2001/2002 Observations

Notes:

13:04     404  Of the P/H Area  12 of
which were Juv.  1 Family Group of  4 Juvs.   
Total in the Bay  508 +  High waves and rain made this count
difficult . Agout  90 off the northern portion of the  Bay 
Toward 64 th Str,

13:15  Noted  3 Grey Bellied Brant  a partial      
Aqua Band the last code Symbols    ?EG   1 B/W 
1 Lame bird with the Left leg broken at the Ankle .

13:26   Off  66 Bands  Observed    
2 B/W Bands       1 Blue and White ;     
GLZ       -RL

Blue Bands  White Numbers     ;     
VGH   -LL       ,    
28N     -LL          
[ 28N had a mate B/W  238 Possibly ?? ]

White Bands Blue Code    ;        
/VL  ,             
>T4   Paired with  >S6

Black or Burgandy or ebony bands with White Codes  ;   
ER6   possibly paired with  EG2

Another strange DARK Coloured Code Black ? with White Codes  
-S0     -LL   This is the first time I've
seen a Blue or

Black    code with a Symbol Code  rather then a
letter or Number .

1 Metal Band Right Leg only

13:59  Counted   204  that could be obs. for race  
10 of which were GBB

14:04    133 Obs for Bands  1 W/B ,  3 B/W 
,

14:09  There was a dist. when a Northern Harrier chased some ducks
about the Lagoon  All Depart  I did  14:25 or so .

Left Leg    -S0     Black or Blue
with White Codes is a mystery  any one have any Idea's about this
one ?

  Richard Swanston  Delta , B.C. Canada  rickswan@netcom.ca

 

 

 7. Hi Jen,

Just thought I'd send an update. Our numbers in Morro Bay have increased to
2,400, which is pretty good for this time of year at this location.

John Roser

 8. English translate below

Hola amigos:
El dÌa 23 de noviembre de 2001; el grupo PAEB (Punta Abreojos y Estero de la Bocana) de secundaria, salieron rumbo al esterito de la Bocana, acompaÒados por su coordinardor el profesor Francisco Javier PatrÛn. Nuestro objetivo era observar brantas y contarlas.
Salimos del pueblo a las 9:15 am, en el automovil del profesor, llegamos a las 9:22 am. En el camino observamos un grupo de aves donde la mayorÌa eran pelicanos cafÈs. El clima no era muy bueno para la observaciÛn de brantas porque habÌa marea alta y con viento.
DespuÈs de mucho buscar, vimos el primer grupo de 12 brantas.
A las 10:39 nos fuimos al otro lado del esterito. Cuando llegamos, lo primero que escuchamos fue el sonido de las brantas y asÌ pudimos encontrarlas y comenzar a contarlas.
Contamos 532 brantas.
Regresamos al Pueblo de Punta Abreojos llegando a las 14:25.
Este fue nuestro primer reporte de nuestro grupo de monitoreo en Punta Abreojos, fue una experiencia muy bonita , la cual esperamos se vuelva a repetir.
Se despiden de ustedes:
El grupo PAEB (Punta Abreojos y Estero de la Bocana)
_________________________________________________________________

Hello friends:
At November 23, 2001; PAEB (Punta Abreojos and Estero de la Bocana) group from 9o grade, we went out to la Bocana little Lagoon with our coordinator teacher Francisco Javier Patron. We wanted find and count brants.
We went al 9:15 am, at teacher's car, and arrived at 9:22 am. At the travel we watched a bird group which almost was brown pelican. The conditions were not so good for brant observation because there were high tide and wind.
A time ago for looked for, we saw the first group, there was 12.
At 10:39 we went to the other side from lagoon. When we arrived, the first we heard was brants and we can found it and start counted.
There were 532 brants.
Finally we back to the Punt Abreojos Town and arrived at 14:25.
These is our first brant report from our monitoring group in Punta Abreojos, was a wonderful experience, that we hope do it again.
See you later:
PAEB Group.



 9. Hi Jen,

I just heard from someone working with brant in Bahia San Quintin. She said
the latest count there was 31,000. Here in Morro Bay we're still at 2,500,
and we're about halfway through our one month hunting season. Today our
entire population is spending the day about 1.5 miles offshore from the
sandspit on the open ocean in 14 foot swells, completely missing their
daytime foraging period. They were all chased off the bay by 10:00 this
morning by hunting activity and on days like this they won't come back in
until it is completely dark.

John Roser

 10. Nov.25,2001. Boundary Bay , Delta , B.C. Canada . Pump house Boundary
Bay Regional Park Tsawwassen . Wind Calm with the Tide rising fast
Part Cloudy .

10:02 Viewed 189 for race 4 Were Grey Bellied Brant .

10:09 Of 337 Brant counted Near the Pump house 16 were Juv. of
which 5 were from 1 Family Group .

10:12 Total count in the Western Bay 337 with a further 84+ off the
area between
the Northern Portion of the Bay .

10:20 to 10:30 for some reason ? [ wind shift ? ] the brant start
leaving the Bay in groups ?

10:30 15 birds out of the water No Bands .

11:32 Roberts Bank Coal Port Causeway [ Westshore Term . , Delta Port
.] looking toward the Tsawwassen Ferry Causeway Counted 289 Brant
. Off the Middle of the Middle between the causeways .

Nov. 26,2001. Off Pumphouse Boundary Bay Arrived at about 10:00 with
aprox. 250 to 300 birds in the area some already coming out of the
water . As the tide was rising fast and the birds were leaving the water
over a broad area I consenrated on reading what bands I could .

Yellow Band ; 8H1 This bird has a radio implanted and has been seen
on NUMEROUS times in the last few Years in Delta It appeared healthy
and . It was seen several times as were several birds around it clear of
the water yet no sign of it's mate
-AA that I'm almost sure I saw it with several days ago.

Yellow Band ; 4NH

Aqua Band R/L ; YEG

Green Band ; L1N

Blue Band ; L/L 5KH , 6TH , E9N R/L ,

Blue Band 45R [ this bird was Fat ab2.5]

There was a Bald Eagle Dist. at 10:39 most of the birds left the
Western Portion of the Bay . Also I noted that the Wind started to shift
direction .

Richard Swanston Delta , B.C. Canada 604 9482790 rickswan@netcom.ca

 11. Nov.25, 2001. Boundary Bay, Delta, B.C. Canada. Pump house Boundary Bay Regional Park Tsawwassen. Wind Calm with the Tide rising fast Part Cloudy.

10:02 Viewed 189 for race 4 Were Grey Bellied Brant.

10:09 Of 337 Brant counted Near the Pump house 16 were Juv. of which 5 were from 1 Family Group.

10:12 Total count in the Western Bay 337 with a further 84+ off the area between the Northern Portion of the Bay.

10:20 to 10:30 for some reason? [Wind shift?] The brant start leaving the Bay in groups?

10:30 15 birds out of the water No Bands.

11:32 Roberts Bank Coal Port Causeway [Westshore Term, Delta Port.] looking toward the Tsawwassen Ferry Causeway Counted 289 Brant. Off the Middle of the Middle between the causeways.

