International Brant Monitoring Project
Observation Log

1996/97 Observation Log

1997/98 Observation Log

1998/99 Observation Log

1999/2000 Observation Log

2000/2001 Observation Log

2001/2002 Observation Log

2002/2003 Observation Log

2003/2004 Observation Log

1998/99 Observations

Date Location Observers Count Percent Juveniles Notes
Oct. 3 Delta, B.C. Richard Swanston 4 N/A 1
Oct. 14 Izembek, AK Tracy Schafer 126,000 N/A 2
Oct. 26 Izembek, AK Tracy Schafer -- N/A 3
Nov. 6 Boundary Bay
Delta B.C.		 Richard Swantson 27 N/A 4
Nov. 5 Yaquina Bay, OR David Pitkin 33 N/A 5
Nov. 7 Cold Bay, AK Tracy Schafer yes N/A 6
Nov. 7 Morro Bay, CA John Roser 389 N/A 7
Nov. 8 Morro Bay, CA John Roser yes N/A 8
Nov. 10 San Quintin,
Baja Calif.		 Hugo Martinez 100 N/A 9
Nov. 10 Morro Bay, CA John Roser 698 N/A 10
Nov. 12 Cold Bay, AK Tracy Schafer yes N/A 11
Nov. 12 Delta, B.C. Richard Swanston 34 N/A 12
Nov. 16 Morro Bay, CA John Chesnut
John Roser		 640 N/A 13
Nov. 18 Guerrero Negro,
Baja Calif.		 Grupo Las Brantas yes N/A 14
Nov. 18 Delta, B.C. Richard Swanston 54 N/A 15
Nov. 23 Morro Bay, CA John Roser 1168 N/A 16
Nov. 23 Coos Bay, OR Susan Hootman 9 N/A 17
Nov. 26 Delta, B.C. Richard Swanston 72 N/A 18
Nov. 21 San Ignacio,
Baja Calif.		 Club International Branta 300 N/A 19
Nov. 26 Coos Bay, OR Susan Hootman 149 N/A 20
Nov. 28 Coos Bay, OR Susan Hootman 32 N/A 21
Nov. 30 Coos Bay, OR Mike Graybill 160 N/A 22
Nov. 30 Delta, B.C. Richard Swanston 573 N/A 23
Dec. 1 Delta, B.C. Richard Swanston 438 N/A 24
Dec. 1 Padilla Bay, WA Bay View School 50+ N/A 25
Dec. 2 Yaquina Bay, OR David Pitkin 184 N/A 26
Dec. 5, 1998 Morro Bay, CA John Roser 2232 N/A 27
December 8, 1998 Padilla Bay, WA Bay View School 175 N/A 28
December 15, 1998 Padilla Bay, WA Bay View School 125 N/A 29
December 17, 1998 Izembek Lagoon, AK Cold Bay School 12,000 N/A 30
December 18, 1998 OTHER OTHER 25,000 N/A 31
January 5, 1998 San Ignacio Lagoon, Baja Cal. Club Internacional Branta 1000+ N/A 32
January 6, 1999 Padilla Bay, WA Bay View School 880 N/A 33
January 22, 1999 Delta, B.C. Richard Swanston 250 N/A 34
Jan 27, 1999 Padilla Bay, WA Bay View School 250 N/A 35
Jan. 23, 1999 Estero la Bocana, Baja Cal. Branta SudCalifornia P.A.E.B. 277 N/A 36
Jan. 30, 1999 Padilla Bay, WA Bay View School 0 N/A 37
Jan. 31, 1999 Estero la Bocana, Baja Cal. Branta SudCalifornia P.A.E.B. 475 N/A 38
Feb. 4, 1999 Coos Bay, OR Charleston Elementary School 10 N/A 39
Feb. 7, 1999 Padilla Bay, WA Bay View School 98 15/83 40
Feb.23 Padilla Bay, WA Bay View School 280 not determined 41
Mar. 2 Padilla Bay, WA Bay View School 194 N/A 42
Mar. 9 Padilla Bay, WA Bay View School 85 15.3 % 43
Mar 14 OTHER OTHER 250 N/A 44
Mar 15 OTHER OTHER 300 N/A 45
Mar 22 OTHER OTHER 50 N/A 46
Mar. 14 Coos Bay, OR Charleston Elementary School ~200 ? 47
Mar.23 Padilla Bay, WA Bay View School 700 2% 48
Mar 23 OTHER OTHER 120 N/A 49
Mar 24 OTHER OTHER 225 N/A 50
mar 26 OTHER OTHER 200 N/A 51
Mar 29 OTHER OTHER 210 N/A 52
Mar. 30 Padilla Bay, WA Bay View School 188 NA 53
Apr 2 OTHER OTHER 1600+ N/A 54
Apr. 2 Coos Bay, OR Charleston Elementary School 200+ ? 55
Apr. 13 Padilla Bay, WA Bay View School 414 n/a 56
Apr. 20 Padilla Bay, WA Bay View School 500 n/a 57
Aprl. 27 Padilla Bay, WA Bay View School 3200 n/a 58
Aprl. 29 Padilla Bay, WA Bay View School 1350 n/a 59
Aprl. 29 Padilla Bay, WA Bay View School 1350 n/a 60
May 4 Padilla Bay, WA Bay View School 80 n/a 61
May 6 Padilla Bay, WA Bay View School 1075 n/a 62
May 11 Padilla Bay, WA Bay View School 329 n/a 63
April 21, 1999 Qualicum Beach, B.C. Qualicum Beach Middle School 71 n/a 64
April 21, 1999 Qualicum Beach, B.C. Qualicum Beach Middle School 70 n/a 65
April 21, 1999 Qualicum Beach, B.C. Qualicum Beach Middle School 76 n/a 66
April 21, 1999 Qualicum Beach, B.C. Qualicum Beach Middle School 89 n/a 67
April 30, 1999 Qualicum Beach, B.C. Qualicum Beach Middle School 108 n/a 68
April 30, 1999 Qualicum Beach, B.C. Qualicum Beach Middle School 31 n/a 69
April 30, 1999 Qualicum Beach, B.C. Qualicum Beach Middle School 32 n/a 70
April 30, 1999 Qualicum Beach, B.C. Qualicum Beach Middle School 43 n/a 71
April 30, 1999 Qualicum Beach, B.C. Qualicum Beach Middle School 40 n/a 72
May 18, 1999 Qualicum Beach, B.C. Qualicum Beach Middle School 150 n/a 73
May 20,99. Delta, B.C. Richard Swanston 5 0 74
May 27, 1999. Delta, B.C. Richard Swanston 9 N/A 75
May 11 Padilla Bay, WA Bay View School 329 n/a 76
may 18 Padilla Bay, WA Bay View School 2892 n/a 77
May 20 Padilla Bay, WA Bay View School 2042 n/a 78
Jun.11,99. Delta, B.C. Richard Swanston 15 N/A 79


Notes:


 1. Just thought you would be interested that this Summer 4 possibly or probably 5 Brant at least 5 have spent the Summer in
the Delta, B. C. Area.They are as of last Wednesday healthy and well. In the past few years we have had Brant Summer in
the area usually one or two birds that appear sickly or injured. I've made numerous attempts to read bands one the 4 Brant
that have made the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal there Summer home but have been only able to see one bird out of the water
at any given visit. the others stay in the water or well out of range sorry. One other bird has been reported but Not Obs. by
myself at the Iona Sewage Jetty near the Vancouver Airport in Richmond B. C. I've heard that there prolonged stay here is
due to poor feeding in there Summer area's. It would be nice to see a band to see if there are some Winter birds in the group.
Hope someone can use this information... Richard.

 2. Hello all Brant Friends --
I apologize for this long silence from your northern friends. Life gets pretty hectic with all the birds showing up and all the folks
visiting to see the spectacle.
As of Wednesday, October 14, there were approximately 126,000 brant, 51,000 Canadas and 3500 Emperor geese at
Izembek! We're keeping pretty close track this week.
The flocks are beginning to get larger and larger. It's a sure sign that they will be leaving soon. The snowline continues to fall
and the days continue to shorten. It's just all over way too fast...
More as I get information... ~~Tracy at Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, Cold Bay, AK

 3. Hello again to all our Brant Friends --
Snow has fallen in Cold Bay and the Canada geese are leaving in droves. What a spectacle it is to see the mountains covered
in snow, providing a beautiful, serene backdrop for the groups of calling Canadas heading south.
The brant have made no move to begin their mass exodus. We are watching and listening each night. Last night the Canadas
were definitely out, but alas, no brant.
I will continue to keep you posted...Tracy at Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, Cold Bay, Alaska

 4. On Friday Nov. 6, 1998. At Delta B. C. Canada Boundary Bay Seven Brant with three juviniles in the group were
Observed . Another 20 Brant were seen From the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal looking toward the Robert's Bank Coal
Terminal the Boundary Bay birds werte seen at 10:15 am.
Thanks Richard Swanston rickswan@netcom.ca

 5. After receiving Tracy's message about brant leaving Izembek on Nov. 3rd, we hoped to see brant arriving 2-3 days later
here at Yaquina Bay in Oregon. I checked for brant on the bay at 9:45 a.m. on Nov. 5th, but found none. At 3:50 p.m. the
same day, Roy Lowe found that 6 brant had arrived -- he saw a family group of two adults and three juvenile birds, and a
single adult. One of the adults had a yellow band, but the bird walked into the water before Roy was able to read the code.
So we know that the first brant arrived sometime between 9:45 a.m. and 3:50 p.m. on Nov. 5th.

