International Brant Monitoring Project
Observation Logs:

2005/2006 Observations

Date Location Observers Count Percent Juveniles Notes
oct 21 Padilla Bay Reserve staff 0 n/a 1
oct 25 Delta, B.C. Richard Swanston 2 n/a 3
oct 25 Drakes Estero, CA Rod Hug 18 na 4
oct 26 Padilla Bay Reserve staff 37 n/a 5
oct 26 Delta, B.C. Richard Swanston 84 30% 6
oct 26 Izembek Lagoon, AK Izembek National Wildlife Refuge > 140,000 33% 7
oct 28 San Ignacio Lagoon, Baja California Sur GELSI 180 n/a 9
Nov 1 Bodega Bay, CA Rod Hug 0 11
Nov 3 Izembek Lagoon, AK Izembek National Wildlife Refuge Many 12
Nov 7 OTHER OTHER 650 n/a 13
Nov 9 San Ignacio Lagoon, Baja California Sur GELSI 23 n/a 14
Nov 11 San Ignacio Lagoon, Baja California Sur GELSI 15 n/a 15
Nov 12 Delta, B.C. Richard Swanston 1,193 18.9% 16
Nov 14 Izembek Lagoon, AK Izembek National Wildlife Refuge 30,000+ n/a 17
Nov 14 OTHER OTHER 680 n/a 18
Nov 19 Drakes Estero, CA Rod Hug 150 na 19
Nov 21 Padilla Bay Reserve staff 150 n/a 20
Nov 24 OTHER OTHER 12 n/a 21
Nov 26 OTHER OTHER 8 n/a 22
Nov 26 OTHER OTHER 1 232 n/a 23
Nov 28 San Quintin Bay, Baja Cal. SANQUIBRANTA + 30 000 n/a 24
Dec 3 Coos Bay, OR South Slough NERR 1 0 25
Dec 3 San Ignacio Lagoon, Baja California Sur GELSI 3 n/a 26
Dec 6 San Ignacio Lagoon, Baja California Sur GELSI 500 n/a 27
Dec 13 Delta, B.C. Richard Swanston 250/300 N/A 28
Dec 17 Drakes Estero, CA Rod Hug 1100 NA 29
Dec 19 Delta, B.C. Richard Swanston 10 40% 30
Dec 23 Delta, B.C. Richard Swanston 877 21% 31
Dec 24 Drakes Estero, CA Rod Hug 0 32
Dec 29 San Quintin Bay, Baja Cal. SANQUIBRANTA 10,000 n/a 33
Dec 30 OTHER OTHER 12 34
Dec 31 Delta, B.C. Richard Swanston 1711 na 35
Jan 4 Coos Bay, OR South Slough NERR 2 36
Jan 12 San Ignacio Lagoon, Baja California Sur GELSI 1,636 n/a 37
Jan 12 Bodega Bay, CA Rod Hug 55 na 38
Jan 14 OTHER OTHER 30 n/a 39
Jan 14 San Quintin Bay, Baja Cal. SANQUIBRANTA 30 n/a 40
Jan 18 Coos Bay, OR South Slough NERR 6 41
Jan 23 OTHER OTHER 2 42
Jan 27 Padilla Bay Reserve staff 30 n/a 43
Jan 28 Padilla Bay Reserve staff 72 n/a 44
Jan 28 OTHER OTHER 18 45
Jan 31 Padilla Bay Reserve staff 3 n/a 46
Jan 31 Drakes Estero, CA Rod Hug 0 47
Jan 25 San Ignacio Lagoon, Baja California Sur GELSI + 3,000 n/a 48
Jan 25 San Ignacio Lagoon, Baja California Sur GELSI 92 n/a 49
Jan 26 Punta Abreojos/Estero La Bocana, Baja California Sur GEXBRA Club 2,000 n/a 50
Jan 26 San Ignacio Lagoon, Baja California Sur GELSI 60 n/a 51
Jan 29 San Ignacio Lagoon, Baja California Sur GELSI 180 n/a 52
Feb 6 OTHER OTHER several 53
Feb 10 Padilla Bay Reserve staff 45 n/a 54
Feb 11 Padilla Bay Reserve staff 180 n/a 55
Feb 16 Coos Bay, OR South Slough NERR 100 56
Feb 22 Drakes Estero, CA Rod Hug 83 N/A 57
Feb 22 San Ignacio Lagoon, Baja California Sur GELSI 86 58
Feb 24 Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve, Guerro Negro Lagoon, Baja California Reserve Students/ Pro Esteros 575 59
Mar 1 Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve, Guerro Negro Lagoon, Baja California Reserve Students/ Pro Esteros 993 60
Mar 1 Coos Bay, OR South Slough NERR 175 61
Mar 2 Coos Bay, OR South Slough NERR 120 62
Mar 3 Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve, Guerro Negro Lagoon, Baja California Reserve Students/ Pro Esteros 83 63
Mar 4 Coos Bay, OR South Slough NERR 83 64
Mar 4 San Ignacio Lagoon, Baja California Sur GELSI 90 65
Mar 4 Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve, Guerro Negro Lagoon, Baja California Reserve Students/ Pro Esteros 1,582 n/a 66
Mar 11 Coos Bay, OR South Slough NERR 300 67
Mar 11 Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve, Guerro Negro Lagoon, Baja California Reserve Students/ Pro Esteros 2,500 n/a 68
Mar 12 Coos Bay, OR South Slough NERR 100 69
Mar 13 San Ignacio Lagoon, Baja California Sur GELSI 63 n/a 70
Mar 16 Coos Bay, OR South Slough NERR 175 71
Mar 18 Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve, Guerro Negro Lagoon, Baja California Reserve Students/ Pro Esteros 810 n/a 72
Mar 21 Coos Bay, OR South Slough NERR 180 73
Mar 23 Delta, B.C. Richard Swanston 5,000 n/a 74
Mar 23 Coos Bay, OR South Slough NERR 120 75
Mar 24 San Ignacio Lagoon, Baja California Sur GELSI 48 76
Mar 25 Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve, Guerro Negro Lagoon, Baja California Reserve Students/ Pro Esteros 1,200 n/a 77
Mar 30 Coos Bay, OR South Slough NERR 50 78
Apr 2 San Ignacio Lagoon, Baja California Sur GELSI 300 79
Apr 8 Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve, Guerro Negro Lagoon, Baja California Reserve Students/ Pro Esteros 250 n/a 80
Apr 11 Coos Bay, OR South Slough NERR 300 81
Apr 19 Izembek Lagoon, AK Izembek National Wildlife Refuge 1000s n/a 82
Apr 22 Coos Bay, OR South Slough NERR 45 83
Apr 22 Drakes Estero, CA Rod Hug 1500 84
May 3 OTHER OTHER 39 85
May 3 OTHER OTHER 25 86
May 1 Coos Bay, OR South Slough NERR 50 n/a 87
May 2 Izembek Lagoon, AK Izembek National Wildlife Refuge 80201 88
May 9 Coos Bay, OR South Slough NERR 8 n/a 89
May 10 Coos Bay, OR South Slough NERR 150 n/a 90
May 12 Coos Bay, OR South Slough NERR 41 91
May 15 Coos Bay, OR South Slough NERR 101 92
May 19 Coos Bay, OR South Slough NERR 40 93
May 18 Coos Bay, OR South Slough NERR 25 94
Apr 28 San Ignacio Lagoon, Baja California Sur GELSI 60 n/a 95
May 20 OTHER OTHER 2 n/a 96
May 20 OTHER OTHER 2 0 97
Jun 6 Coos Bay, OR South Slough NERR 20 98
Jun 4 OTHER OTHER 2 0 99
Sep 8 OTHER OTHER 1 100