Nov. 26,2001. Off Pumphouse Boundary Bay Arrived at about 10:00 with aprox. 250 to 300 birds in the area some already coming out of the water. As the tide was rising fast and the birds were leaving the water over a broad area I concentrated on reading what bands I could.

Yellow Band; 8H1 This bird has a radio implanted and has been seen on NUMEROUS times in the last few Years in Delta It appeared healthy and. It was seen several times as were several birds around it clear of the water yet no sign of it's mate-AA that I'm almost sure I saw it with several days ago.

Yellow Band; 4NH

Aqua Band R/L; YEG

Green Band; L1N

Blue Band; L/L 5KH, 6TH, E9N R/L,

Blue Band 45R [this bird was Fat ab2.5]

There was a Bald Eagle Dist. At 10:39 most of the birds left the Western Portion of the Bay. Also I noted that the Wind started to shift direction.

Richard Swanston Delta, B.C. Canada 604 9482790 rickswan@netcom.ca

 12. Today, November 27, 2001 we saw approximately 152 brant. We saw 42 brant at Camp Kirby. The time was about 12:10. The next stop was at Norht Samish Island. We saw about 110 brant. The time was about 12:40. The last and final stop was at Swinomish Channel. We did not see any brant at all, but we did see thousands of different ducks all mixed together.

Justin, Britni, Leah and James
____________________________________________________________________________

Hoy, el día 27 de Noviembre, vemos aproximadamente 152 brantas. Vemos 42 brantas a Campo Kirby. Fue 12:10. El próximo lugar fue Isla Samish del Norte. Vemos 110 brantas. El ultimo lugar fue El Canal Swinomish. No vemos algunas brantas. Pero vemos patos diversos a millares.

Justin, Britni, Leah y James

 13. 09:18 Thurs. Nov.29,2001. Boundary Bay Delta , B.C. Canada . Boundary
Bay Regional Park Tsawwassen .
Part Cloudy Wind N.W. 20 Knots

Total in the Bay 160 + 40 to 50 off the northern portion towards
72nd str. Of 142 seen close at hand 4 were Juvs.

There was construction noise from a house being rebuilt near the Pump
house and Lagoon and a Bald Eagle on the Lagoon Spit so the birds were
reluctant to move toward the beach .

09:30 The Bald Eagle moved off this caused a disturbence but the birds
returned and aprox. 35 flew in .

09:35 More birds moved in for an est. of 200+ Brant . 2 Yellow
Banded Birds Obs. while tip feeding .

09:49 14 viewed for race of which 2 Gray Bellied were Obs.
+25 Birds est. 225

10:00 24 viewed for race all Black Brant

10:02 A disturbance caused by a large service truck driving out to
maintain the Pump House All Dep.

10:16 26 Obs. for Race all were Black Brant . Also seen 1 Brant
that appeared to be oiled with breast feathers matted 1 Lame with just
a stump on the Left Leg 2 with wing drupe . 1 Appeared injured seen to
head to the beach and not fly out with the flock .

10:22 Obs 3 birds out of the water a pair one with a Yellow band and a
Juv. The Y/B was a fat bird with an abdominal count of 2 .

10:24 Bald Eagle all depart


Dec.7,2001. 08:35 Boundary Bay at the P/H Tsawwassen Calm Clear tide
10.5 rising to 15.4 feet

08:51 of 310 Obs. 13 of them were Juvs. 4 or 5 of those juvs were
from one family group.

08:52 6 Gray Bellied birds fly in I.D. in flight 4 of which were Juvs
. Obs. a Blue band while one tip feed on it's L.L.

09:00 Counted a total of 706 Birds in the Western Bay

09:17 22 out of the water no bands

Obs. A Gray Bellied Pair with 4 Young out of the water One with a
Heart Shaped Symbol5T The first banded Gray Belly banded for this
year.

09:51 of 83 birds obs. for race 1 was a gray bellied Brant

09:57 Of 379 birds 13 were Juvs

10:12 COUNTED 948 Brant in the Western Bay .

14:43 The same Day 64 viewed for race 3 of which were Juvs.

14:49 Dist. Bald Eagle

15:03 36 Obs. for race 4 of which were Gray Bellies

Observed a Band on the Right Leg of a Brant *ZG or =ZG I made a
error in not recording the colour sorry I think it was Yellow though .

15:22 Obs. 97 for race 16 Gray Bellies

Blue band ; AZG

15:38 Of 185 Birds there were 17 GBB with 170 birds out of the
water 2 Bands were obs.



Dec.8,2001. 08:46 NNW 12 Knots Clear Tide 8 feet and rising
fast

09:04 Counted 496 in the Western Bay

Observed White Banded Brant Z6K with it's radio Antenna still
attached it was with it's mate W/B Z1S Both

birds appeared healthy Abdominal rate of 1.5 although the bird spent a
lot of time preening . These birds have been

seen in the Bay for several Winters PRIOR to one being implanted with a
radio several Years ago . Also obs. 1 sick bird

that seperated from the flock several times returning to the beach . 2
with druping wings

09:46 Obs. 91 for race 19 were GBB

09:52 of 305 close in 14 were Juvs. there were 2 family groups of
4 or 5 Juvs. 3 bird flight Obs .

15:02 SW 12 Knots Overcast Dec.8, 2001.

Observed Black or Blue Band
G63 There was a dist. all left
Sorry no numbers

15:14 3 Gray Bellied birds returned to the beach area 1 of which was
a Juv.

15:27 another dist all dep.

Dec. 11,2001. ENE 14 Knots RAIN Temp about 2 Cel. Poor Visibility
due to rain

08:50 Counted 853 Birds in the Western Bay BUT the poor visibility
made this a short count .

Yellow Band ; 8H1 with Radio Antenna WITH it's mate -AA
Both birds Heathly and like there counter parts

Z6K W/B which was not obs. today they were the FIRST birds out of the
water and it spent a lot of time preening the antenna area . -AA had an
ab count of 1 , 8H1 had an ab of 1.5

Green Band White codes ; L1N ab 1

Black or Blue Band White Codes ; 4V3 ab 1 L.L.

Blue Band White Codes ; 23S ab2 L.L. Paired
with 23N ab1 L.L.

Aqua Bands Black Codes ; LLZ Paired with another possibly
LKZ ?? BOTH had their bands on Backwards

THE RIGHT WAY to READ THESE BANDS Was ZLL and ZKL ????

Aqua Band Black codes ; NL8 ab1

Black or Blue Bands White Codes ; ARG

Of 338 Counted 16 Were GBB on one count of 293 22 were
GBB on the second . By about 10:00 the

rain had stopped and the wind had dead down but the birds had been
scared off possibly by house construction .

Richard Swanston delta , B.C. Canada 604 9482790 rickswan@netcom.ca

 14. First, we went to Camp Kirby. There, we observed 37 adult brant that were all flying. It was cold, windy and rainy, so the birds were further from the shore. Next, we went to North Samish Island where we saw 180 brant that were floating, swimming, and flying. It was also very cold and rainy here. Last, we went to the Swinomish Channel where there were huge flocks of many birds with some brant mixed in. They were mostly swimming and eating. At all 3 places, we went, the tides were very high and going out. Other birds we saw along the way were gulls, grebes, scoters, golden eyes, loons, bald eagles, red tailed hawks, great blue herons and pintails.