This morning (Nov. 6th) at 10:00 there were 33 brant on Yaquina Bay, including 21 adults and 12 juveniles. Two adult brant
were banded: one was yellow/black 424 (probably the one Roy saw the previous afternoon), the other was blue/white 51L.
The yellow-banded bird is very likely a fall migrant which has stopped at Yaquina Bay on its way south to Mexico, since
yellow banded birds do not normally winter on Yaquina Bay. Blue 51L is an adult female which wintered on Yaquina Bay the
last two seasons. The first year it arrived on October 28th, and last year it arrived on November 5th, so it's right on schedule.
Thanks for the great report, Tracy!David Pitkin,USFWS, Oregon Coastal Refuges

 6. Most of the brant are still here. We're experiencing some pretty heavy winds (40-60 mph) from the S-SE. The wind
started Wednesday and is predicted to continue into tomorrow. I think that has put a huge block on the majority of the birds.
I'll be watching closely this weekend.

 7. Morro Bay has had quite a few brant off and on for a few weeks, probably passing through. Nov 1= 13, Nov 5= 22, Nov
6=244, Nov 7=389

 8. This afternoon I got 9 band reads in the drizzle. 5 of the 9 I saw last year, including a pair from Prudhoe Bay. They were
seen in San Quintin Bay last winter together then here in the spring. Just for fun I looked them up on the band site. They were
banded together on 8/2/92 as adults, were seen in Mexico the next winter and weren't seen again until last winter. This is fun.

 9. Since we received Tracy's message from Alaska, we have been aware of the arrival of our flying friends. Friday 6 and
Saturday 7 of November I went to the Bay hoping to find some flocks arriving to the San Quintin Bay, but nothing! Saturday
evening I just could observe about 100 geese silhouetted but the observation is not very reliable because they were very far.

 10. That's interesting that most of the Brant are still in Alaska. My counts have been: 11/5=22, 11/6=244, 11/7=389,
11/8=466, 11/9=698. Last year on 11/9 there were only 192. Hunting starts today. It will be interesting to see if our numbers
temporarily dip once shooting begins.

 11. The winds have calmed in Cold Bay (it blew 83 mph this weekend!) and hunters are reporting seeing several thousand
brant still on the lagoon. No groups have been heard moving at night. With no recent aerial surveys, an attempts at
"guess"-timating the number of brant would be very questionable. It has truly been an odd year beginning last spring when
many of the brant bypassed Izembek and staged in Port Moller several miles north of us. It's great hearing all the reports
come in. The weatherman in Cold Bay says that there may be a system bringing winds from the north later this week. We'll
see...

 12. On 11/10, I made my first band observation of the Winter season with a total flock of 14, 3 of which were juvenile birds.
Two White bands were seen on birds while they fed and graveled in the Bay. Later 2 adult birds and 2 juvenile birds hauled
out of the water. On 11/11, no brant were seen in Boundary Bay, but 42 were counted btwn. the Tsawwassen Ferry
Terminal and the Robert's Bank Coal Terminal at Delta. On 11/12, 34 Brant were seen in Boundary Bay. Conditions were
poor - 6-7 degrees Celsius, low clouds and heavy rain showers. Winds were from the SE at 25 mph. 8 of the birds were
juveniles. 11 birds were observed for bands with one seen. Two marbled godwits were feeding in the mixed flock of canada
and brant geese.

 13. Hunting season began 11/10. Nine separate parties with decoy sets were active on the bay 11/11. After gunning started,
the single large flock present on the bay split into several smaller groups. I flew the bay on Friday, 11/13 with the Fish and
Game pilot in order to monitor eelgrass distribution. We flew at 100 feet, so counting brant numbers from the air was not very
practical (estimated 844 brant). The flight did not seem to disturb the flocks. Total eelgrass acreage on the bay does not
exceed 120 acres this fall. this is up from 1997, but hundreds of acres below reported cover in the 1994. A devastating
wildfire and flood runoff damaged the bay significantly after 1994. El Nino water conditions seem to have encouraged the
competing growth of Ulva/Entermorpha in 1997. Have other observers noted fluctuations in eelgrass cover, esp. in the El
Nino years?

 14. The brants just began to arrive, and we went out to the lagoon to welcome them. We are very excited to be able to
participate in the project.

 15. At 10:37 AM, 37 birds were out of the water - a total flock size of 54 with 9 juveniles. One Blue band (RT6) was sighted
in Boundary Bay, Delta B.C. This is the first band I've sighted this year. The flock was flushed and left the Bay when an eagle
and a peregrine flacon soared over the shore. It was a clear day with light SW winds, the temperature was 10 degrees C. All
birds but two were black bellied brant. Two were possibly gray bellies or mixed race birds? Later at Point Robert's,
Washington, 2 brant were observed grazing on grass in a field at least 110 feet from the high water mark. At Lighthouse Park,
none of the birds were banded. One appeared to be injured with a problem with its wing. They could be approached at close
quarters and the healthy bird would not leave its partner even when a dog approached. The Park's caretaker said the pair had
been there since November 16.

 16. Last night, with the weather disturbance, our Brant population went from about 661 to 1168. The juvenile/adult ratio went
from around 30% to 18% with the new influx. This means few of the new visitors were in family groups. Just a fun FYI.
Today I got 8 band reads, including Mr. and Mrs. White. When we looked them up on the laptop last summer in the Delta, I
was told nobody had seen Mr. White, and that she had re-paired with an unbanded male and they hatched 3 eggs. Something
is terribly wrong here. I e-mailed my friend up there to recheck his data. It was fun to see the happy couple again, although
this year they appear childless. Mr. White is White 38T, his lovely mate is White 3T4. Their son from last year, White 9Y8, is
also visiting us again this year.

 17. This morning I saw 6 Brant acroos the Coos Bay fly my way. Later they were joined by three others. 6 had no bands. 3
were unknown.

 18. Finally, I was able to read some bands at Boundary Bay - 10:04 AM, with the tide 14.8 feet and rising, a wind from the S
under partly cloudy skies, temp about 8C. With a total flock of 76 brant. In the western part of the bay, 2 injured birds hauled
out on my arrival with no bands. The rest of the flock were swimming mid-bay. In one group of 72, there were 13 juveniles.
At 10:08, they started to heard toward the spit. 10:13= 72 were off the spit, 3 were out of the water with no bands.
10:18=14 were out and a green and an aqua band was seen. 10:25=something scared the birds off the beach, 10:30=73
returned and 6 were on the spit, 10:37=18 birds were out of the water, 10:40= 11 were out and two bands were spotted -
Blue Band,white numbers: 2K4 and an aqua band, black numbers - NL8. 10:53= a dog walker caused a major disturbance
walking out on the lagoon spit - all birds fly and 30+ leave the bay. 11:14=42 brant return to the spit area. 2K4 and TG7 and
a group of 4 young were observed for 25 minutes defending the same eel grass island, fighting off all comers. The dominant
bird appeared to be TG7. This bird was brutal. 11:38= 23 were out of the water. Also saw a juvenile bird with a lame left leg.
11:45= an eagle disturbed the flock. All departed and so did I.

 19. The 21st of November we realize the first field (trip) in this year. In that time we observing the flocks - 300 brant,
approximately eight ringed. This observation realized in the Manglar near of the field of Kuyima in San Ignacio Lagoon. In that
time we observe different kinds of birds, we study about them and here are the list in English and Spanish and scientific names:
(English listed here) Semipalmated Plover, Double-crested Cormorant, Marbled Godwit, Long-billed Curlew, Osprey,
Western Gull, Foster's tern, Heerman's Gull, Brown Pelican, Great Blue Heron.

 20. Many more brant visitors on Coos Bay over Thanksgiving. Throughout the week we've had high winds and lots of rain.
1:15 PM = 22 Brant on mudflat - 5 with bands - 3 white, 2 unknown - right leg - white T2H. 56 Brant on water, 68 brant
across bay on water, 5 brant up the bay on water. Cheers!

 21. 32 Brant were observed floating on the water - no bands seen.


 22. I observed 150-160 Brant in the lower portion of the Coos Estuary near the mouth of the South Slough inlet at 10 AM on
26 November 1998. The birds were in two groups, flew in, and landed in a deep water portion of the estuary. I observed
them for approximately 10 minutes. During that time they remained in the water preening and swimming about. They did not
appear to be feeding. If they were feeding the only food available in the area where I observed them would have been floating
at or near the surface. This is an unusually large number of Brant in this area of the estuary at this time of year. It is noteworthy
that the day prior to this observation severe southerly winds blew along most of the Oregon coast in excess of 70 mph. Ocean
conditions were severe, the worst I have ever observed. Winds in the Coos Bay, Oregon area blew in the range of 40-70
mph during most of the daylight hours on Nov 25th. I had the impression that the observation of Brant in coos Bay was
associated with the large scale extreme weather systems that have moved over the coast in rapid fire succession starting on 21
November on through today. I observed the Brant during a one day lull between storm events.