Notes:

1 Last weekend tens of thousands of snow geese arrived. They winter in Skagit Bay, just south of here. For several days huge flocks were flying overhead on their way to Skagit Bay. On clear days we could hear them but they were hard to see because they were so high. In the fog they flew lower so their honks were loud and only sometimes did we see them, ghostly passing low overhead. I think I heard some brant in Padilla Bay but they were too far away to see and I didn’t have a scope with me so I couldn’t see them. The first swans have arrived. I see them in the farm fields on my way to work. Do you have any information about brant yet this fall?
Glen Alexander, Padilla Bay Reserve

3 In the late afternoon at Boundary Bay Regional Park in Tsawwassen I saw the first 2 black brant for this fall season. There was a very low overcast and a wind from the SE at 20 to 25 knots with rain showers. The tide was about 12 foot and falling. True to form for the last few years I was watching for only 10 minutes when a mature bald eagle flew over the Lagoon scaring off all the geese and ducks in the area. They flew well out into the Bay.

4 Sighting was by Jeff Wilkenson.

5 Today Katie and Annie and I went looking for brant. We went to four different locations around Padilla Bay. The weather was clear, cold and calm - perfect for looking for brant. We were so excited to find two groups of brant, one group of about 15 and another of 22 brant. They were hard to see because they were so far away.

6 Our wintering brant may have arrived!
At 11:27 the tide was 10.5 feet and rising fast. Richard Swanston saw 19 brant in the bay from the Pump House Boundary Bay Regional Park in Tsawwassen. Most of these were close enough to see that out of 17 birds, 5 were juveniles. He couldn’t tell for sure but it looked like there were no grey belly brant in the group.