David, Ashley and Gracie
4 December 2001

________________________________________________________________________

Primero fuemos a Campo Kirby. Vemos 37 brantas adultas en bandadas. El tiempo frío, expuesto al viento y lluvios, y ocurrió que las aves fue muy distante a la playa. Después, fuemos a la Isla de Samish del Norte adande vemos 180 brantas hace nadien y en bandadas. El tiempo frió y lluvios a este lugar también. Por último, fuemos a El Canal Swinomish adonde vemos bandadas gigantes de las aves. Algunas las brantas mezclan en las bandadas. Fue marea alta a todos lugares. Vemos gaviotas, grebes, scoters, patos, águilas calvas, halcónes de colas rojas y garzas azulares.

David, Ashley y Gracie
4 Diciembre 2001


 15. Hi Jen,

On Morro Bay we had a pretty good influx recently. On 12/10 there were 2,100
brant on the bay and by 12/15 there were 3,400. Our population has been
fluctuating between 1,900 and 2,400 for several weeks before the 12/15 count.
Brant season was over here on 12/10 and a storm came through on 12/13.

John Roser
Morro Bay





 16. On 12/15/01 At Boundary Bay Delta, B.C. Canada At 11:25 with
aprox. 125 Brant in the area with about 65 birds out of the water on
arrival with a large ratio of Gray Bellied Brant 2 Aqua Bands
Obs. ZLL [ Band on backwards ] with what I believe was it's mate .
But before that band could be read 1 Bald Eagle scared off the birds
out into the Bay . Another Eagle showed up a short time later and
scared the Brant well out toward the middle of the Bay so I left .

12/18/01 Boundary Bay Again Wind from the SSE at 35 Knots with Rain
Showers the tide was falling but the winds caused a storm surge in the
Bay . With the seas running at 4 to 5 feet in the shallow Bay it was
impossible to get a overall count . At 13:40 aprox. when I arrived small
numbers of brant were in close to the Sand spit where they normally haul
out but a child and adult were playing on the Spit the child ran out and
scared off the Brant and Ducks . Walking up the dike a Juvenile Brant
was seen within 30 feet of the dike hauling out by itself on the beach
. Well away from other Brant that were well out into the Bay .And very
close to people and dogs walking the dike !
After the adult and child left the Spit area it took aprox. 20
minutes for the Brant to move into the Spit area again .
With the first Brant hauling out at 14:47 a pair of Black
Brant with no bands one of the pair had it's Left leg broken and partly
off .
The next out was a lone Gray bellied bird that also had a
Lame left leg that required the bird to move across the beach flapping
it's wings then flopping down unable to stand .
A Black Brant Adult limping badly hauled out next with a
Juvenile following it closely .
14:49 A White Band was obs. but not read .
14:52 Of 23 brant out of the water 4 were Gray bellied birds
including
There was a series of disturbances 2 Red Tailed Hawks caused the birds
to swim away from the beach but they quickly returned only to be scared
off again by a Man walking on the far shore . Then a adult Eagle scared
them off into the middle of the Bay . So I left.

15:30 At West Shore Container Port [ Delta Port ] . A large container
port facility a group of 18 brant were located within 25 to 35 Feet of
the roadway were hundreds of cars and large semi trailer units were
driving . 17 were Obs for band non were seen there was one family group
of 5 Juvenile birds another family unit of 4 Juveniles all Black Brant
. There was aprox. 200 to 250 Brant further off the beach riding out
the wind and swells . Located near by was an Ivory Gull a VERY RARE
visitor from the Arctic !!
This is the first time one has been seen in the Vancouver / Delta area .

For the last 3 weeks we have been experiencing winds of 40
to 50 Knots with near record rain falls . With the tides now at seasonal
day time high's all through the daylight hours . It is my belief that
these poor conditions are having a dramatic effect on the young and sick
Brant . Forcing them to ignore the threat of feeding near people and
moving traffic . Could all the injured birds be the result of the
hunting season in Washington State this Year ??
Merry Christmas Richard
Swanston Delta , B.C. Canada
.






 17. We didn't see any brant because it was very rainy and windy. The waves were very choppy which made brant observation very difficult. We also saw seagulls, pintail ducks, mallard ducks, cormorants, widgeons, buffleheads, golden eyes, eagles, hawks and great blue herons. We saw a Gyrfalcon, which is very rare in this part of the country. We went to three different sites and had a wonderful time!

Kristopher, Mike, Ashley and Heidi



No observamos algunas brantas porque el clima no era bueno. Era lluviosa y ventosa. Las olas eran muy picada que hace observación de las brantas muy difíl. Tambien observamos gaviotas, patos, cormaránes, águilas, halcónes y garzas. Observamos una Gyrfalcon que es muy raro en este parte de Los Estados Unidos. ¡Hoy, viajamos a tres lugares y tenemos un tiepmo magnífico!

Kristopher, Mike, Ashley y Heidi





 18.
12/20/01 NNE wind at 5 to 7 knots Arr. at 12:49 Just as a canoe with
3 persons scares off 200+ Brant mid Bay from the area near the 12th
Ave Pump House Boundary Bay Delta , B.C. At 13:00 25 have returned
to the P/H area 13:20 a Bald Eagle scares them off
I depart shortly after that .

12/21/01 13:21 At the Pump House Boundary Bay Delta , B.C. Ocast
with Lt. Airs
Off the N.E. Point of Boundary Bay Park 4 Black Brant out of the water
No Bands
13:26 Total count in the Western Bay 509 + with 398 off the area
between 64th and 72nd Street .
1 Injured Black Brant on shore off the Pump House No Band 79 Brant off
the P/H of which 9 were Juv's .
13:28 A maintenance truck servicing the P/H scares the Brant further off
shore
13:34 13 Black Brant out of the water no bands
13:38 24 Viewed for race all Black Brant .
13:40 bald Eagle Dist. all depart . I left shortly there after .

12/26/01 08:30 There was a Ice Slurry along the shore line EXCEPT
for an area of shoreline kept clear by the Pump House and lagoon water
flow . Brant and Ducks attempted to move into this small area repeatedly
but Bald Eagles scared them off .
Aprox. 150 to 250 off shore just beyond the ice .
09:51 At the Truck Entrance to Delta Port aprox 30 feet from the
roadway with hundreds of loaded semi units running by constantly near
the container yard and train loading area Total 21 of which 11 were
Juvs. Most of these were obs for bands None Seen 2 family units of 4
juvs .

12?27/01 08:44 Pump House Calm Ocast 53 Brant obs. Gray and
Black Brant
08:48 + 50 Brant
09:01 Counted 198 Brant off the p/H

**** OF 165 Viewed for race of which 108 were Gray Bellied
Brant 1 Juv. GBB

*** 09:02 Of 12 Brant Out White Band with Radio antenna
Z6K AB 1.5

*** 09:08 White Band Z1S Mate of the Radio Bird .

*** GRAY BELLIED BRANT With Blue Band White Codes Left Leg Last
Code ?Y4 I'm sure about the 4 the Y was less sure
This bird never fully left the water and it along with the mate did a
lot of fighting .