 23. On 11/28 there were 450 brant at Boundary Bay. Bands: White - EAE, Z6K, Zl6; Aqua- H0K, H8R (a pair); On 11/30,
there were 573 brant (due to hunting taking place on the Northern part of the bay, the rant were nicely concentrated near the
Boundary Bay Regional Park.) Bands: White- STE, 8EK, 5T5; Aqua - SRZ, Y83; Yellow- 6HL, HNH; Blue- Z66. At least
4 of the birds were grey bellied brant. 2 marbled godwits were still in the area. I hope that someone has seen an old friend in
this list. We are very near the normal winter season high counts for Northern Puget Sound Boundary Bay birds. Are we
seeing the result of a movement of birds down the EAST Coast or inside of Vancouver Island, due to a succession of strong
windstorms or the west coast hurricane force wind over a three day period? Response from Dave Pitkin, USFWS: Aqua
HOK and Aqua H8R probably wintered on Netarts Bay on the Oregon Coast during the 96/97 and 97/98 seasons. They
were seen on Jan. 5 and Feb. 4 1997 at Netarts Bay, and again the following season on Dec. 12, 1997 and Feb. 24 1998 at
Netarts Bay. The January and December sightings occurred when birds are neither arriving at nor departing from Oregon
estuaries; in Oregon, fall migration usually ends by late Nov or early Dec., and spring migration usually begins no earlier than
mid-Jan or so. Wintering birds in Oregon usually arrive by early Dec. and often remain until at least mid-March, so these birds
would fit that pattern. Unfortunately, band reading at Netarts Bay during the wintering period is very difficult - I have to use a
sea kayak to access feeding areas in the middle of the bay, and suitable minus tides occur only during the night or at late dusk
-- so the number of band resightings at netarts Bay is fairly low, and we have to piece the picture together slowly. Both of
these brant were banded on 8/3/92 on their breeding colony near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska as after-hatching-year (adult) birds,
and observations may have added a nice piece to the puzzle about migration patterns for Netarts Bay birds. The puzzle is that
birds wintering on Yaquina Bay (55 mi, 88km south of Netarts Bay) usually arrive 1-3 weeks earlier than birds wintering on
Netarts Bay. The Yaquina Bay birds often arrive shortly after large flights leave Izembek lagoon in Alaska, which would
suggest that Yaquina Bay birds may stage at Izembek. Your observation may suggest that Netarts Bay birds stop at northern
estuaries on their way to Oregon, rather than making a direct flight from their staging areas straight to Netarts Bay. It could
also indicate that Netarts Bay birds don't stage at Izembek. We would need more resightings to reach any firm conclusions,
but your report is very tantalizing! Thanks for the great resightings, Richard. Keep up the good work!

 24. Boundary Bay - wind was at 35 mph and gusting, overcast, 5-6 foot seas, rain showers, tide 10 feet and rising. Not a
good day to be a brant! 53 brant were out of the water and an aqua band was seen on a juvenile bird. 10 gray-bellied birds
were on the shore and in the water. Bands: white- EAE; green - VK3 and LIN.

 25. We are from Bay View Elementary, located in the North Puget Sound area in Washington State. Recently, we have been
hit by many winter storms with high winds, and rain. Today was no different. We went to different places around the region
and saw 35 different species of birds. Including thousands of Pintails, hundreds of Buffleheads, and 50+ Brant, in which we
weren't able to identify Tarsus bands, age, or species. When we found the Brant they were rafted together because of the high
winds with other birds. Those who were present on this outing were: Kevin John, Dane Sadlowsky, Jenny Schibret, Angela
Hernandez, Jack Richardson, and Vicki Sadlowsky who drove us around.


 26. The wintering brant flock at Yaquina Bay now numbers 184 with 30 juveniles - this number should be getting close to the
peak wintering count, based on the pattern seen during the previous 3 or 4 seasons. About 2/3 of the flock arrived over the
last 10 days as several large storm systems moved through the Washington/Oregon coastal areas. I've seen 16 bands so far,
15 of which I've seen at Yaquina Bay in previous years. Thirteen of these bands have wintered at Yaquina Bay before, and 2
white bands (4VV, 4N8) are a pair which has migrated through like clockwork each of the last 4 years - they arrive in
mid-Nov. and leave in mid-Dec every year. The other band, yellow 424, was seen only on Nov 6 as it migrated along the
coast. On my last posting to Richard Swanston, I commented on 2 aqua-banded birds he saw recently at Boundary Bay
which I've seen the last 2 years at Netarts Bay. In my comments I was assuming that they would winter again on Netarts Bay,
Oregon -- but there's no way of telling. It will be very interesting to see if they remain at Boundary Bay this winter, or continue
their migration down to Netarts By ( or somewhere else). The Yaquina Bay brant show very strong fidelity to their wintering
areas, and this appears to be the case at Netarts Bay as well. I'll keep my eyes peeled for those aqua bands!

 27. December 5

Here are some interesting numbers on the current status of Brant in Morro Bay,
California for the past couple of weeks: On 11/19 we had 742 Brant here, 30%
of which were juvenile; 11/23 = 1168 @ 19%; 11/28 = 2121 @ 11%; 12/5 = 2232
@ 11%. This pattern of increasing numbers in late Nov. coupled with a decline
in the percentage of juveniles occurred last year as well. Also, last year
the total number of Brant here and the proportion of juveniles in our
population stayed relatively constant from early December until mid January.
We'll see what happens this year.


 28.
Hi brant onlookers! We are from Bay View Elementery School which is in western Washington by the Padilla Bay Estuary. We are 8th graders. Our names are Jamie Alskog, age 14, EmilyBerenston, age 14, Rick Sakuma, age 13, and Jay vallee, age 13.
We departed from school at 10:00 am. First we went to Camp Kirby which is in Padilla Bay. There were no brant present at that location but we saw many other interesting birfs such as Herring Gulls, common Goldeneyes, Buffleheads, two Bald Eagles, western Greebs, one Downy Woodpecker, Red Neck Grebes, and Cormorants.
At noon we arrived at Samish Bay and ate lunch. We saw a Red Neck Grebe, Loons, Mallard Ducks, Surf Scooters, an Oldsquaw, and about 175 brant flying in 3 different flocks. Then we went to March Point out by Anacortes at 1:45 pm. We only saw large raft of Pintails, Mallards, and Widgeons. The day started out ice cold along the coast but as the day went by, it got warmer. We are now starting back to school at 2:30 pm.

 29.
Hello. We are four eighth grade students from Bay View School, in Bay View, Washington. Our names are Alexandra Todd, Jana Howard, Denny Speck, and Larry Stratton. On our first stop, we went to Camp Kirby, on Samish Island. We saw
about 50-55 brant, but we also saw some bald eagles, a loon, a harbor seal,
lots of goldeneyes, and a few red tail hawks. The weather there was cold
and windy. Next we stopped at Samish Bay. We saw close to 50 brant. We also saw
some pretty harleguin ducks, some oldskquaw, and a few comorants. On the
way to our next location, we also saw a peregrine falcon. It was cold here,
but not as breezy. Finally we stopped at March Pt. near Anacortes. Here we saw only about 15-20 brant. But we did see lots more loons, male and female mergansers, a
lot of goldeneyes, and a roughleg hawk. Here the weather was cold, but not
so windy. We got back to school around 3:00 pm, and we left around 10:00
am.


 30. Although we have had terrible weather in Cold Bay for the past month or so, our biologist Mike Roy and assistant manager Ray Portwood were able to do a winter brant count yesterday, December 15. They estimated about 12,000 brant in the area. Few birds were in Izembek Lagoon (it's 90% ice covered). Most brant were in Kinzarof lagoon which is on the Pacific side of the peninsula and at the very tail end of the peninsula. These numbers are fairly similar to those estimated for the past 6 years or so. Thanks for all the updates. It's nice to know where our brant buddies go once they leave here.


 31. Hello Brant-observers! I just returned from Baja California (both north and south) and would like to tell you a bit about our brant study there. We have research camps set up in 3 areas where brant are wintering: Bahia de San Quintin (BSQ), Laguna San Ignacio (LSI), and Laguna Ojo de Liebre (ODL).

We counted about 25,000 brant in BSQ. They have been there for about 6 weeks; they arrived during the first week of November. We counted about 12,000 brant at LSI. We haven't done a census of ODL yet. But in January there will be an aerial census of all the lagoons.

So far, we have read about 1100 brant bands in BSQ, about 500 in LSI, and about 80 in ODL. We have observed birds from each nesting area (western Alaska, northern Alaska, western Canada, and eastern Russia). We have read the most bands at BSQ for a few reasons: the bay is alot smaller than the others and so it is easier to travel in, the brant return to the same roosting sites each day, and the brant come in very close to shore when they are roosting. At LSI and ODL the brant often visit different roosting sites each day so it is difficult to know where they are going to be at any one time.

In November we met with the young people of the Club International Branta from San Ignacio. Hopefully, we will soon meet with the students from San Quintin and Guerrero Negro. We will have plenty of opportunities to discuss brant with the students because we will be in Baja California until March. David Ward


 32. On our second field trip we split into 4 teams. The team that was in Punta Yuca were the luckiest became they have the help of Adriana and Daniela (researches that are helping us a lot), the other teams were located near to Kuyimas Camp.

(NOTE: this paragraph was revised to fit the format of the Web Site) Our totals for the four sites on the San Ignacio Lagoon were: 204 brant in Kuyima sign.- 5 were juveniles; 24 brant at Kuyimita - 3 were juveniles; 380 brant at Los Manglares - 30 were juveniles; and 1000 brant at Punta Yuca. At Punta Yuca, we saw the following bands: 3AO -blue, L5R- green, E87 -two white. Other birds seen at these sites include: gulls, long-billed curlew, osprey, pelicans, vultures, and double-crested cormorants.

My name is Marisa Lopez and this time I'm in charge of the expedition, that is why I'm writing this mail. From all my team mates and my self, I wish you a happy New Year from "Club International Branta-San Ignacio (C.I.B.), Baja California Sur, Mexico.

PD: We send a hug for all our friends from Alaska, Canada, E.U.A., San Quintin, etc.


 33. We departed from Bay View School and came to the Brezeale Interperative
Center at Padilla Bay. There were four eigth grade students, a bird expert,
and a driver. We loaded the car with our binoculars and spotting-scopes. Then
we drove to the Samish Island Spit. The weather was partly cloudy and 40-50
dergees. We spotted about 720 Brant until Luke accidently scared them all
away. Our Audobon volunteer said it's the most that hes seen at one time.

Next we went to the Samish Island Beach and no Brant were spotted there. We
did see a wide variety of other species of birds including Golden Eyes,
Bufflehead, Loons, Flickers, and Merganser. While we were there we took a
short break to eat. Full from our meals we drove to see some Heron nests.
After that we went to March Point and saw around 160 Brant.

In the car driving from place to place we saw three immature Bald Eagles, 37
Heron, two mature Bald Eagles, five Red-tailed Hawks, three Songsparrows,
many Widgen and Pintailed Ducks, three Robins, many Mallards, 13 Finches, two
Flickers, and 18 Bufflehead. We also got the treat of seeing five deer along
the way.

