Subject: [Tweeters] Merlins and Snow Geese
Date: Mar 25 19:59:28 2008
From: Marv Breece - mbreece at earthlink.net


Today (3/25/08) was a day of birding extremes.

I observed a pair of copulating MERLINS in Burlington, Skagit County. Then I visited the Samish Flats. The wind was strong and the birds were hunkered down, so I didn't stay long.

Made a stop in the afternoon along Boe Road, south of Stanwood, Snohomish County. While scanning the large flock of SNOW GEESE in search of a blue morph (didn't find one), an adult Bald Eagle got the birds up. When the chaos was over, the eagle had procured its meal, and 14 additional Snow Geese were down. Apparently, the combination of the eagle coupled with the strong wind was too much for the birds, and several flew directly into the power lines, even though the lines were equipped with bird diverters. One line was severed and lay on the road. A worker from PUD was also present when this happened and he called it in. After several minutes, 2 of the geese came to and flew away. They appeared fine except for the fact that each bird had one useless dangling leg. Other birds were obviously dead and a few were dazed and may have recovered later. I have seen large flocks of Snow Geese take to the air in close proximity to power lines on countless occasions. Never before have I seen an incident like the one I witnessed today.


Marv Breece
Seattle, WA
mbreece at earthlink.net