09:17 Black Brant with Lame Left Leg . A dog walker and the pump
starting caused a dist all departed .
09:28 91 return with 6 of them being juvs.
09:41 All Depart the Bay

12/28/01 08:48 Pump House Boundary Bay East wind at 10 Knots Ocast
Tide 11.9 and falling Total 84 and right off there was a bald
Eagle dist.
09:13 Of 131 obs for race 56 were Gray Bellies 3 GBB Juvs were
seen .
09:26 Total off the P/H 236 Brant . + 29 just arriving
09:34 189 viewed for race of which 61 were Gray Bellied Brant .
09:37 Bald Eagle Dist .
** 16:18 Just at sunset At the Container Port Delta , B.C. 12
Brant of which 2 groups of 4 Juvs made up family units .

Jan 3, 2002 . Pump House Boundary Bay SSE 15 to 20 Knots Pt Cld.
Tide 11.5 Feet Est of 95 Brant

Aqua Band Right leg SRZ AB. 1.5

Of 54 viewed for race 25 were Gray Bellied Brant .
15:28 bald eagle Dist all dep .
15:41 Counted a Total of 612 Brant in the Western Bay Most Mid
Bay and between 64th and 72 nd Street Boundary Bay .
16:11 Again at the Container Port 1 pair with 4 Juvs.

Jan.4,2002. Pump House Boundary Bay East 8 to 10 Knots Ocast
13:33 29 Out No bands .
13:38 66 Viewed for race 8 of which were gray bellies .
13:44 Of 116 off the P/H 4 were juvs.
13:46 52 Out No Colour Bands BUT 1 Metal Band Right Leg
13:50 With 80 birds out 1 Aqua Band , 1 metal Band , 1 with both
wings drooping ,
1 Very Lame Right leg .

13:56 Aqua Band Right Leg Y7N AB 2

13:57 Bald Eagle Dist. all dep.
14:00 31 return Of 26 Viewed for race 9 were Gray bellies .
Of 31 of which 2 were Juvs. 1 of which had wig droop .
14:06 11 out no bands Bald Eagle Dist . All Dep.
14:10 21 Return

14:19 20 out of the water Aqua Band Right Leg Y6Z
Ab 1.5

Blue Bands White Codes Left Leg 247 Ab 2 , GL8 Left
Leg AB 2.5

15:40 Aqua Band Right Leg 8TY Ab. 2

Jan 5, 2002. 13:00 Arr. to find Bald Eagles at Least 4 of them
hunting an injured waterfowl off the Pump house scaring everything off
into the middle of the Bay . So I left .
13:21 At the Container Port total of 6 of which 4 were juvs .
14:05 At the Pump House Boundary Bay Aqua Band obs.
14:10 Before I could read the above a Dog Off leash running from the
North end of the spit scared the birds into the water .

14:13 Aqua Bands Right Leg YR2 Right Leg HHL
Ab1

14:22 Of 110 Birds viewed for race 17 were GBB . 1 White Band
Obs.

White Bands ; Right Leg >T4 Ab 2 Paired with Right
Leg >56

Blue Bands ; Left Leg 2GL Ab 1.5 Paired with Left
Leg 5A1 Ab 1 ,

Blue Band ; left leg HV3

14:39 78 out of the water Bands as per above
14:42 Of 114 Brant 7 of which were Juvs All Black Brant
Juvs 17 of the 114 were GBB
14:51 Dist All Dep Dog running on the north part of the Spit
15:12 Another Dist . Dog running on the North part of the Spit
15:22 Obs Orange Band Black Codes .

Jan .6,2002 14:04 Tide 13.4 and Falling Possible Storm surge ? the
tide should have been lower IT has UGLY Heavy Rain Low Cloud Cover
ENE 25 Knots
And DARK !
Total off the Pump House 57 which 4 were Juvs. 3 Gray bellied Brant

Blue Band ; 4V3

Yellow Band ; 6N4 ? This was an old band and hard to read in the
POOR light .

At the Container Port total 14 Near the truck entrance 2 family
groups with 4 juvs. and 1 lone adult with a juv. the adult was in poor
shape . It could be obs. out the car window at about 20 feet away .


 19. Good Day All ; Some observations of my personnel opinion on
weather and perhaps predator effects on Brant Geese. Bald Eagle numbers
are starting to increase with reports of more then 50 birds counted
during the Christmas Count in the Eastern Section of Boundary Bay also
reports of increased numbers though out the Delta , B.C. area . Prior to
Christmas the South Coast was thrashed with high winds after a few days
of freezing temperatures that had parts of the shoreline covered with
ice and slush . Along with seasonal day time high tides . Brant were
prevented from feeding on the shoreline .
An interesting observation is that this Years
fledging of young in the Brant population is down to 4% to 8 % . Yet
almost daily sense the last bit of bad weather two family groups both
parents and 4 young for a total 12 birds have been observed, feeding at
High Tide along the beach within 100 feet of the MAIN Truck entrance of
Delta Port . Within feet of a roadway that services 200+ Semi trailer
trucks and hundreds of employee cars running to and from the Container
Port . Although this area is rich in eel grass and sea lettuce it shows
just how desperate these two large family groups are. To remain in this
area in spite of the continuous noise. There has been, as was the case
today other birds there but it generally it's family units . This day
one adult bird with one juvenile. These two could be observed very
closely out the car window and the adult appeared in poor condition .
Several hundred brant regularly habituate the area between the
Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal Causeway and the Delta Port Causeways surface
feeding on eel grass and preening and loafing at the falling tide off
the Tsawwassen First Nations Lands all Winter .

Yours Richard Swanston
Delta , B.C. Canada


 20. Today, on our brant trip we saw many different animals. Our first stop was at Camp Kirby on Samish Island. We saw about 200 brant that were very far away from where we were standing. Some of them were flying around, but most were swimming. It started to snow while we were at Camp Kirby.

Our second sto was at North Samish Island. It was very cold and the tide was really high. We saw a large flock of 150 to 200 birds that were probably brant, but they were so far away that we couldn't tell for sure.

Our last stop was at the Swinomish Channel. It was very cold and cloudy here, too. We didn't see any brant, but we saw a juvenile cormorant, a belted kingfisher and lots of ducks.

This trip was really fun and exciting.

 21. 12:00 Our fist stop was at Camp Kirby and we saw the only flock of brant for the day. We counted about 100, but it was very windy and the waves were so big that it was hard to tell exactly how many there were. We also saw an eagle eating a bird. We saw a brant mixed in with a group of seagulls, we thought that was very unusual.

12:30 Next, we stopped at North Samish Island. We didn't see any brant here, but we did see seagulls, cormorants and ducks.

1:25 Finally, we stopped at the Swinomish Channel and there were no brant, but we saw hawks and Pintails.

It was very snowy here in the morning, but the sky cleared up and even turned blue and all the snow melted.

 22.
We arrived at the Padilla Bay Interpretive Center and received our branting supplies (binoculars, spotting scopes, clipboards with data sheets and bird identification books) and we put them to work immediately when we saw an eagle perched in a tree outside the building. We also saw a sapsucker pecking on a maple tree.