Later at 16:20 he counted 72 brant near 17A Street Beach Grove and 12 more near the Boundary Bay Regional Park


7 A major storm blew in over the weekend (October 20-24) at Izembek Lagoon bringing strong winds (20-55 mph) and cool temperatures (33-45 F). Winds ranged from West to Northwest. Frequent rain, snow, and hail showers also occurred. We had no reports of any brant leaving, but numerous flocks of Canada geese were observed passing over the town of Cold Bay and heading south on Oct 22. Since the storm system looked like a good one for brant departure, we conducted an aerial survey of Izembek Lagoon and adjacent areas on October 26. We estimated that more than 90% of the brant were still present in the Izembek area (approximately 140,000 birds). Many of the brant were in flocks of several thousand to more than 10,000 birds, so precise estimates of numbers were difficult. Only 20% of the Canada geese remained in the area.

Our Refuge conducts age ratio counts of the brant throughout fall staging. This year we classified 25,361 brant by age and estimated that 33% of these birds were juveniles. This is above average production and it was a welcome sight to see all of these juveniles.

9 Español: No hemos hecho ninguna práctica de observación con el grupo, pero el día 28 del presente salimos la maestra Karla y yo a visitara unos amigos a Campo Cortez, un sitio de observación y vimos por primera vez un grupo de brantas de 180 aprox. y nos comentaron las personas del lugar que era la primera vez en la temporada que veían brantas ellos, por lo cual podemos decir que este día llegaron las brantas a la Laguna San Ignacio.B.C.S.
Atentamente Profr. Saúl Peralta Rosas
English: We have not made a field trip with the group (of students), but on October 28th Teacher Karla and I went to visit some friends that live in Campo Cortez, a place where we observe brant each year, and we saw for the first time (in this season) a group of brant, about 180. The local people told us that this was the first time in the season that they saw brant, so we can tell that this is the day when the brant arrived at Laguna San Ignacio, B. C. S.
Attentively
Teacher Saúl Peralta Rosas


11 About 100 Brown Pelicans were diving for anchoves.

12 A northwest wind is blowing at Izembek Lagoon and apparently it is blowing some of the geese south. A number of flocks (more than 20) ranging in size from 50-1000 geese were observed lifting up from the southwest and central portions of Izembek Lagoon and heading to the southeast during the late morning. Both Canada geese and brant are joining this exodus. The northwest wind is predicted to blow throughout the night, so more brant may leave tonight. We'll send an update on numbers after our next aerial survey (which depends on the weather). In the meantime, be on the look out for brant arriving in your area.

13 Español:Realicé una salida a la bahía de San Quintín, observando en dos sitios. El primero fue el Panteón Inglés, donde no pude observar brantas de cerca. Se miraban algunas aves muy lejos, tanto que ni siquiera podía distinguir si realmente eran brantas o no. Había una águila pescadora (Pandion haliaetus) pescando cerca de la orilla. Un poco más lejos había una garza morena (Ardea herodias) escondida entre la vegetación. El segundo sitio es un lugar donde algunos pescadores tienen sus lanchas y está muy cerca del panteón. Ahí, pude observar las brantas muy de cerca. Me acerqué a aproximadamente 20 metros de ellas, y tuve oportunidad de filmarlas y fotografiarlas. Cerca de la orilla había aproximadamente 120, que al parecer solo estaban descansando y limpiando sus plumas. Cerca de este grupo había otro de alrededor de 30 y más lejos, alrededor de 500. Aún más lejos, al otro lado de la bahía, se veía un grupo muy grande, pero no pude contarlas pues estaban demasiado retiradas. A las brantas las acompañaban algunas gaviotas (Larus occidentalis), charranes o gallitos marinos (Sterna caspia) y algunos chorlos y aves picudas que no identifiqué.
Saludos para todos.
Iván Manríquez
Pro Esteros, A. C.

English: I’ve just made a field trip to the bay of San Quintín, monitoring in two places. The first place was the English Cemetery, where I could not observe brant. There were a lot of birds, but so far away that I can’t even tell if they were brant or not. There was an osprey (Pandion haliaetus) fishing near the coast. There was also a Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) hidden in the vegetation. The second place is a site where some fishermen have its boats and is very close to the cemetery. There, I could see the brant very closely. I approached approximately 20 meters of them (about 60 feet), and I had opportunity to film and photograph them. On the shore there was about 120, that seem to be resting and cleaning their feathers. Near this group, there was another of about 30 and a little far away, another of about 500. At the other side of the bay, there was a very large group, but I could not count them since they were too far. There was also other birds: Sea Gulls (Larus occidentalis), Caspian Terns (Sterna Caspian) and some shorebirds that I did not identify.
Greetings for all.
Iván Manríquez
Pro Esteros, A. C.


14 Español: Llegamos a La Freidera a las 4:41 pm y la primera parada a un costado de la desaladora no observamos brantas, solo gaviotas, pelicanos y cormoranes. Nos trasladamos unos 6 minutos por la orilla de la playa hacia campo Pachico y observamos un grupo de 23 brantas una comían en la orilla y otras nadaban a unos 30 metros de la orilla. la marea estaba un poco baja, y el dia estaba soleado.