It was a great day to be out and we were fortunate enough to see so many
different kinds of birds along with the brant.


Sincerely,
Luke Mennella
Kamriell Freeman
Nick Williams
Diane Berghuis


 34.  To fellow brant watchers I had a great day reading bands at the Robert's Bank Coal  Port . Jan 22, 1999 . Just at the base of the jetty on a 15 foot and falling tide the bird seem to be attracted to the area by Ulva that has accumulated there . I arrived there at 11:44 and the birds were out of the water feeding after getting some bands a count of birds out was made and  189  were obs. for bands . More arrived later and being busy attempting to read band fail to get a count an est. 250 birds  OBS . for bands.
No Gray Bellies were seen The only disturbance was a Harrier attempting to find an injured duck in a VERY large roost of Pintail and Mallards the following bands were read .

White Band Black #s :  8EK  [ injured on it's side ]   ,   G4R    ,  GGA   ,  +Y8   .
Blue band White  #s  ;    Z66  ,  R4Z  ,  H48   .  [  one band I think it was H48 is noted as being very faded  ]
Aqua band Black #s ;  YVZ  ,  SRZ   .
Green band White #s  ;   L1N
Red Band  White  #s  ;   ATK .
What was of note is the plumage difference between young Brant . This has been a topic on the research page. With juvenile birds this difference is very pronounced.  One bird listed above  +Y8  had a very dark back with only a few white feathers on it's primary tips . While some juveniles are completely speckled in a salt and pepper manner to look like another type of goose altogether . I have yet to put  +Y8 through the band record program but I can only strongly guess that it is a first year bird . Were as the juvenile  A/B YVZ  bares all the markings of a young bird and I am confident of is age ranking .  At around  13:14 a total count of birds was made in the shore side area between the Robert's Back Coal Terminal Causeway and Tsawwassen Ferry Causeway  and  558  brant were counted.
              Later the same day on returning to an area 1/2 way up the causeway at the Coal dock  at 16:02 with a total of  47 Brant out  YVZ  was seen again and at  16:15  with a further  23 out  Aqua Band    Y83     Band reading was complicated by a person that let his Dog run the flock of 200 + birds out of the area  and Eagles.  But made easier by a group of  3  Hunters that were in there [ brants ] customary area in the middle of the two docks scared them right back forcing them over to the Coal Port side . Later one of the hunters hiked over across the Mud Flats and scared all the Ducks and geese out to the deep water off  the Coal Dock.        Richard Swanston    rickswan@netcom.ca

 35. It was a cold, windy, and overcast day with a high tide at +6
feet. We are David, Riley, Angela, and Amy - all 8th grade students from Bay
View School. Today we went to Samish Island and March Point in the Padilla
Bay Estuary. We had a great time watching 9 bald eagles feeding on a herring
ball. Through the whole day we saw about 25 bald eagles, thousands of
mallards, 9 red-tailed hawks, hundred of widgeons, 45 pintails, 11 blue
herons, about 130 sand pipers, 15 snow geese, and some loons, a northern
harrier, and a few goldeneyes. Finally, we went to a heron nesting area that
had about 60 nests. Unfortunately, we didn't see any leg bands on brant.

 36. We depart from La Bocana, and we used a school bus and a boat. We were 22 students. Ata the beginning we only saw 2 brants, then we moved to another place and there we saw more brants, as well as other birds, like White heron, white pelicans, gulls, and many more. We stayed there for a while, and when we were going to move, we saw a flock with many brants, and several seem very small. Then we walked a little and observed Brantís food, eelgrass. After that we got into the boat and in the way back we saw a big flock, more than 90, and another detail was that we saw the Brant always in company of other birds, they were never by themselves. It was our first time and we had a very good time. Another thing, when we were in the boat, we saw a bird that any of us knew its name, or have seen it before, so we take its picture and will share it whit all of you later.
Regarding band reading, it was not possible because the Brants were always in the water or flying.
Observer: Karla Arce MÈndez


 37. Hello Brant watchers! We are Sarah Burke, Trisha Swason, Bill Briggs,
and Sigma Chang. Today on January 28th, 1999 we spotted many birds but
no "Brant, most likely due to the weather being cold, windy, rainy, and
foggy with temperatures in the mid fourties with a high tide. The birds
we spotted included: 16 eagles, 11 Great Blue Heron, 1 Peregrine, 1 Loon,
1 Western Greeb, 1 Raven, 4 Red Tailed Hawks, and 4 Common Meranger.
These were seen mainly on Samish Island, but the rarest would have to be
the Peregrine. The most common bird would have to be the Pin Tail Ducks
which wee everywhere! We hope you have better luck then we did.

 38. no comments

 39. We are starting to study the Brant in earnest at Charleston Elementary
School. We expect the Brant to begin arriving in a few weeks. An
interesting thing we have noticed -and talked about in the classes at the
school- are that several brant seem to have overwintered in Coos Bay this
year. Anywhere from 6-10 brant (I know...it's not that many) have been
seen around the Bay since November. This is not highly unusual, but we
haven't seen them do this for a long time.

7-10 Brant were seen just this past weekend at Fossil Point, Coos Bay.

The kids at Charleston have been reading your e-mails and are intrigued
with how many brant are at all of the various sites. They will be on-line
with their observations within a week!

-Celeste at South Slough, Coos Bay, Oregon

 40. We are Laina, Venassa, Chris, and Ryan. We are 8th graders at Bayview
Elementary in Burlington, WA.
We went to three different observation pints. They were Camp
Kirby, where we saw 15 juvenile and about 83 adult Brant. We also went
to North Samish Island, and Swinomish slough. We didn't see any Brant
and those sites.
Also on these sites we saw many other birds. We saw several
Herons also Buffle Heads, 2 Loons, 23 Halequin Ducks (very unique), 1
seal, 60 Blackbelly Plover, and 100 Dunlin (color changing).
Our trip was very fun, the weather was okay. The wind was about
60 knots, the sun was out. The temperature was about 45 degrees. Some
parts where Ryan was out on the dike at Padilla Bay and the water was
sloshing over -he got drenched. "We would trade this for school
any day!!"

Observacion de Brantas 3/2/99

Somos Laina, Venassa, Chris, y Ryan de la clase 8va en Bayview
Elementary en Burlington, Washington.
Fuimos a tres puntos de observacion distintos. Eran Camp Kirby,
donde observamos 15 Brantas juveniles y 83 adultos. En North Samish
Island y Swinomish slough no observamos Brantas.
En estos puntos si observamos varias aves: garzas, Buffle Head
Ducks (Bucephala albeola), 2 Somorgujos, 23 Harlequin Ducks (Histionicus
histrionicus) muy raros, 60 Chorlitos (Pluvialis squatarola), y 100
Dunlin (Calidris alpina).
La expedicion fue muy divertida. El clima era bueno. El viento
soplaba a 60 nudos y el sol brillaba. La temperatura era de 7 grados.
En partes del dique en Padilla Bay donde estaba Ryan el agua salbicaba y
se empapo.
"Cambiariamos esto por clases cualquier dia!!"


 41. Brant Report 2/23/99

The weather was windy and cold but no rain. At camp Kirby we saw many Brant but we saw eagles, seagulls and merganzers also. At North Samish we didn't see any Brant but we did see many other interesting birds such as: buffleheads, loons, surf scooters, seagulls and pied- billed grebes.
At the last site, Swinomish Slough, we saw some Brant and pintails. Also seagulls and western grebe. Also we noticed that the birds, especially Brant, were very close to where we were standing and we could notice the markings and differences in the birds. We identified 9 juveniles. We even saw two eagles scare off a whole group of Brant. Our group consisted of: Anna Loving, Chris Noble, Bryce Owens, and Michelle Cannon.

Reporte de Branta 23/2/99
El clima era frio y con viento pero no llovia. En camp Kirby observamos muchas Brantas y tambien aguilas, gaviotas, y mergos. En North Samish no observamos Brantas pero si vimos muchas otras aves interesantes como: Bucephala albeola, somorgujos, Melanita perspicillata, gaviotas, y Podilymbus podiceps.
En el ultimo local, Swinomish Slough, observamos Branta y Anas acuta. Tambien gaviotas y Aechomophorus occidentalis. Observamos que las aves, especialmenta Brantas, estaban muy cerca te nosotros y pudimos notar el marcaje y las diferencias entre los pajaros. Identificamos 9 juveniles. Vimos dos aguilas (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) espantar a un grupo de Brantas. Nuestro grupo consistia de: Anna Loving, Chris Noble, Bryce Owens y Michelle Cannon.


 42. Brant Report 3/2/99

Hello! We are Jack, Joanna, Katie, and Kyle. Today, March 2, 1999 was cold, windy, and wet. The first place we went, the spit of Camp Kirby, we saw 103 brant and 4 of them were juveniles. There were several Eastern and Western brant. Next we visited North Samish where we saw 30 brant that were unidentifiable. Next we went to Snohomish Slough, where we were not able to locate any brant. We then drove to March Point where we saw 37 brant, 5 of which were juveniles.
Along the way we saw 2 buffleheads ducks. We saw 8 loons and 23 great blue heron. We also saw 3 horned grebes, 2 merganzers, and 4 harriers. Many land birds were observed such as red tailed hawks and rough legged hawks. We also saw 10 bald eagles and a prarie falcon. We also saw a spotted towhee.