Then, we set out for Camp Kirby. We arrived there at 11:30 a.m. and began our search for Brant. But, the rain and wind made our job very difficult because they made large waves which made it hard to see the Brant. We did see a few, but it was impossible to tell how many there were in the flock.

Then, we went to the north end of Samish Island. We arrived there at 12:00. While we were driving there, we stopped and saw a beautiful Northern Harrier swoop down and catch a mouse. We didn’t see any Brant at north Samish Island, but we did see a lot of Loons and Great Blue Herons.

On the way to Swinomish Channel, we spotted an eagle nest. We saw four Bald Eagles and lots of Great Blue Herons. Finally, we came to the site and found no Brant. We did see loons and other birds, but no Brant. By this time, the rain had stopped but it was still windy and cloudy.

On our way back, we saw a community of Great Blue Heron nests in the trees. The nests are not being used right now, but will be used when the herons lay their eggs. To pass the time in the car, we decided to play a game called "the what game". Whoever said the word "what" became "it" and had to try to make someone else say "what". When we arrived back at the Padilla Bay Interpretive Center, we sat down and wrote this report for you to read. We hope you have fun on your brant adventures, like we had on ours.

Amber, Brennen, Eric and Miranda


 23.
We arrived at the Padilla Bay Interpretive Center and received our branting supplies (binoculars, spotting scopes, clipboards with data sheets and bird identification books) and we put them to work immediately when we saw an eagle perched in a tree outside the building. We also saw a sapsucker pecking on a maple tree.

Then, we set out for Camp Kirby. We arrived there at 11:30 a.m. and began our search for Brant. But, the rain and wind made our job very difficult because they made large waves which made it hard to see the Brant. We did see a few, but it was impossible to tell how many there were in the flock.

Then, we went to the north end of Samish Island. We arrived there at 12:00. While we were driving there, we stopped and saw a beautiful Northern Harrier swoop down and catch a mouse. We didn’t see any Brant at north Samish Island, but we did see a lot of Loons and Great Blue Herons.

On the way to Swinomish Channel, we spotted an eagle nest. We saw four Bald Eagles and lots of Great Blue Herons. Finally, we came to the site and found no Brant. We did see loons and other birds, but no Brant. By this time, the rain had stopped but it was still windy and cloudy.

On our way back, we saw a community of Great Blue Heron nests in the trees. The nests are not being used right now, but will be used when the herons lay their eggs. To pass the time in the car, we decided to play a game called "the what game". Whoever said the word "what" became "it" and had to try to make someone else say "what". When we arrived back at the Padilla Bay Interpretive Center, we sat down and wrote this report for you to read. We hope you have fun on your brant adventures, like we had on ours.

Amber, Brennen, Eric and Miranda

 24.
On our way to Camp Kirby we saw a Prairie Falcon, which is very rare around here. We arrived at Camp Kirby around 12:00 and we saw around 320 brant. Some of them were very close to shore and we could tell that they were gray bellies because the white rings on their necks did not go all the way around. They were dipping down to eat and we could see eelgrass hanging out of their beaks. They looked like they were having a lot of fun playing in the waves.

At 12:45 we stopped at the north end of Samish Island. We did not see any brant there. We think maybe because it was very windy and the water was very choppy. We did see a few seagulls flying above the water and a motor boat, which also may have scared the brant away.

At 1:45 we went to the Swinomish Channel. We found 10 brant there and they were walking around on the end of the spit. We also saw a lot of ducks. After Swinomish Channel, we drove further along the coast, but did not find anymore brant.




 25. February 26, 2002
We went to Camp Kirby and saw many birds. Most importantly, we saw 62 brant. They were swimming. We also saw eagles, mergansers and seagulls. Then we went to North Samish Island, but we didn’t see any brant there. But, we did see golden eyes and mergansers. We were very excited to see two harlequin ducks. Finally, we went to Swinomish Channel. We arrived at 1:45 p.m. and looked at birds for about 25 minutes, but didn’t see any brant. We did see eagles, mallards, pintails and widgeons.

Febrero 26, 2002
Fuemos a Campo Kirby y observamos muchos aves. Más importante observamos 62 brantas. Los brantas nadaron. Tambien observamos águilas calvas, megos y muchas gaviotas. Después fuemos a Isla Samish norte pero no observamos algunas brantas. Pero fuemos patos, mergos y gaviotas. Enthusiasmamos por observamos do patos arlequínos. Finalmente, fuemos a Canal de Swinomish. Llegamos a 1:45 p.m. y observamos aves por 25 minutos per no observamos algunas brantas. Pero observamos águilas calvas y patos.


 26. Monday Feb.25, 2002. Boundary Bay, Delta BC Canada
At the Pump House area:
08:38 - 71 Brant, 26 of those were Gray Bellies. 22 were out of the water,
no Bands.
08:50 - Total now 90 with 5 of those being Juveniles.
08:54 - All depart when the a bald eagle flew up attempting to grab a Duck
or Seagull.
08:57 to 09:17 - I went for a walk and could see several groups of Brant
attempting to use the beach but 12 Bald Eagles were fighting over a duck
carcass that floated into the area.
.
09:25 - 22 brant arrived of which 3 were juvenile. One of those was a Gray
Belly juvenile. Five were viewed for race all were Gray Bellies
09:32 - 420 to 450 Brant in the Western Bay Area. Of 40 birds viewed for
race, 7 were Gray Bellies

09:45 - Aqua Band 8TY.

10:08 Band sighted: HEARTV0 is a Gray Belly, Mate not banded.


 27. Morro Bay brant numbers for the last few weeks are as follows: 2/3 - 4,500;
2/18 - 3,500; 3/2 - 2,600. We've had unusually warm, calm, dry weather for
the past month. The spring exodus seems to be ahead of schedule compared to
the last few years, perhaps climate related?

John Roser

 28.
Today we went on a brant trip. We started off by going to the Padilla Bay Interpretive Center. At the Center we picked up our spotting scopes, binoculars, clipboards and bird books. From there we went to Camp Kirby, where it was windy and cold but still sunny. We didn’t find any brant but found buffleheads, hawks, eagles and seagulls. While we were there we hung out with a cool dog, named Sammy.

Our next stop was North Samish Island. There we saw other birds like grebes and mergansers, but still no brant.

The last stop we made was at the Swinomish Channel. We arrived there at 1:30 pm and saw a bald eagle perched on a telephone pole. Still, we did not find any brant.

We had a great time on this trip, but think it would have been better if we had seen some brant.
_______________________________________________________________________

Hoy, fueramos a una viaje de brantas. Empiezamos por viajamos a El Centro Interpretativo de Bahia Padilla. A Bahia Padilla, recibir los catalegos, prismáticos, papeles de datos y libros de aves. Fueramos a Campo Kirby, donde hace muy expuesto al viento y frio, pero hacer una dia de sol. No observamos algunas brantas, pero observamos patos, halcónes, águilas y gaviotas. Todo el tiempo, jugamos con un perro fenómeno.

La próxima parada estuve La Isla Samish Norte. Observamos otros aves, incluso patos y mergos, pero no brantas.