English: We arrive to La Freidera at 4:41 pm, and the first observation site was beside the desalination plant. There were no brant, only gulls, pelicans and cormorants. We move about six minutes along the shore, toward Campo Pachicoand saw a group of 23 brant, eating on the shore, and some were swiming about 30 meters from the shore. The tide was a little low, and it was a sunny day.



15 Español: Hoy viernes 11 de noviembre 2005 a las 4.15 observamos marea baja, viento del noroeste y miramos 15 brantas alimentandose.Cuando nos ibamos a ir miramos aproximadamente una docena de pajaros Oystercatchers (Ostreros: Haemantopus bachmani), despues antes de irnos dimos un pequeño recorrido en la playa y captamos un pato muerto debajo de unas piedras y cuando nos regresamos miramos ostiones, caracoles y almejas. Es toda nuestra pequeña aventura.
English: Today, Friday 11th, 2005, at 4:15 pm. We saw the low tide, winds from the NW and 15 brant feeding. When we were leaving, we saw about a dozen of Oystercatchers (Haemantopus bachmani), then, just before we leave, we take a little walk on the beach and saw a dead duck behind some rocks. When we get back, we saw oysters, snails and clams. This was our little adventure.


16 11/07/05 - 23 brant
11/09/05 - 139 Total of which 20 were juvenile - 14.4%. Then later, 91 of which 12 juvenile – 13.2%
11/10/05 – 281 brant, all black brant. Of 216, 41 were juvenile - 19.0%
11/11/05 – About 450 to 500 brant
11/12/05 COUNTED 1193 BRANT!!!!!!!!! More than 100 were out of the water. Almost all were black brant although 1 family group of grey bellies was seen with 4 juveniles. Of 136, 18 were juveniles – 13.2%
11/13/05 -62 brant seen without any bands. All were black brant
11/14/05 – 534 brant. Of 380, 76 were juveniles - 20 %. Then later of 382, 83 were juvenile - 21.7 % and again later of 433 brant counted, 88 were juvenile - 20.3 %
Notes: Lots of brant were seen close enough to see that there were no bands on any of them. Leg bands seem to be few and far between. These were ideal conditions. There was a dog owner trying to get his two dogs to chase birds off the beach. Although he really tried, the dogs were not interested in running out after the ducks and geese.
At least 1 grey belly was seen and several others looked like they might be grey bellies.
Swans were seen flying south over the bay and one pintail duck was seen with a radio antenna. There was a hunter on the western shore which caused a large concentration of waterfowl to crowd near the other shore.
Of 116, 19 were juvenile – 16.4%

Richard Swanston Delta B.C. Canada


17 A large storm system blew into the Cold Bay area during the early morning of November 8 and lasted until November 12. Winds were blowing primarily from the NW at 25-50 mph with occasionally blowing snow. Several brant flocks were observed taking off from Izembek Lagoon during the afternoon on November 8 and 9, but the weather was too poor to be able to determine how many brant were taking off. Today, we flew over the lagoon to estimate how many brant remained. It was too windy to do a low level survey, but we made a rough estimate of 30,000-40,000 brant. It looks like maybe 75% of the brant have migrated south.

We have been host to 10 Western High Arctic brant that migrated here from Melville Island, Canada. These brant have radio transmitters, and we have been listening for them periodically since mid-September. All ten of these brant are still here at Izembek Lagoon. It will be interesting to see if they stay for the winter or if they end up migrating down to Washington.

18 Guy Monty is from Parksville, BC, Canada but he came down to the ocean coast in Washington State over the weekend and went looking for brant in Gray’s Harbor Washington. He saw 680 brant about 800 to 1500 meters from shore from the base of Damon Point in Ocean Shores, WA.

19 This was not a complete Brant count for the estero today. Two flocks of about 75 Brant entered the estero before sunrise. About 35 White Pelicans and maybe 70 Brown Pelicans were in the area.

Esto no era una cuenta completa de Brantas para el estero hoy. Dos multitudes de cerca de 75 Brantas entraron en el estero antes de
salida del sol. Cerca de 35 pelicans blancos y 70 pelicans marrones estaban quizá en
el área.


20 Today we went to look for brant at three locations around Padilla bay. This day has been beatifully sunny and warm. We finally saw some Brant from the third site, near swinomish channel. They were very far from shore, grouped together in a long line, and the water was choppy, making them difficult to count, but we estimated there to be about 150. Closer to shore we saw many surf scoters and bufflehead ducks. We also possibly saw a large grouping of snow geese far from shore.