Reporte de Branta 2/3/99

Hola! Somos Jack, Joanna, Katie, y Kyle. Hoy, Marzo 2, 1999 fue frio, ventoso, y humedo. El primer sitio donde fuimos, la punta de Camp Kirby, observamos 103 brantas de los cuales 4 eran juveniles. Habia razas del este y del oeste presente. Siguiente fuimos a North Samish donde observamos 30 branta pero no fue posible identificar los juveniles. Despues fuimos a Snohomish Slough, donde no observamos ninguna branta. Luego, en March Point observamos 37 branta, 5 de los cuales eran juveniles.
Por el camino vimos 2 Bucephala albeola,8 somorgujos y 23 garzas azules (Ardea herodias). Tambien observamos 3 Podiceps auritus, 2 mergos, y 4 halcones (Circus cyaneus). Muchas mas aves terrestres fueron observadas como Buteo jamaicensis y Buteo lagopus. Tambien observamos 10 aguilas (Haleaeetus leucocephalus) y un Falco mexicanus. Vimos tambien un Pipilo erythrophtlhalmus.


 43. 3/9/99 Brant Report


Our names are Julia, Nicole, Brad, and Matt. We live on the banks of the Puget Sound, in sunny Burlington, Washington. We went to Camp Kirby to look for brant. While there, we spotted about 65 Brant. Eight of these appeared to be juveniles. Next we moved along on our journey to North Samish. We did not see any brant there. Our last stop was Swinomish Slough. As we stood shivering in the early, cool Spring breeze, we observed approximately 20 brant. We believe five of these were juvenile.
Along with the many beautiful Brants, we saw many other winged creatures. While peering anxiously through our scopes, we sighted around 49 buffleheads! We even saw a beautiful chirping kingfisher. Around the sound Bald Eagles are regularly sighted and we succeeded in seeing four of them. Other birds we saw include Red Tail Hawk, Rough Legged Hawk, Great Blue Heron, Finches, Spotted Towhees, Surf Scooters, Old Squaws and Golden eyes. One of the biggest highlights were the two shimmering seals we spotted lying on the muddy banks of Swinomish Slough.
Although the sky was sunny, it was a bit breezy. The trip was very exciting, although we had hoped to see more Brant. None of us has had much experience observing Brant, but after our wonderful day, we are more educated on the life of this intriguing bird.





9/3/99 Reporte de Branta


Nos llamamos Julia, Nicole, Brad, y Matt. Vivimos en las orrillas de Puget Sound, en Burlington, Washington. Fuimos a Camp Kirby buscando brantas. Alli observamos aproximadamente 65 brantas. Ocho de los cuales eran juveniles. Seguido en nuestra expedicion fuimos a North Samish. No observamos brantas alli. Nuestra ultima parada fue Swinomish Slough. Alli, en el frio de primavera temprana, observamos aproximadamente 20 branta. Aparentemente cinco de estos esran juveniles.
Con las bellas brantas tambien observamos muchas otras criaturas aladas. Mirando inquietos por los telescopios, vimos 49 Bucephala albeola! Tambien observamos un bello martin pescador. En esta area hay muchas aguilas (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) y en nuestra expedicion observamos cuatro. Tambien observamos varios halcones (Buteo jamaicensis) y (Buteo lagopus), garzas azules, Fringillidae, Pipillo erythrophthalmus, Melanita perspicillata, Clangula hyemalis, y Bucephala. Una sorpresa fue la observacion de dos focas en las orrillas de Swinomish Slough.
Aunque en cielo no estaba nublado, habia mucho viento. La expedicion fue apasionante, pero esperabamos observar mas branta. Ninguno de nosotros tenemos mucha experiencia en la observacion de branta pero despues de este dia maravilloso estamos mas educados sobre la vida de estas aves increibles.



 44. We saw 4 flock flying north just of shore here is So. Calif. Some flocks with only 10 and with with over 100 birds.

Pt. Vicente Interpretive Center
Palos Verdes Pensular, So. Calif.
American Cetacean Society of Los Angeles
Gray Whale Census

We also saw 35 Gray whales migrating north today.

 45. There were 3 big flocks flying north within a 1/2 mile from the shore.
Pt. Vicente Interpretive Center
Palos Verdes Pensular, So. Calif.
American Cetacean Society of Los Angeles
Gray Whale Census

 46. The Geese are still flying north. We saw 2 flocks today.
Pt. Vicente Interpretive Center
Palos Verdes Pensular, So. Calif.
American Cetacean Society of Los Angeles
Gray Whale Census

 47. Branters,

Sunday evening, the 14th, Mike Graybill (manager-on-leave at South Slough Reserve) called to say that several hundred Brant had arrived at Fossil Point, the only rocky substrate found inside of Coos Bay. The students at Charleston Elementary were informed the following day and are VERY excited! We will be doing the class field trips next week. Happily, there does not seem to be much in the way of visible oil (from the New Carissa spill) in the area that the Brant usually congregate. It is interesting to note that on March 14th, down on the Palos Verdes peninsula in Southern California, they saw several hundred Brant winging their way north! It is neat to think that perhaps the birds we saw in Coos Bay that evening were the same spotted earlier in California...? (It's a nice, connective thought, anyway.)

-South Slough Reserve and Charleston Students

 48. Brant Report 3/23/99


We are Shawn, Jessica, Emily, and Mark from Bayview School in Bayview, Washington. Today, March 23rd, we went to Camp Kirby where we saw 300 Brant, 17 of which were positively identified as juveniles. We also went to North Samish where we saw no Brant. Our last destination was Swinomish Slough. We counted over 400 Brant in this area. We believe the Brant were so many here because the tide was out. There were approximately 700 Brant all together. It was difficult to tell the juveniles from the adult because the flocks were so far out on the water, and the wind made the bay very choppy. We averaged about 2% juvenile which we know is an underestimated count.
While touring the bay, we saw a variety of birds which include 6 immature Eagles, and three adult. We saw 4 Rough-legged Hawks and 4 Red-tailed Hawks. At North Samish we saw 17 Harlequin ducks and a couple of Golden Eye. We also saw a Turkey Vulture, two seals, and 7 Harbor Porpoises. Our most surprising spotting was the 123 Great Blue Heron. We observed a rookery where over 60 Heron were nesting.
It was a beautiful, sunny day here on the bay, and we all had a great time!


Reporte de Branta

Somos Shawn, Jessica, Emily, y Mark de Bayview School en Bayview, Washington. Hoy, 23 de Marzo, fuimos a Camp Kirby donde observamos 200 Brantas, 17 de los cuales identificamos como juveniles. Tambien fuimos a North Samish donde no observamos Brantas. Nuestro ultimo destino fue Swinomish Slough. Contamos 400 Brantas en esta area. Creemos que habia tantas Brantas aqui porque la marea estaba baja. Observamos 700 Brantas en total. Era dificil distinguir los juveniles de los adultos porque las bandadas estaban muy lejos de la orilla y habia olas a causa del viento. Calculamos una media de 2% juveniles pero esto es una estimacion baja.
En nuestra gira de la bahia vimos una variedad de aves incluyendo 6 aguilas juveniles y tres adultos (Haliaeetus leucocephalus). Tambien observamos 4 Buteo jamaicensis y 4 Buteo lagopus. En North Samish observamos 17 Histrionicus histionicus y un par de Bucephala. Tambien vimos Cathartis ora, dos focas, y 7 delphines de bahia. La gran sorpresa fue la obsrvacion de 123 garzas azules.
Fue un dia precioso con sol aqui en la bahia y todos nos divertimos mucho.


 49. 6 flocks flying north off shore.
Pt. Vicente Interpretive Center
Palos Verdes Peninsula, So. Calif.
American Cetacean Society of Los Angeles
Gray Whale Census

 50. Lot more geese today. 9 flocks flying north off shore for over 225 birds.
Pt. Vicente Interpretive Center
Palos Verdes Peninsula, So. Calif.
American Cetacean Society of Los Angeles
Gray Whale Census

 51. Still more Brants passing by the So. Calif coast.

 52. Lots more flocks flying north. Some big, some small.
Pt. Vicente Interpretive Center
Palos Verdes Peninsula, So. Calif.
American Cetacean Society of Los Angeles
Gray Whale Census


 53. Brant Project
March 30, 1999

We are Heather Johnston, Nate Loving, Chris Burt, and Erin Powers from Bayview School in Burlington, WA. Our trip today was a lot of fun. The weather was windy with periods of rain and sunshine. The inconsistent weather, plus the fact that the Brant were far from shore, made it difficult to determine the juveniles from the adults. We positively identified three juveniles out of 138 seen at Camp Kirby. There were most likely more, but we could not identify them accurately. We did not see any Brant at our next two destinations, however we spotted a flock of fifty further down March Point. We were close enough to them to positively identify two juvenile. We saw many other birds on our trip including Great Blue Heron, Red-tailed Haws, Harlequin ducks, and Red Breasted Mergansers. Although it was a rainy day, we had a great bird watching experience.

Reporte de Branta
30/3/99

Somos Heather Johnston, Nate Loving, Chris Burt, y Erin Powers de Bayview School en Burlington, Washington. Nuestro viaje how fue muy divertido. El clima alternabe entre sol y aguaceros con mucho viento. A causa del clima variable y de que las brantas estaban lejos de la orrilla hizo dificil determinar el numero de juveniles. Solo pudimos identificar a tres juveniles en un grupo de 138 aves observadas en Camp Kirby. Probablemente habian mas pero no pudimos identifarlos con certeza. No observamos brantas en las dos siguientes paradas, pero si vimos un grupo de 50 aves en March Point. Identificamos do juveniles. Tambien observamos otras aves incluyendo garzas azules (Ardea herodias), halcones (Buteo jamaicensis), Histrionicu histrionicus, y Mergos (Mergus serrator). Aunque era un dia lluvioso fue una gran jornada para la observacion de aves.


