Columbia fish), smolt out migration, or roaming of these schools. There is certainly plenty of good habitat nearby, but food seems concentrated here, at least for now.

Thanks to all who posted updates. This is a really nice place for careful/ close observation, or at least it was on Friday.

Cheers and good birding
Bill Shelmerdine
Olympia
mailto: georn1 at hotmail.com
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