21 Español: El jueves 24 de noviembre fui al estero de Punta Banda, en Ensenada, Baja California, y tuve la oportunidad de observar 12 brantas brantas. Eran dos pequeños grupos, uno de 4 y otro de 8, separadas por unos cuantos metros. Se localizaban muy cerca del sendero interpretativo que existe en el lugar. Aunque iba con un grupo de alrededor de 50 alumnos de primaria y 4 profesores, las aves no se asustaron. Al parecer se estaban alimentando de lechuga marina (Ulva). Nunca había visto brantas en el estero de Punta Banda, y el verlas me causó mucha emoción. No me fijé bien, pero al parecer algunas eran juveniles. Por desgracia, tenía que cumplir con el itinerario de trabajo previsto con la escuela que visitaba el estero, y no pude quedarme a observar con más calma. Estaré de nuevo en el estero el 26 de noviembre e intentaré observarlas de nuevo.

English: On Thursday, Nov. 24th, I went to Punta Banda estuary, here in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico, and I saw 12 brant. There were two small groups (4 and 8 brant) separated by a few meters. They were very close to a nature interpretative trial that is in this estuary. Even when I was accompanied bay a group of 50 students and 4 teachers, the birds didn’t fly. It seems like they were feeding on sea lettuce (Ulva). I’d never seen brant in Punta Banda estuary, so I was very excited. I’m not sure, but it looks like there were some juveniles. Sadly, I had to comply with the itinerary of work predicted with the school that visited the estuary, so I could not remain and observe. I will be in the estuary next November 26th, and I will try to watch them again.


22 Español: Regresé el sábado 8 de Noviembre al estero de Punta Banda, acompañado por 12 niñas y sus profesoras. Ahora solo pude observar 8 brantas, en la misma zona en que el jueves 24 observé 12. Al parecer estarán aquí solo de paso, y se irán más al sur. En esta zona lo que abunda es la lechuga marina (Ulva), y las miré alimentandose de ella.
Iván Manríquez – Pro Esteros, A. C.
English: I return to the Punta Banda estuary on November 8th, accompanied by a group of 12 students and their teachers. This time I only saw 8 brant in the same place where I’ve saw 12 on November 12th . It looks like they are here only passing by, and they’ll keep flying south. In this site there’s a lot of sea lettuce (Ulva), and they were feeding on it.
Iván Manríquez – Pro Esteros, A. C.


23 Español: Estamos reportando nuestra primera salida al censo de la branta. Las condiciones fueron las siguientes: la marea estaba baja, poco frío pero soleado y sin viento. Había muchas aves alimentándose y otras nadando, entre las que vimos 1,232 brantas. El problema que se nos presentó fue que no tuvimos lancha para hacer el censo hacia adentro del estero. Nuestra próxima salida será hasta diciembre. Hasta luego. Grupo GEECO.

English: This the report of our first field trip to make a brant survey. The weather was: a little cold, but sunny and no wind, the tide was low. There were many birds feeding and other were swimming. We saw 1,232 brant. The only problem was that we couldn’t make a trip on a boat around the estuary. Our next field trip will be on December. See you later.
GEECO Group.


24 Español: Este sabado 28 realizamos nuestra primera salida de campo. Era un grupo de 13 estudiantes con muchas ganas de participar en este proyecto, fuimos a la Bahía como a las 10 de la mañana, estaba el viento muy fuerte, pero la marea estaba muy baja, asi que tuvimos la oportunidad de observar las brantas de más cerca, había una gran cantidad de brantas, era imposible contarlas ya que había por todos lados, nos subimos a un pequeno cerro que se encuentra en esos lugares y pudimos observar que a lo lejos había muchas más, con la ayuda de los binoculares y el telescopio, concluimos que había más de 30,000 brantas a lo largo de la bahía.
También observamos una águila que no alcanzamos a distinguir cuando ibamos rumbo al Molino
Viejo, al llegar allá un par de alumnos encontraron un ave lastimada de un ala, segun las guías concluyeron que era un short-billed dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus).
Grupo BRAMISANQUI85 / Profr. Gabriel Medina / San Quintin, Baja California.

English: Last Saturday, 28th, we made our first field trip. There were 13 enthusiatic students ready to participte in the project. We went to the bay (San Quintín), around 10:00 a.m. The wind was very strong, but the tide was low, so we had the chance to watch the Brant closer. There was a lot of them, it was impossible to count them because they were everywhere. We climb a hill close to the shore and saw that far away there were even more brant. Using binoculars and telescope, we conclude that there were more than 30,000 brant along the bay.
We also watch an Osprey that we miss when we were going to the Old Mill. Once there two students find a bird with an injured wing. According to field guides, they concluded that it was a short-billed dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus).
Grupo BRAMISANQUI85 / Profr. Gabriel Medina / San Quintin, Baja California.


25 I observed this lone Brant Goose at the port in Gold Beach, Oregon.
I wonder what it is doing and if it is a resident.