 54. There were a large number of flocks going north with anywhere from 20 to 200 birds in a flock. The 2 days prior to this have been high winds so we did not spot many on those days. This is the most we have seen on any one day. The weather was clear and the winds were low.
Pt. Vicente Interpretive Center
Palos Verdes Peninsula, So. Calif.
American Cetacean Society of Los Angeles
Gray Whale Census


 55. About 45 Charleston Elementary students went on a field trip to Point Adams, a jetty near the Charleston Boat Basin. From this point, one is able to look across the channel to Fossil Point; popular Brant hang-out. The students spent time at three different "stations," and "became" Brant Biologists, Marine Plant Biologists, and Mapping Specialists. It was a sunny, breezy day (a far cry from the SNOW seen on Wednesday of that same week)! Brant were observed feeding on eelgrass and sea lettuce. All agreed it was a fun day out on the Bay.

 56. 4/13/99
Hello, our names are Jenny Schibret, Emily Berentson, Denny Speck, and Rick Sakuma. We are from Bayview Elementary school in Bayview, Washington. We had a beautiful day for Brant watching. At our first destination, Camp Kirby, we saw no Brant, only Cormorants and Dunlin. Between destination points we saw Bald Eagles, Great Blue Heron, and Red-tailed Hawks. We also saw a flock of Trumpeter Swans wading in a farm field. It seemed peculiar to see so many swans this late in the season.
Our next stop was North Samish. At first we did not see any Brant. However, a little while later a flock of twelve flew in to the bay. We also spotted Buffleheads, many Surf Scoters, two female Common Mergansers, and a Common Goldeneye.
Swinomish Slough and March Point were our final destinations. we saw the most Brant at these points. There were 300 off the spit at Swinomish Slough and 102 off of March Point. We were not able to positively identify any juveniles because the geese were so far from shore. Altogether we estimated about 414 Brant.

13/4/99
Hola, nuestros nombres son Jenny Shibret, Emily Berentson, Denny Speck, Rick Sakum. Somos de Bayview Elementary School en Bayview, Washington. Tuvimos un dia precioso para observacion de Brantas. En nuestro primer destino, Camp Kirby, no observamos Brantas, solo cormoranes y Calidris alpina. Entre destinos vimos aguilas, garzas, y buteos. Tambien vimos cisnes (Cygnus buccinator) en un campo agricola. Parece raro observar cisnes tan tarde.
Nuestro siguiente destino fue North Samish. En principio no observamos ninguna Branta. Sin embargo mas tarde una bandada de 12 entro volando en la bahia. Tambien vimos melanitas, mergos, y Bucephala.
Swinomish Slough y March Point fueron nuestros ultimos destinos. Aqui observamos la mayoria de las Brantas. Habia 300 en el primero y 102 en le segundo. No nos fue posible identificar con seguridad a los juveniles porque las aves estaban tan lejos de la orrilla. En total estimamos unas 414 Brantas.


 57. Today April 20th, 1999, observers Angela Hernandez, Riley LeHeacka, Jana Howard, and Dane Sadlowsky left Bayview School to go Brant monitoring. It was a sunny, but windy day. At our first observation sight, Camp Kirby, we saw only Cormorants and Gulls; no Brant. At North Samish, there were no Brant either, but we did see 2 female Barrow's Goldeneyes, 3 Bufflehead, about 15 Surf Scoters, and 2 Bald Eagles. At Swinomish Slough we saw many Great Blue Herons, and a flock of about 500 Brant. They were way out beyond the spit which made it difficult to distinguish the juveniles from the adults. Our final ride around March Point proved to be somewhat disappointing. We did not see any more Brant, and little of anything else. We attributed the low number of Brant and other birds to the low tide. We did see a flock of Greater Scaup off one of the banks, and a flock of Cormorants near the refineries. Our total Brant count was around 500.

Hoy, 20 de Abril, 1999, observadores Angela Hernandez, Riley LeHeacka, Jana Howard, y Dane Sadlowsky salieron de Bayview School para observar Branta. Estaba soleado pero hacia viento. En el primer sitio, Camp Kirby, solo observamos cormoranes y gaviotas, ninguna branta. En North Samish, tampoco habian brantas pero si vimos 2 Bucephala, 3 Bucephala albeola, unas 15 melanitas,y 2 aguilas. En Swinomish Slough observamos muchas garzas, y una bandada de 500 branta. Estaban muy lejos lo cual hizo dificil distinguir los juveniles de los adultos. Nuestro ultimo destino fue decepcionante. No observamos brantas y pocas aves de otra clase. Atribuimos el bajo numero de branta y otras aves a la marea baja. El numero total de branta fue 500.


 58. Brant Monitoring April 27th, 1999

Angela Robbins, Jamie Alskog, Adam Barnwell, and Ryan Forrester set out today to go Brant monitoring. We had a beautiful, sunny day with little wind. The water was pretty calm at all of our observation sights. We stopped first at Camp Kirby where we saw between 700 and 1000 Brant. None were close to shore, but rather scattered out across the bay, making it difficult for us to determine the exact number of juveniles. We counted about 100 juveniles that were close enough to us to distinguish. No leg bands were spotted.

At our next sight, North Samish Bay, we observed the largest amount of Brant we have seen this season. There were over 1000 Brant spread out across the entire bay. We could not identify any juveniles because they were all very far from shore.

Our last destination, Swinomish Slough and March Point, had the fewest Brant. We estimated about 500 Brant off the tip of the far spit. We were not at a good position to see them clearly, so once again we did not identify any juveniles.

Other birds that we saw on our trip include Bald Eagles, Great Blue Heron, Red-talied Hawks, Dunlin, Goldeneye, Terns, Cormorants, Red Breasted Merganzers, Surf Scoters, Loons, and a really cool Harbor Seal. We had a great day on the bay!

Observacion de Branta, 27 de Abril, 1999

Angela Robbins, Jamie Alskog, Adam Barnwel, and Ryan Forrester salieron hoy para observar brantas. Tuvimos un dia fabuloso, con sol y poco viento. el agua estaba bastante en calma en todos nuestros sitios de observacion. Paramos primero en Camp Kirby donde observamos entre 700 y 1000 brantas. Ninguna estaba cerca de la orrilla, sino esparcidas por la bahia lo cual hizo imposible identificar a los juveniles con certeza. Contamos 100 juveniles que estaban bastante cerca para identificar. No vimos anillos.

En el siguiente sitio, North Samish Bay, observamos el numero mas alto de branta esta temporada. Habian mas de 1000 brantas esparcidas por la bahia completa. No pudimos identificar a los juveniles porque estaban todos muy lejos de la orilla.

Nuestro ultimo destino, Swinomish Slough y March Point, revelo pocas brantas. Estimamos unas 500 en la punta. No estabamos en posicion de observar con seguridad y de nuevo no pudimos identificar a juveniles.

Otras aves que observamos en nuestro viaje incluyen aguilas, garzas, bucephala, golondrinas de mar, cormoranes, mergos, melanitas, somorgujos, y una foca. Tuvimos un dia estupendo en la bahia de Padilla!



 59. Brant Monitoring 4/29/99

Hello, we are Vanessa Herbaugh, Amy Gaudette, Kevin John, and Bryce Owens. The weather was wonderful today, with blue skies and sunshine. The tide was completely out, and it was a little windy which made it difficult to tell the juvenile Brant from the adults. We estimated 1,350 geese in all, 250 at Camp Kirby, 600 at North Samish Bay, and 500 at Swinomish slough. In addition to the Brant, we also saw Bald Eagles, Red-tailed Hawks, Northern Harriers, Red-winged Blackbirds, Killdeer, Bufflehead, Great Blue Heron, Surf Scoters, and Greater Scaup. It was a great day to go Branting!

Observacion de Branta 29/4/99

Hola, somos Vanessa Herbaugh, Amy Gaudette, Kevin John, y Bryce Owens. El clima fue estupendo hoy, con cielos azules y sol. La marea estaba completamente baja y hacia un poco de viento lo cual hizo dificil la identificacion de los juveniles. Estimamos 1350 aves en total, 250 en Camp Kirby, 600 en North Samish Bay, y 500 en Swinomish Slough. Ademas de las brantas tambien observamos aguilas, buteos, C. cyaneus, A. phoeniceus, C. vociferous, bucephala, garzas, melanitas, A. marila. Fue un dia estupendo para observar brantas!



 60. Brant Monitoring 4/29/99

Hello, we are Vanessa Herbaugh, Amy Gaudette, Kevin John, and Bryce Owens. The weather was wonderful today, with blue skies and sunshine. The tide was completely out, and it was a little windy which made it difficult to tell the juvenile Brant from the adults. We estimated 1,350 geese in all, 250 at Camp Kirby, 600 at North Samish Bay, and 500 at Swinomish slough. In addition to the Brant, we also saw Bald Eagles, Red-tailed Hawks, Northern Harriers, Red-winged Blackbirds, Killdeer, Bufflehead, Great Blue Heron, Surf Scoters, and Greater Scaup. It was a great day to go Branting!

Observacion de Branta 29/4/99

Hola, somos Vanessa Herbaugh, Amy Gaudette, Kevin John, y Bryce Owens. El clima fue estupendo hoy, con cielos azules y sol. La marea estaba completamente baja y hacia un poco de viento lo cual hizo dificil la identificacion de los juveniles. Estimamos 1350 aves en total, 250 en Camp Kirby, 600 en North Samish Bay, y 500 en Swinomish Slough. Ademas de las brantas tambien observamos aguilas, buteos, C. cyaneus, A. phoeniceus, C. vociferous, bucephala, garzas, melanitas, A. marila. Fue un dia estupendo para observar brantas!



 61. Brant Monitoring 5/4/99

Hi, we’re the kids from Bayview school. We had a sunny, but windy day down at the bay. Some of the other birds we observed included a crow, some seagulls, Eagles, a Hawk, Great Blue Heron, Common Mergansers, and Surf Scoters. We didn’t see very many Brant because the tide was so far out. Our total count was eighty, none of which we could distinguish as juveniles.

