Subject: [Tweeters] re. Heerman's Gulls in Edmnods
Date: Sun Dec 4 15:41:34 PST 2022
From: Jon Houghton - jonbirder at comcast.net

Hi Tweeters and Dennis - Not only are those Heerman's still hanging on, despite our recent fairly chilly weather, but one of the Edmonds Brown Pelican's (new subspecies?) was still there as of December 2! We watched it fishing for small forage fish in a baitball, no doubt pushed up by a couple of Rhinoceros Auklets. When the pelican surfaced from plunge diving with a beak full of water and fish, it would get mobbed by the Heerman's while it tried to drain the water and gulp down the fish. The gulls were happy to scoop up the few fish that leaked out of the pelican's beak. So these two California species seem to know each other well! Didn't see any pelican there this morning, though. - Jon Houghton, Edmonds