La ultima parada estuvo El Canál de Swinomish. Llegamos a 1:30 p.m. y observamos una Águila Calva posarse en una polo teléfono. No observamos algunas brantas.

Pasarlo bien en el viaje de brantas, pero pensamos el viaje hace muy bien si observamos algunas brantas.


 29.
Observers: Sec. 85 Pioneros del Valle

We went to Old Pierre where we saw approximately 1000 brants, some were swimming, and other was flying. After we observed brants, we decided look for new place and took another route to see more brants. Then when we back, we listened some shots, and everybody turn to the sea and observed in the area a boat and a van. We didnít sure who was shouted, but we think that was the people who stayed at the boat. Approximately was 4 or 5 shots that we listened, then brants started communicate its.

We were continuing whit the trip when we found two different ways, then we chose right one and drive but there were a river and we could not cross it. We back and take the other way but the bus got bogged down in the sand for 15 or 20 minutes. After this, the teacher said that the gasoline was over and we had return to the school. These were some problems at our brant observation.

 30.
Location: Punta Abreojos
Observers: Sec. Estatal Francisco Estrada Lucero


This day we made our brant festival and observations at Estero del Coyote Lagoon. We arrived at 11:00 to the lagoon. First Priscilla and Dinorah, partner from classroom,  told us about the brant. Then we start the observations by boat and finally we conclude the festival with a little party where we eat and organize some plays.


 31. Date: Nov 11, 2001
Location: Laguna San Ignacio
Observers: Esc Prim Braulio Maldonado Sandez
Numbers of brants seen: 407 brants
Percent Juv: n/a
Comments:
Today we went to Pachicoís Camp. The day was great, really sunny and without wind. AT 2:00 pm we saw 392 brants, a great blue egret and 32 gulls. After, we went to La base Camp and observed 15 brants at 3:30 pm.



Date: Nov 16, 2001
Location: Laguna San Ignacio
Observers: Esc Prim Braulio Maldonado Sandez
Numbers of brant seen: 465 brants
Porcent Juv: n/a
Comments:
At 3:10 pm we went to ìLa Cuevitaîand observed 465 brants, 62 gulls, 150 godwits and a great blue egret. Some of its were feeding. The weather was fine.


Date:Nov 18, 2001
Location: Laguna San Ignacio
Observers: Esc Prim Braulio Maldonado Sandez
Numbers of brant seen: 668 brants
Porcent Juv: n/a
Comments:
First we went to Kuyimaís Camp, day was clear and really great. We observed 653 brants feeding at 2:41 pm. Then we went to La freideraís Camp and saw 15 brants flying, 120 godwits, 52 sandpipers and 2 great blue egrets at the same area.


Date: Dec 15, 2001
Location: Laguna San Ignacio
Observers: Esc Prim Braulio Maldonado Sandez
Number of brants seen: 22,000
Comments:
We were at Kuyimaís Camp to made our last observations in the year because we would took vacations. In this place we met Daniela and David, both came from Alaska to count brants and work in research project to the US government. They talk with us about their works and results of the observations in this place. They told us that in this lagoon they count approximately 22,000 brants, 8,000 at the south side and 12,000 brants at the north side of the lagoon. They found a lot of juveniles. That is all the information at this moment; we are waiting for more notices from you soon.


 32. Monday Feb.25, 2002. Boundary Bay, Delta BC Canada
At the Pump House area:
08:38 - 71 Brant, 26 of those were Gray Bellies. 22 were out of the water,
no Bands.
08:50 - Total now 90 with 5 of those being Juveniles.
08:54 - All depart when the a bald eagle flew up attempting to grab a Duck
or Seagull.
08:57 to 09:17 - I went for a walk and could see several groups of Brant
attempting to use the beach but 12 Bald Eagles were fighting over a duck
carcass that floated into the area.
.
09:25 - 22 brant arrived of which 3 were juvenile. One of those was a Gray
Belly juvenile. Five were viewed for race all were Gray Bellies
09:32 - 420 to 450 Brant in the Western Bay Area. Of 40 birds viewed for
race, 7 were Gray Bellies

09:45 - Aqua Band 8TY.

10:08 Band sighted: HEARTV0 is a Gray Belly, Mate not banded.

 33. Today we went on a brant trip and saw lots of brant! We started our trip at Camp Kirby at 11:30 a.m. It was so windy at Camp Kirby that we had a hard time walking and the birds had a hard time flying. Even though it was windy, we were able to spot some brant and counted close to 200. We’re quite sure there were many more, but couldn’t tell because the 45 to 50 MPH winds made big waves and were blowing our equipment around. Most of the brant were swimming, but small flocks kept taking off and landing in different parts of the bay. Just before we left, a small flock flew up to the beach and started eating gravel.

Our next stop was North Samish Island. It was 12:00 and we didn’t see any brant. But we did see loons, goldeneyes, and mergansers.

Our final stop was at the Swinomish Channel where we spotted 6 brant. They were up on the beach and seemed to be getting gravel.

On the way home, we drove past a big group of herons’ nests and we saw herons in them! It was really cool. We had a wonderful time on our trip today.

Xavier, David, Gracie and Britni


 34. We were beginning to worry about the Brant! They arrived very late this year in Coos Bay. They are hanging out a little futher north than in past years, as well, so it's possible they were here for a few days before we noticed them!

 35. It was very windy! We got into the van and drove to Fossil Point, where we set up our spotting scopes and pulled our hoods on over our heads. We counted 130 Brant floating out on the Bay near a gravel bar. We also played with a big, friendly dog who wandered over and we observed life in the tidepools. It was fun, but all of our ears were cold!

 36. Tuesday, March 19,2002.
Boundary Bay – Pumphouse at 12th Ave., Tsawwassen, Delta, B.C.

8:55 - Arrived at the pumphouse. The wind 10 to 14 knots from the SSE, later turning to the SW. There was a immature Bald Eagle on the pump house hydro pole and about 80 to 100 Brant. The tide was perfect, 12.6 and falling fast.

8:57 - The bald eagle was persuaded to remove itself from the pole. As it left, it swung out into the Bay and caused the Brant to fly about a bit but they settled off the pumphouse.

9:10 - 80 to100 brant off the pumphouse

9:14 - Spotted a pair of brant with white bands, /NN and /SS

9:15 - A mature eagle flies HIGH over the Bay and pumphouse, all brant depart.

9:22 - 64 brant return, 5 are juveniles.

9:24 - 5 black brant up on the beach, no bands.

9:30 - Counted 377+ brant in the NW Bay (sorry about the + but some
MIGHT have been missed in the chop-off at the pumphouse). 48 viewed for race, 4 were gray bellies. 9 on the beach, no bands.

9:46 - 48 on beach. Bands spotted:
Blue Band on left leg, 2Z9 (could have been 279).
White Band, *3Y or =3Y
Blue Band L01
White Bands /NN /SS again

9:48 - Bald Eagle disturbance, all brant depart, then 11 return.

Prior to the brants’ departure, I observed a short 3-bird flight. One of the birds (black brant) quickly returned after a brief fight on the ground and then in the air. Also observed one black brant with a lame right foot and barely able to stand. And another one of those gull attacks on a healthy looking brant? The gull chased the brant on foot, pecking it on the head. This was followed by an in-flight pursuit with what could be the bird’s mate following behind the gull?