Observacion de Branta 4/5/99

Hola, somos los estudiantes de Bayview School. Tuvimos un dia con sol y viento en la bahia. Algunas de las otras aves que observamos incluyo un cuervo, gaviotas, aguilas, buteos, garzas, mergos, y melanitas. No observamos muchas brantas porque la marea estaba muy baja. Nuestro total fue ochenta, ninguna de las cuales fue posible identificar como juveniles.


 62. Brant Monitoring 5/6/99

Hi, we’re Nick, Jay, Chris, and Matt. We go to Bayview School in Bayview, Washington. It was a cloudy, rainy day, but this did not affect the amount of Brant we saw on the water. As we neared our first sight, Camp Kirby, we counted 75 Brant far out on the water. When we reached the spit, we saw 300 Brant on the shore. We approached the spit quietly and cautiously so as not to scare them away. We were close enough to observe the geese chewing on gravel. Unfortunately, by the time we got our spotting scopes set up, a loud gunshot went off and the birds were scared away. They moved further out on the water so we only counted nine juveniles. At this spot we also observed a Loon still in his winter plumage, a Killdeer, Great Blue Heron, Trumpeter Swan, Caspian Tern, and a female Bufflehead.

Our Next destination, North Samish bay, was teeming with Brant. At first, with the naked eye, we could not see any geese because they were so far out on the water. Once our scopes were in place, we noticed hundreds of them scattered throughout the bay. We estimated 500 Brant in this one area. We also saw a group of Common Mergansers, a Pelagic Cormorant, and a common Murre.

At Swinomish Slough and March Point, our final destinations, we counted 200 Brant on the far spit. Again we were unable to get a good juvenile count because of the distance. We did not see many other birds at this point because it had started to rain harder. Our filed trip ended with a total count of 1,075 Brant. We had an awesome day!


Observacion de Brantas 6/5/99

Hola, somos Nick, Jay, Chris, y Matt. Atentemos Bayview School en Washington. Fue un dia nuboso y lluvioso, pero esto no afecto el numero de brantas que observamos en el agua. Cuando llegamos al primer sitio de observacion, Camp Kirby, contamos 75 branta muy lejos de la orrilla. Cuando llegamos a la punta observamos 300 brantas en la orrilla. Aproximamos la punta con cuidado y silencio para no asustar las aves. Estabamos suficientemente cerca para observar las aves comiendo grava. Desafortunadamente, cuando estabamos a punto de montar los telescopios, un disparo ruidoso sono y las aves se asustaron. Se desplazaron al agua lejos de la orrilla donde solo contamos nueve juveniles. En este sitio tambien observamos un somorgujo con pumaje de invierno aun, C. vociferus, garzas, cisnes, golondrinas de mar, y bucephala.

Nuestro siguiente destino, North Samish Bay, estaba llenito de brantas. En principio solo con la vista no observamos aves porque estaban muy lejos de la orrilla. Cuando montamos los telescopios, notamos cientos de branta por toda la bahia. Estimamos unas 500 brantas en esta area. Tambien vimos mergos, cormoranes y Uria aalgae.

En Swinomish Slough y March Point, nuestro destino final, contamos 200 brantas en la punta lejana. De nuevo no pudimos hacer un buen cuente de los juveniles a causa de la distancia. No observamos mucha aves aqui porque empezo a llover mas fuerte. Nuestra salida observo un total de 1075 brantas. Nos divertimos muchisimo!


 63. Brant Monitoring 5/11/99

We are eighth grade students at Bayview Elementary School in Bayview, Washington. Our names are Erin Powers, Kyle Loy, Brad J., and Joanna P. The weather today was rainy and foggy which made it difficult to see Brant. Our closest look at them was at Camp Kirby where we observed 64 dark bellies, ten of which were juveniles, and 4 gray bellies. This was our most accurate count yet. Brad and Kyle were able to get within twenty feet of the geese, but did not detect any leg bands. Other birds we saw include a Bald Eagle, a Red-tailed Hawk, many Great Blue herons, a Red-winged Blackbird, Caspian Terns, and three Black-bellied Plovers.

At North Samish, we saw over two hundred Brant. As usual, they were on the other side of the bay, too far away to distinguish adults from juveniles. We were able to see Surf Scoters, Western Grebes, a Rufous, Hummingbird, Bald Eagles, and more Great Blue Heron.

It was raining harder as we reached Swinomish Slough. We took a quick look from the shore and could not see any Brant. Visibility was low and we did not want to get soaked, so we didn’t set up the scopes. We got back in the van and drove around March Point, but did not see any other birds. Our total Brant count was 329.

Observacion de Bratas 11/5/99

Somos estudiantes de octavo en Bayview Elementary School en Washington. Nuestros nombres son Erin Powers, Kyle Loy, Brad J. y Joanna P. El clima hoy fue lluvioso y nuboso lo cual hizo dificil la observacion de brantas. El sitio mas cercano que fuimos fue Camp Kirby donde observamos 64 aves con plumage oscuro, diez de los cuales eran juveniles, 4 con plumage oscuro. Este fue nuestro numero mas preciso hast ahora. Brad y Kyle pudieron acercarse a unos 6 metros de las aves pero no vieron anillos en las patas. Otras aves que observamos incluyen aguilas, buteos, muchas garzas, golondrinas de mar, y chorlitos.
En North Samish Bay observamos mas de dos cientas brantas. Como siempre, estaban en el otro lado de la bahia, demasiado lejos para distinguir adultos de juveniles. Nos fue posible observar melanitas,


Brant Monitoring 5/11/99

We are eighth grade students at Bayview Elementary School in Bayview, Washington. Our names are Erin Powers, Kyle Loy, Brad J., and Joanna P. The weather today was rainy and foggy which made it difficult to see Brant. Our closest look at them was at Camp Kirby where we observed 64 dark bellies, ten of which were juveniles, and 4 gray bellies. This was our most accurate count yet. Brad and Kyle were able to get within twenty feet of the geese, but did not detect any leg bands. Other birds we saw include a Bald Eagle, a Red-tailed Hawk, many Great Blue herons, a Red-winged Blackbird, Caspian Terns, and three Black-bellied Plovers.

At North Samish, we saw over two hundred Brant. As usual, they were on the other side of the bay, too far away to distinguish adults from juveniles. We were able to see Surf Scoters, Western Grebes, a Rufous Hummingbird, Bald Eagles, and more Great Blue Heron.

It was raining harder as we reached Swinomish Slough. We took a quick look from the shore and could not see any Brant. Visibility was low and we did not want to get soaked, so we didn’t set up the scopes. We got back in the van and drove around March Point, but did not see any other birds. Our total Brant count was 329.

Observacion de Bratas 11/5/99

Somos estudiantes de octavo en Bayview Elementary School en Washington. Nuestros nombres son Erin Powers, Kyle Loy, Brad J. y Joanna P. El clima hoy fue lluvioso y nuboso lo cual hizo dificil la observacion de brantas. El sitio mas cercano que fuimos fue Camp Kirby donde observamos 64 aves con plumage oscuro, diez de los cuales eran juveniles, 4 con plumage oscuro. Este fue nuestro numero mas preciso hast ahora. Brad y Kyle pudieron acercarse a unos 6 metros de las aves pero no vieron anillos en las patas. Otras aves que observamos incluyen aguilas, buteos, muchas garzas, golondrinas de mar, y chorlitos.
En North Samish Bay observamos mas de dos cientas brantas. Como siempre, estaban en el otro lado de la bahia, demasiado lejos para distinguir adultos de juveniles. Nos fue posible observar melanitas, A. occidentalis, colibris, aguilas, y garzas azules.
Llovia mas fuerte cuando llegamos a Swinomish Slough. Hechamos un vistazo desde la orrilla pero no observamos brantas. La visibilidad era poca y no queriamos mojarnos y por eso no montamos los telescopios. Dimos una vuelta en carro por March Point, pero no observamos mas aves. Nuestro cuente total fue 329.



 64. Count of other birds:1 loon, 2 herons, 4 Canada Goose,
Many Seaguls.

The Brant circled around the ocean , they landed a cupple of times
and then they kept flying around . They waited until the tide went in
and they sat on the Sand Bar . They did such things as resting,
bathing , and feeding.

Jillian Kandler


 65. We went to the beach on April 21, 1999 at 10:00am-12:10pm.
The air temperature was 11.5ºC and the water temperature was 9ºC.
The cloud cover was about 70%. The wind speed was 27 knots and the wind
was classified as a strong breeze and the beaufort was 6.
The wind was going south east. We counted an average of 70 brant.
We saw 3 seagulls 1 hawk and 2-3 eagles. The brant were sitting on a
sand bank cleaning them selves there were about 25-30 flying in a group
over head there were thirteen peeps and two seals.

Kylie, Anita and Dana div.6-5.
Q.B.M.S


 66. We went to the beach on April 21 1999 10:20 - 12:10, the air temperature was 11.5 degrees C. The water temperature was 9 degrees C and the cloud cover was 70%. The wind speed was 27 knots and was a strong breeze. We counted aprox. 76 brant, we also counted 3 blue harron and 1 eagle. The brant first were flying and then they landed on the sand bar and were resting. Then we spotted an otter in the ocean, it was just bobbing around. Then an eagle landed on the sand bar and all the brant took off. We saw a blue harron fly over our heads and then 2 more flew over us and landed in a field.

Jonathan
Doyle


 67. While we were down at the Estuary the Brant were flying around waiting for something under the water to surface making it hard to count them. It turned out that they were waiting for a sandbar to surface. When we were heading back the were sitting on the sandbar when a Bald eagle landed in the middle of it and scared 1/3 of the Brant off of the sandbar.


 68. While we were down at the Estuary the Brant were flying around waiting for something under the water to surface making it hard to count them. It turned out that they were waiting for a sandbar to surface. When we were heading back the were sitting on the sandbar when a Bald eagle landed in the middle of it and scared 1/3 of the Brant off of the sandbar.