Other birds seen there were:
5 Coots
2 pairs of Bufflehead
4 pairs of Mallards
1 female Surf Scoter
3 Western Grebe (didn't make the distictions between Western and Clarks)
5 California Quail (on land not in water!)


26 Observador: MANUEL DAVIS SAUCEDO B.
LUGAR: PLANTA OSTIONERA (Oyster plant)
Español: Fui a un paseo en lancha con mi tio Ramón, era como las 12 del día, cuando inició el paseo vimos muchas aves: pelícanos blancos, gaviotas y tres brantas.
English: I went on a field trip with my uncle Ramon, it was about noon, when we started our trip and we saw many birds: white pelicans, gulls, and three brant.


27 Español: Fuimos a un lugar que le dicen CAMPO PACHICO. El clima en el que estábamos contando las brantas era un poco caluroso, también la marea era alta y poco viento. Con las brantas estaban sarapicos alcatraces, gaviotas y unos cuantos pelicanos.
Esto es todo gracias / Equipo 3
Inglés: We went to a place called Campo Pachico. The day was warm, the tide was a little high and it was windy. With the Brant there were Gannets, Sea gulls, and some pelicans.
That’s all, thanks. / Team 3


28 13/13/05 Today was the first full day back in Canada after a 21 day trip to Central America. And after looking at the tides this A.M. thought that I'd have a look for Brant Bands at the Pump House Boundary Bay Regional Park Tsawwassen. On arrival at 09:18 with the tide still falling to 11.8 Foot at 09:50 The wind was light airs and there was a Low Overcast . After setting up the tripod and scope I could see a large flock of Brant 250 / 300 Swimming just off the beach. After looking at about 3 birds I noted a Brant with an antenna sticking out it's back end. I was hoping it was one of the 2 Radio implanted birds that have used the Bay for several years. BUT after the bird lifted out of the water I realized this was a Gray Bellied Brant !!! These birds were banded this Summer in the Canadian Arctic Information on this project can be seen by goggling Washington Brant .
After focusing the bird in the scope I attempted to photograph the bird. Of course the camera batteries were dead. I then left the area to contact Sean Boyd about the great find and return with fresh batteries. Right off the bird was located and just as the camera was being adjusted a Bald Eagle flushed all the birds from the area. After waiting for just under an hour and seeing another 4 to 5 Bald Eagle disruptions of waterfowl in the Western Bay I left the area. While walking back to the car 2 more Bald Eagles crossed the dike flushing all the waterfowl again. Several hunters were active in the 72nd Street area in the Northern Bay area. So today the Brant would normally concentrate in the P/H Area if it were not for the Bald Eagles.




29 About 1100 Brant were flying low and milling around at Drakes Estero today. It reminded me of the 1950s when large flocks of Brant wintered at the bay. In the last several years the numbers of Brant at Drakes Estero have been not much more than 100, and on many days far less. So it was remarkable to see 1100 Brant today.


Branta cerca de 1100 volaba bajo y molía alrededor en Drakes Estero hoy. Me recordó el 1950s cuando las multitudes grandes de Branta wintered en la bahía. En el último varios años los números de Branta en Drakes Estero han sido no mucho más que 100, y en muchos días lejos menos. Era tan notable ver a Branta 1100 hoy.


30 At about 14:50 today yet another radio equipped Gray Bellied Brant was seen at Boundary Bay Tsawwassen. I attempted to get some photo's but with the heavy O/C it was just too dark to support a digital scope photo. I did take several pictures though. Every one captured the bird grabbing it's antenaa so you cannot realy see it or the bird left the frame while the camera was processing the shot. All had to be photo shopped to brighten the poor image. There was a total of 8 Gray Bellied Brant. 1 pair with three juveniles and another pair with one juvenile. Later 2 adult Black Brant flew in.

31 Seven or more years ago Brant were bended in Alaska with yellow bands. Well today, 12/23/05, I sighted a very healthy pair of brant with yellow bands. One had the leg band Y/B 8H1 and its mate had the leg band -AA. They are a very dominate pair and fought off several other brant to control their patch of beach!

Conditions: Lite south southeast wind at 4 to 6 knots and overcast sky. Tide rising rapidly from about 12.8 to over 14 feet in one hour and a half.
Count: 877 Brant off the Pump House, Boundary Bay Regional Park Tsawwassen with at least 60 to 80 arriving during the count period that went uncounted
Of the 877 Counted 184 were Juveniles.
Numerous Gray Bellies Brant were Observed at 09:04.
Hunting was occuring in the 64 th to 72nd street area

09:34 a Bald Eagle Scared the Brant 1/4 Mile Out into the Bay
09:44 The brant once again started to Haul Out with at least 18 Gray Bellies Brant. An estimated 25 Black Brant were Observed for bands. None of them had bands.
09:58 A Dog walker went out on to the Spit and Scared the birds into the water followed by a pass over by a Bald Eagle. All the birds went to the North side of the Bay.