On Monday, March 18,2002 at about the same time I attempted to see some brant but we had a full blizzard with high winds and snow. Tuesday morning it was about 2 Degrees Celsius, but there was still snow on the ground and a small amount of ice slurry on the high water mark around the bay.

Richard Swanston Delta , B.C.


 37.
We left Bay View Elementary and drove to the Padilla Bay Interpretive Center. We gathered our gear: spotting scopes, binoculars and bird books. It was VERY rainy and cold all day.

First, we visited Camp Kirby. We saw about 150 brant. Most of them were very far out in the bay, but about 20 were up on the beach putting oil on their feathers and eating gravel. We also saw many other birds like Red-breasted Mergansers, cormorants, and gulls. Just before we left, a helicopter flew over and scared away the brant.

Next, we visited North Samish Island. But, we did not find any brant. We did see Goldeneyes, a Brown Creeper, and Black-capped Chickadees.

Finally, we went to the Swinomish Channel. Again, we didn’t see any brant. But there was a giant flock of ducks (there were too far away to tell what kind of ducks).

Kristopher Schimke, James Barnett, Brandy Hooker and Leah Carlson
________________________________________________________________________

Salimos la escuela y conducimos a Museo Interpretivo de Bahía Padilla. Recogimos nuestros equipos: los catalejos, los prismaticos y los libros de aves. Llovío y hacemos muchos frios.

Primero, visitamos a Campo Kirby. Observamos aproximadamente 150 brantas. Más de las branta nadan el la bahía, pero algunas brantas estan en la playa pusemos el aceite en sus plumas y comemos la grava. Observamos también los mergos, los cormoránes, y las gaviotas. Un helicóptero vuente sobre y los aves dispersa.

Proximo, fuemos a Isla Samish del norte. Pero no observamos algunas brantas. Observamos los patos y las aves canoras.

Finalmente, visitamos a Canál de Swinomish. Otra vez, no observamos algunas brantas. Pero observamos una bandada de los patos.

Kristopher Schimke, James Barnett, Brandy Hooker y Leah Carlson


 38.
Today on our brant trip we saw 150 to 200 brant at the first stop, Camp Kirby. It was raining lightly and was VERY windy, which made it hard to count brant! There were a few fishing boats out in the bay and the brant stayed far away from them. At our second stop, North Samish Island, we didn’t see any brant. But we did see a group of Red-breasted Mergansers. Our third stop was the Swinomish Channel. The tide was very high and it was still very cold, windy and a little rainy. We saw loons and ducks, but no brant.

Nakeshia, Heidi and James
________________________________________________________________________

Hoy en el viaje de branta, observamos 150 a 200 brantas en la parada primera, El Campo Kirby. Los condiciones atmosfericas era mucha ventosa y lluviosa, por tanto tengamos un tiempo mas difícil de cuenta las brantas. Hubo barcos de pesqueros en la bahia y los brantas no acercamos a los barcos. A la parada segunda, La Isla Samish del Norte, no obervamos algunas brantas. Pero observamos una bandada de mergos. A la parada tercera, hubo una marea alta y hacemos muchos frios, mucha ventosa y poca lluviosa. Observamos los somorgujos y los patos, pero no brantas.

Nakeshia, Heidi y James


 39. April 3,2002 - Boundary Bay, 12th Avenue Pump House, Tsawwassen, Delta, B.C.

Weather - calm wind, clear sky
Tide - 12.2 and falling
Temperature - 6 degrees Celsius

9:25 Off the pumphouse, a total of 3 brant - 2 were Gray Bellies.
9:36 Total of 7 brant, 5 were Gray Bellies. All adults. All checked for bands, but none seen.
9:50 21 counted in the Northwest end of the Bay.

I made a quick trip to both causeways at the high tide and saw no brant along the shoreline. I did find a small number of 4 to 7 off the Ferry Terminal at Tsawwassen near an area I've called the Compensation Lagoon. During previous springs, this area has been in a popular haul out area during high tides. Due to a lack of time, I did not scope the area.


April 3, 2002 – 1605 Edward’s Drive, Point Roberts, Washington, U.S.A.

West of the marina
Weather – winds 8 to 10 Knots, clear sky
Tide – 8.8 feet and falling

11:13 - Total of 6 brant, no juveniles. 29 more observed 1/2 to 3/4 miles off the Lighthouse Park area.
11:49 – 9 brant out of the water, all black brant. A total of 33 brant spotted, all adults.
12:15 - 6 more brant flew in and just as things were getting interesting, I had to leave.

Bands Observed
White Band 11H (right leg)
Blue Band 348 (right leg)

Richard Swanston
Delta, B.C., Canada


 40. Today, April 2, 2002, the four of us set out on our second brant trip of the year. It was sunny (a little overcast) and windy all day.

As we were setting up our spotting scopes and practicing how to use them we noticed a large flock of brant out in the bay just out from the Interpretive Center. We counted about 400. We think these brant might be on their way back north from Mexico because we don’t ever see brant in this location.

Next, we went to three locations to count brant, but only saw brant at one of them. At the North end of Samish Island we saw 140 brant flying just above the water.

On our way back to the Interpretive Center we drove around March’s Point where two oil refineries are. It was a very low tide and we spotted a large flock of black birds out on the mud. We stopped to look and found out they were brant! We counted 500, but they were too dense to get an exact number.

Other birds we saw on our trip were Bald Eagles, gulls, Widgeon, grebes, Red-Breasted mergansers, Harlequin ducks, Great Blue Herons, loons, scoters and Mallards.

Amy, Erica, Kyle and Mouse

 41. Bodega Bay

 42. This observation was from Tomales Bay, along with the previous observation from Bodega. This observation is posted by Chris Nicolai. Went back to these bays on April 6th and similar numbers. Saw a few bands, unable to read.

 43.
Brant numbers on Morro Bay (central California) have dropped from 3,000 to
600 in the last two weeks. The spring exodus is on.

John Roser

 44.
Sunday, April 7, 2002. 1605 Edwards Drive, Point Roberts, Washington, U.S.A.

clear skies and light, variable wind

19:00 – Total near 1605 - 293 Brant, 8 Juveniles. 31 out of the water - all Black Brant, no bands

19:13 – 51 brant out of the water - all Black Brant, no bands

19:27 – 163 brant out of the water and the following bands were read:
White Bands: >R6 (right leg), 60G (right leg), 2V1 (right leg), +K2
Green Bands: L1N (left leg)
Yellow Bands: 400 (right leg)
Blue Bands: HRY (right leg)

19:29 – There was a Bald Eagle disturbance

19:31 – 328 brant return, 8 juveniles
White Bands: LOL and G93 (right leg)

19:45 – There was a disturbance (???). All birds flew out and the sun was setting, so I left.

Richard Swanston Delta , B.C.


