Hello Tweets:
I guess I made a mistake when I called a very-bright Pelagic Cormorant a Red-faced Cormorant. I was at Brown's Point Light House at the north corner of Tacoma's Commencement Bay today, Thurs, Mar 18. It was 9:00 am, about 2 hours after high tide when I saw the bird right in close to me for a short while. The red face of this breeding Pelagic Cormorant was spectacular, and the white patches on the flanks really stood out on the bird as it perched in the water. I made some notes into my recorder, and said the red on the face came over the bill, but mainly ws below the eye. Unfortunately, I did not notice whether the bill was especially light in color which would have been diagnostic. The bird returned when I was about to leave in the car, and I looked at it w/ my scope from about 500 feet. I noted then that the bill appeared to be gray, and at certain angles looked yellow. But I did not look in a book that said the bill should be light in color.
So I'm blaming little Sibley! That book only shows a dark face, and white flank patches on the breeding Pelagic picture. Later I got to look in big Sibley. It had much more info about Red-f Cormorants, and said that Pelagics go into breeding plumage Feb-May, while Red-f goes into it Apr-May. But the bird I saw was intermed between Pelagic and Red-faced Cormorant. Darn it!
I guess I should have applied the adage, "If you hear hoof beats, don't think of zebras."
I was amazed at the many birds that were at Brown's Point and Dash Point Pier (which is about 2 miles north of Brown's Pt.) that were in breeding plumage, or going into it. All 3 cormorant species had birds in spectacular breeding plumage. Several people showed up to view birds, and we got to see bright Brandt's Cormorants w/ long plumes on their heads and necks, extremely bright DC Corms which looked different from usual, and we saw about 3-5 Pelagic Cormorants in breeding plumage. The one Pelagic I saw up close was very bright greenish on head and neck, it had a crest, and the red on the face was extensive. But the bill color was gray. And we weren't in Alaska...
Several Red-necked Grebes were going into breeding plum., w/ red necks, white cheeks, and black crests. A single Red-throated Loon out in Commencement Bay was in winter plumage. Several Pigeon Guillemots were going into breeding plumage, and looked really smudgy.
For once I was out birding (doing a little scouting trip) and didn't have my whole library of field guides with me. I'm blaming my mis-identifying on the "Sibley Guide to West. Birds". I apologize.
Yours, Carol Schulz
Des Moines
carol.schulz50 at gmail.com