32 There were no Brant in Drakes Estero today, which was a disappointment after seeing about 1100 there last week. Other sightings were better. A partial list is below. Numbers are approximate.

No había Branta en Drakes Estero hoy, cuál era una decepción después de ver las cerca de 1100 allí semanas pasadas. Otros sightings eran mejores. Los números son aproximados.



300 Widgeon
400 Scalp
75 Canvasback
75 Golden Eye
75 Mallard
100 Shovelers
Several pair of Red Tail Hawks (they are court displaying now)
1 Peregrine Falcon
10 Phoebe
7 Reindeer
25 Coast Deer
200 Harbor Seals
25 White Pelicans thermal ling
2 covies of California Quail
Robins
Ravens
Crows




33 Español: El dia 29 de diciembre salí con mis hijos a la bahía y tomé algunas fotos de las brantas que se encontraban en ese momento, según el conteo aproximado que realicé, fue de unas 10,000 brantas que se encontraban alli, la marea estaba baja y muy calmada.
Espero la próxima salida llevar a los muchachos, tal vez el dia 14 de Enero.
Saludos. Gabriel Medina.
English: On December 29th I go out to the bay with my children and I took some photos of the brant that we found there, according to the approximate count that I carried out, there was about 10,000 brant, the tide was low and very calm. I expect to take the students with me in the next field trip, perhaps the on January 14th.
Greetings. Gabriel Medina.


34 I thought you'd like to know that I saw about a dozen brant off Alki Point today! (near downtown Seattle, Washington)There's a group that usually comes to this beach every spring, but I usually don't start seeing them until late January. Last year they were quite late. I was quite surprised to see them today, and wondered if any other early reports had come in? Anyhow, I thought you and your list would like to know.
Stepnanie Raymond
People For Puget Sound

35 12/31/05
09:05 Conditions: Overcast and rain showers Southeast wind15 to 20 knots. 15Feet Tide and falling .
450 + brant were seen in the Western Bay and Pump House Area
I looked at 100+ birds for leg bands and saw one white leg band, possibly +03 ???, and it's black banded mate.
09:20 Noted the injured bird with almost no tail feathers again
09:24 A Man with two dogs off leash on the northern section of the spit scare the Brant off the spit and out into the Bay.
I noted hunting in progress in the North Western Part of the Bay, 64th to 72nd Str.
And of the birds hauling out there was a high ratio of Black Brant.

11:08 I returned and found the Brant starting to approach the Lagoon Spit in Beach Grove in large numbers. It was raining again

11:20 Juvenile Black Brant with leg band R/L 032 was observed and photographed . This bird was once again alone with no adults

11:38 500 + Snow Geese were observed flying south over Point Roberts Washington.

12:24 From the Pump House Boundary Bay regional Park Tsawwassen I counted 1261 Brant in The Western Bay . Due to the rain and wind and rough seas there could have been more birds in the Bay further east. Conditions were not ideal for a total count in the Bay.
5 Bald Eagles congregated to attack a wounded Hooded Merganser in the Lagoon.


36 2 Brant were seen 1/2 mile South of the Charleston Bridge by staff as they were kyacking.

37 Español: LLegamos a la planta ostionera pedimos una autorizacion para poder pasar al sitio adecuado para contar brantas. Eran las 4:20 ,la marea estaba completamente baja .Al llegar pudimos observar 36 brantas ,Juan Gilberto observo que a lo lejos se miraban bastantes branta,como a Juan se le olvidaron los binoculares en el carro,estrella y cruz tuvieron que dividirse para poder contarlas y sacaron la conclusion que eran 1200. 10 minutos despues mas tarde contamos aproximadamente 400. Al rato a lo lejos pudimos observar una parvada de aves las cuales no supimos de que tipo eran, pero subian y bajaban haciendo un efecto de remolino era muy lejos y no pudimos saber de que aves se trataban. Como ya no pudimos observar mas nos retiramos, y vamos por la orilla de la playa y vimos un coyote que se alejaba corriendo velozmente, por lo cual solo lo pudimos observar solo un momento, nos retiramos a nuestras casas eran las 5:00 en punto
Inglés: We arrive to the Oyster plant and we ask permission to pass, and get to the perfect place to count Brant. It was 4:20 pm, the tide was completely low. When we arrive, we saw 36 Brant. Juan Gilberto saw a lot of Brant at the distance, as Juan forgot the binocular in the car, Estrella and Cruz went different ways, so they counted the Brant and they thought there were 1200. 10 minutes later we count approximately 400. Later, at the distance we could observe a flock of birds. We couldn’t identify them, but they go up and down doing an effect of swirl. They were very far away and couldn’t identify what kind of birds they were. As we couldn’t observe no more Brant, we leave the place, and we go to the edge of the beach and we saw a coyote that moved away running fast, so we saw it just a moment. We leave and everyone went to their home. It was 5:00 o’clock.