 45.
April 11, 2002
17:40 – Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal (Compensation Lagoon), high tide

Compensation Lagoon is a small man made salt marsh habitat that was created as compensation for a major expansion of one of the worlds largest car ferry facilities. It is very near to the highway that carries hundreds of large transport trucks and thousands of cars and buses daily. 25 brant were in the lagoon; one of them was a juvenile. I also saw one very pale bird that could have been a juvenile, but it was difficult to tell. This is the first time THIS spring that I've seen brant using this area. Funny enough, the wintering brant use this area VERY rarely. During past spring seasons several hundred birds could be seen at this site, especially on the high tides (12 foot +). 14 brant were observed for bands today with no success. Bands at this sight can be read out the car window.

Richard Swanston
Delta, B.C.


 46. Morro Bay's brant numbers have done the following: 3,000 on 3/21; 2,000 on
4/1; 600 on 4/8; 65 on 4/14. At this time of year, however, observers along
this section of the California coast note thousands of brant flying northward
right offshore, but they go right past Morro Bay without stopping for a
bellyfull of eelgrass.

John Roser

 47. Today we went to the Padilla Bay Interpretive Center to get our spotting scopes, bird identification books, and binoculars. Then we headed off to Camp Kirby. There, we saw 36 brant bobbing up and down in the waves. It was very cold and windy. Next, we went to north Samish Island, where we saw exactly zero brant. We did see a bald eagle hunting, which was AMAZING! We watched it for 15 or 20 minutes before it finally dove down and snatched up a loon. Then it carried the loon over to a rock and began to eat it. Other birds (gulls and eagles) were trying to steal the eagle’s lunch. Finally, we went to the Swinomish Channel where we saw between 2,000 and 2,500 brant. But, they were so far away that it was really difficult to count them and we think that our count might be a little low. Other birds we saw today include loons, herons, gulls, mergansers and bald eagles.

Brett Gaspard, Eric Spangler, Lena Wise and Ashley MacGavin


 48. Today on our brant trip we made three stops: Camp Kirby, North Samish Island and the Swinomish Channel. We saw approximately 3000 brant at Camp Kirby, but did not see any at the other two stops. Other birds we saw were bald eagles, great blue herons, gulss, buffleheads and belted kingfishers. Today’s trip was a wonderful experience for all of us and we are looking forward to our big boat trip next week.

Jenny Chong, Jennifer Perez, Travis Hernandez and Corey Thompson


 49. This was our first field trip as a class to go and see the Brant. We took a bus to Fossil Point, not very far from the school, and set up scopes to watch the Brant. We observed them on a gravel bar and floating in the Bay. It was a beautiful, warm day, but the wind was blowing.

We also took a close look at eelgrass and sea lettuce and we mapped out the habitat that the Brant are found in.

In our class, we have been talking about how each year, we see less and less Brant. When the project started, in 1996, we saw 1200 Brant on our Bay. This year, no one ever reported seeing more than about 300.

Is anyone else noticing lower numbers of birds in their areas?

Charleston Elementary
Mrs. Neal and Miss Yovino's Classes (4th grade)

 50. We are Charleston Elementary 5th graders. We went to Fossil Point to see the Brant and map their habitat and study eelgrass and sea lettuce. The day was pretty, but the winds were blowing. We got into three groups to study plants, geese, or mapping. We had a great time, and afterwards, we took a bus out to a place called Shell Island to watch sea lions, elephant seals, and harbor seals. We also saw some bald eagles.

Charleston Elementary School
Mrs. Banta and Mrs. Main's Class (5th graders)

 51. Exciting news!

In the Coos Bay area, we had all been a little concerned because in past years, our numbers of visiting Brant seem to have been dropping. But April 26, a biologist with the Bureau of Land Managament called us to report 1150 Brant in the Bay at a place called Pigeon Point!

It's nice to know our Brant Friends haven't forgotten about us!

-Charleston Elementary School and South Slough Reserve

 52. May 8,2002

10:00 Checked out the areas around Point Robert's, Washington , U.S.A. West and East of the marina and Light House Park. No Brant were observed. The tide was low (about 6 feet). Partly cloudy with a SSW wind at 10 to 12 Knots…Ideal Conditions .

12:15 Checked the area around the Tsawwassen Ferry causeway and the Compensation Lagoon. There were 80 to 90 birds on or near the Compensation Lagoon breakwater. I viewed approximately 25 of them for bands, but no luck. I spotted an estimated 750 to 780 brant between the Causeways and the Ferry Terminal.

Richard Swanston Delta , B.C. rickswan@netcom.ca



 53.
I wanted to let you know that I observed approximately 90 brant at Tramp Harbor, on Vashon Island, about three weeks ago. According to some local birders they were hanging out there for quite awhile this spring. I meant to report it, but somehow I let it slide. Sorry! Anyway, I went down there to check today, and there were none. I suppose they have moved on. It was neat to see them in the vicinity of such a large metropolitan area (although Vashon is a bit of a refuge from the concrete).

-Keelan Morse-McPhee

 54. June 2, 2002

6:07 PM
Wind south at 10 Knots with a ripped sea
clear sky, warm temperature (16C)
Position – 49’ 06.3"N, 123’ 26.74"
5.4 nautical miles West North West of the Sand Heads Light off the Fraser River, near Vancouver, B.C. Canada
A FLOCK OF 50 TO 65 BRANT WERE OBSERVED FLYING NORTH UP THE STRAIGHT OF GEORGIA

7:48
Winds now East-Southeast at 10 Knots
2.7 Miles off the Robert's Bank Coal Terminal (also called Westshore Terminal) near the Tsawwassen Ferry Term. Delta, B.C.
ANOTHER GROUP OF 45 TO 55 BRANT FLYING NORTH UP THE STRAIGHT

Both flocks were sighted at close range from a vessel.

Of Note was that the wind turned later in the evening to East-Northeast at 22 Knots.

I thought that these sightings of mine would interest some one?

Richard Swanston Delta , B.C.


 55. July 23,2002 – Tuesday evening at the pumphouse, Boundary Bay, Delta,B.C.

1 Brant was sighted on the beach around 8:20 pm. It was molting and in appeared to be in bad shape. After 30 minutes, I was finally able to see an Aqua leg band on its right leg. The code was difficult to make out, but the last letter was "S" and the middle appeared to be a backwards "4"??? I was unable to read the first letter. Around 9:10, a peregrine falcon flew in, scattering 300 western gulls, 5 semi-palmated plovers and 25 least sandpipers. The brant did not fly away until about 9:18(just after sunset) and flew to the north side of the bay. It seemed to have a difficult time flying.

Awaiting the winter arrivals,
Richard Swanston Delta, B.C. Canada



July 24, 2002

WHAT A FLUKE! I was performing a survey of harlequin ducks at Point Roberts, Washington, U.S.A. east of Lighthouse Park when I saw the summer brant AGAIN! It was still not very active…lying on the rocks in the sunshine, well out of the water. I walked out in an attempt to get it to stand and after I got pretty close, it stood up and displayed the Aqua band very nicely.

Aqua band H4S

It will be interesting to see if this banded summer vagrant survives the molt. Well, after I slowly left (to not stress the bird any further) an eagle approached it. The bird flew off and made a big circle out over the Strait and back to the beach. Neat, eh…a little summer experiment!

Richard Swanston Delta, B.C. Canada