 69. We went down to the little Qualicum estuary on April 30, 1999. The air temperature was 17 c. The water temperature was 20c. The cloud cover was 95-98% the wind speed was 14.5 it was a Moderate breeze the Beaufort was 4. We counted 31 Brant 4 Seagulls and 4 Canada geese. The Brant were very calm until it was time to go then they all flew away.

Crispin and Nathan
Division 6-5
Qualicum Beach Middle School


 70. 1:05 2:10 start and finish cloud cover was 95 98% . Air temp was 15 c and it was cold if you were not prepared with much clothes the water temp was warm at 18 c wind beaufort was 4, Knots 14.5 wind direction was E and it was cold it was a moderate breeze. The Brant were in groups of 16-31 and all counted about 32. They were very calm with us with the scopes.

Brendan Denneus Grant Chetcuti Rob Stewart
Divison 6-5
QBMS


 71. We went down on April.30,1999 at 1:05 and ended at 2:10 the air temperature was 14.5C. The water temperature was 19. The wind speed 14.5 knots. The cloud cover was 98%. The wind was Moderate breeze.The Beaufort was 4. The amount of Brant I counted was 43. Some other birds I saw were Golden Eyes, the amount 100, another was Merganser and I only saw a couple of those. I was in the second group and the Brant were flying south and floating back North. When we were on the beach there were to sea gulls that were walking side by side every were they went.

KAYLA,GINA,6-5
Q.B.M.S


 72. On April 30th the temperature at the Little Qualicum Estuary was 14.5C (60F) with a water temperature of 12 c. The cloud cover was 95 to 98%. Wind Speed was 14.5 knots for the south east or a moderate breeze.
We counted 40 Brant in our group. Unfortunately, we did not view any bands. We also saw 33 Golden eyes, 10 Mallards, 2 eagles that landed on a sandbar and basically sent every other type of bird flying that was perched on the sandbar, and of course the Canadian Geese were in the eel grass.

Michelle Brown
Division 6-5
Mr. Worthen


 73. During the months of April and early to mid May, there have been numerous sightings of Black Brant flying north and south along the eastern Vancouver Island coast in the area 16 - 40 kilometres north (between Bowser and Courtenay) of Qualicum Beach / Parksville. These Brant are usually in numbers of anywhere between 5 to 150. Possible estuary sites where the Brant are utilizing north of Qualicum are the Courtenay River estuary which divides Courtenay from Comox approximately 60 kilometres north of Qualicum Beach. This area offers a great deal of eelgrass as well as mudflats / sandbars. Small groups of brant seem to be moving up there and then south back to Qualicum on a short term basis.
As of May 18, there are very few Brant left in the area yet small groups can be seen flying north and south in small groups.

Brian Worthen
Qualicum Beach Middle School
Vancouver Island, B.C.
Canada


 74. The Brant were seen at Point Robert's , Watcom County Washington State
With 4 seen on the beach at Lighthouse Park One bird had a White Band RK1
Another bird was sighted 1/2 mile East of the others a couple of hours later
And I was lucky enough to see it's Blue band White #s L37 Also seen were 5
Brant flying out from Boundary Bay at Lilly Point also at Point Robert's
So we have Brant still in the Northern Washigton State / Southern B. C.
Area Richard Swanston Delta , B. C. Canada


 75. May 27, 1999. With a lite WNW Wind Cear Sky About 1/2 way between Tsawwassen
Ferry Terminal and Naniamo B.C. Canada . From a boat 9 Brant were positively
identified flying North Bound up the East side of Vancouver Island . At 16:26 Hours
So we still have birds North Bound while birds are starting to nest in Alaska !!
[ Pos'n 49 09 .02 123 34 .4 ] Richard Swanston Delta , B. C.

 76. Brant Monitoring 5/11/99

We are eighth grade students at Bayview Elementary School in Bayview, Washington. Our names are Erin Powers, Kyle Loy, Brad J., and Joanna P. The weather today was rainy and foggy which made it difficult to see Brant. Our closest look at them was at Camp Kirby where we observed 64 dark bellies, ten of which were juveniles, and 4 gray bellies. This was our most accurate count yet. Brad and Kyle were able to get within twenty feet of the geese, but did not detect any leg bands. Other birds we saw include a Bald Eagle, a Red-tailed Hawk, many Great Blue herons, a Red-winged Blackbird, Caspian Terns, and three Black-bellied Plovers.

At North Samish, we saw over two hundred Brant. As usual, they were on the other side of the bay, too far away to distinguish adults from juveniles. We were able to see Surf Scoters, Western Grebes, a Rufous Hummingbird, Bald Eagles, and more Great Blue Heron.

It was raining harder as we reached Swinomish Slough. We took a quick look from the shore and could not see any Brant. Visibility was low and we did not want to get soaked, so we didn’t set up the scopes. We got back in the van and drove around March Point, but did not see any other birds. Our total Brant count was 329.

Observacion de Brantas 11/5/99

Somos estudiantes de octavo en Bayview Elementary School en Washington. Nuestros nombres son Erin Powers, Kyle Loy, Brad J. y Joanna P. El clima hoy fue lluvioso y nuboso lo cual hizo dificil la observacion de brantas. El sitio mas cercano que fuimos fue Camp Kirby donde observamos 64 aves con plumage oscuro, diez de los cuales eran juveniles, 4 con plumage oscuro. Este fue nuestro numero mas preciso hast ahora. Brad y Kyle pudieron acercarse a unos 6 metros de las aves pero no vieron anillos en las patas. Otras aves que observamos incluyen aguilas, buteos, muchas garzas, golondrinas de mar, y chorlitos.
En North Samish Bay observamos mas de dos cientas brantas. Como siempre, estaban en el otro lado de la bahia, demasiado lejos para distinguir adultos de juveniles. Nos fue posible observar melanitas, Aechmophorous occidentalis, colibri, aguilas, y mas garzas.
Llovia mas fuerte cuando llegamos a Swinomish Slough. Hechamos un vistazo desde la orrilla pero no observamos ninguna branta. La visibilidad era mala y no queriamos mojarnos, por eso no instalamos los telescopios. Fuimos a March Point, pero no observamos brantas. El numero total de aves fue 329.



 77. Brant Monitoring 5/18/99
Hello, we are Sigma, Bill, Kami, and Sarah from Bayview Elementary school in Bayview, WA. Our branting trip started out rainy and cloudy, but it cleared up as the day went on. We saw many Brant and lots of other birds as well. Our total Brant count was 2,892. We were too far away from them at all three observation sights to get an accurate count of juveniles. Other birds we saw include Great Blue Heron, Western Grebe, Bald Eagles, Red-tailed Hawks, Black Scoter, Greater Scaup, Bufflehead, and Red-winged Blackbirds. The coolest thing we saw was a family of Canadian Geese with four goslings. We also saw a cute seal bobbing his head in and out of the water. Today was a great day for birding.

Observacion de Branta 18/5/99

Hola, somos Sigma, Bill, Kami, and Sarah de Bayview Elementary school. Nuestro viaje de brantas empezo lluvioso y nublado, pero se despejo al avanzar el dia. Observamos muchas brantas y otras aves tambien. Nuestro numero total de brantas fue 2892. Estabamos demasiado lejos en todo los sitios de observacion para estimar precisamente el numero de juveniles. Otras aves que observamos incluyen garzas azules, Aechmophorus occidentalis, aguilas, Buteo jamaicensis, melanitas, Aythya marila, bucephala. Observamos Branta canadensis con ansarones y tambien una foquita que sacaba su cabeza del agua. Fue un dia excelente para observar aves.


 78. Brant Monitoring 5/20/99

Hello, we are Shawn, Jack, Jessica, and Mark from Bayview Elementary school in Bayview, WA. We had a terrific Branting day, sunshine and a good tide. Our total Brant count was 2,042. Shawn got close enough to the spit at Camp kirby to identify two mature gray bellies. The other two sights, North Samish, and Swinomish Slough, were flocked with Brant, but they were too far out in the water to identify any juveniles.

Other birds we saw include Great Blue Heron, Greater Scaup, Western Grebes, Loons, Red-tailed Hawks, Northern Harriers, Bald Eagles, and Buffleheads. The coolest thing we saw was a doe with three fawns hopping through a meadow. We also saw a seal frolicking in the water at Camp Kirby. We had a fun last day of Brant monitoring.

Observacion de Brantas 5/20/99

Hola, somos Shawn, Jack, Jessica, y Mark de Bayview Elementary School. Tuvimos un dia excelente de observacion de Brantas, con sol un buena marea. Nuestro numero total de Brantas fue 2042. Shawn se acerco bastante por la punta de Camp Kirby para identificar a dos adultos de pecho gris. Los otros dos sitios de observacion, North Samish, y Swinomish Slough, estaban repletos de Brantas, pero estaban demasiado lejos para identificar a juveniles.

Otras aves que observamos incluyen, garzas, Aythya marila, Aechmophorus occidentalis, somorgujos, buteos, Circus cyaneus, aguilas, y bucephala. Nos alegro ver a un ciervo con tres cervatos, y tambien una foca que jugaba en el agua en Camp Kirby. Nos divertimos mucho en el ultimo dia de observar Brantas.


 79. The Brant were observed at Light House Park Point Robert's Watcom County
U.S.A. Sky was clear and a light wind from the West North West. All 15 were
Observed for bands with One Green Band White #s V4Z Another Blue Band with
White #s was seen but not read. This bird was crippled on the banded leg it left
the water and layed on the beach making it difficult to read the band. Being
that the birds appeared to be in moult it was difficult to pick out juveniles
Also seen was a Western Kingbird Tyrannus verticalis not common in this
area and further down the beach Two Turkey Vultures Cathartes aura
And off shore Twenty to Thirty Orca the Killer Whale pod had a few
youngsters that were leaping out of the water close to the beach .

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