38

39 Two students came all the way from concrete today to look for brant. The weather was cloudly and cold at first and then became sunny and warm. There was a light wind. First we went north to look for brant from Camp Kirby. We saw three brant on the beach! They were preening, maybe eating gravel, and resting. There were lots of duck out in the water, and there was a group of brant on the water, closer to shore than the ducks. The brant were looking for food.
Then we went south to the swinomish channel. There were no brant, but there were a lot of ducks. We saw diving ducks, and two golden eye ducks on their own, away from the large group.

40 Español:
Observador: Gabriel Medina Atilano. Conteo hecho en un lugar donde se cultiva ostión llamado Agromarinos. Hora: 1:00 pm Nunca había visitado este lugar con el fin de observar brantas, solamente para aprovechar un fin de semana con amigos y consumir mariscos, junto a la bahía, pero en esta ocasión estábamos conviviendo y de pronto llegaron 2 brantas, estaban como a 20 metros de distancia del lugar donde estabamos nosotros, para suerte traía mi camara y logré tomarle algunas fotos cuando se estaban alimentando, 4 o 5 minutos después llegaron otras 8 brantas, minutos despues teníamos un grupo como de 30 brantas a solo unos metros de distancia, es lo mas cerca que he estado de las brantas.
Según comentarios de un trabajador de ese lugar, dice que como a un kilómetro de ahí, hay mucho alimento, pero gente que se dedica a la caza deportiva pues las asusta y en este lugar no hay quien las moleste, es por eso que llegan con mucha confianza y se alimentan sin ningun temor.
Anexo algunas fotos de las brantas que se encontraban en ese lugar.
Un saludo y estamos en contacto. Profr. Gabriel Medina

Inglés: Sigthins made in an Oyster Plant called “Agromarinos”. Time: 1:00 pm. I’ve never been in this place in order to observe brant, just to spend the weekend with friends and to eat shellfish close to the bay, but in this occasion we were there with our friends and suddenly arrived 2 brant, they were about 20 meters from us. Luckily, I brought my camera and I managed to take them some photos when they were being fed. 4 or 5 minutes later, another 8 brant arrived. Minutes later we had a group as about 30 brant just a few meters away. This the closest I’ve been to the brant. According to comments of a worker of that place, about a kilometer away from there, there’s a lot of food (sea grass), but there are some hunters too, who frightens them. In the place where we were nobody bother them, that’s why they arrive with a lot of confidence and they are fed without fear.
Greetings and keep in contact. Profr. Gabriel Medina.


41 6 Brant were observed near Fossil Point by the South Slough Reserve manager, Mike Graybill

42 ~3 pm, near the marine science center in Newport:

Two BRANT were near the Wecoma dock (north part of the science center), foraging in the shallow cove near Eric Horvath's purple martin houses.

observer: Dave Mellinger
reported on Oregon Birders online and added to Brant database by Stephanie Danyi at the South Slough NERR, in Coos Bay, OR.

43 Three students in the Padilla Bay Homeschool Environmental Studies class came out to look for brant today. We lucked out with the weather again, it was bright and clear and crisp. First we drove to the north, and looked from Samish Island across Samish Bay. The students spotted about 30 Brant very far away, on the other side of the bay. I was very impressed with their good eyes. Perhaps they were so far away because of the hunting season? They took off from the water and settled down again in a slightly different spot. Then we drove down to the south near swinomish channel. We didn't see any brant from this spot, but we saw hundreds, maybe thousands of ducks in a long raft and about a dozen Great Blue Herons standing on a spoil island. Also, when driving between the two sites, an eagle dove down and caught a rodent from the field right beside our car! It was amazing!

44
Two homeschool students from concrete came to Padilla Bay again to look for Brant. The weather was cloudy, a little windy, and cold. First we went to Samish Island and looked across Samish Bay. We saw 32 Brant in the middle of the bay. Maybe these were the same brant that I saw in Samish bay yesterday with a different group of students. The brant were near a mystery raft, with people on it. It seemed strange that the brant were so close to the people. The people may have been hunters, but we didn't see or hear them shoot at the brant. We also saw some bufflehead ducks very close to shore.
We drove south to the Swinomish Channel and looked into Padilla Bay. We saw about 40 brant that were in the middle of the bay. There was another raft of hunters close to the brant. We also saw some common merganseres preening on the shore of a spoil islands. We also saw three surf scooters, pintails, and buffleheads. We saw a group of twenty Great Blue Herons on the spoils island.
We also saw four hawks, one falcon, and one eagle.



45 Newport, OR. : On the Nature trail going south around the Marine Science center about 18 BRANT were enjoying the intermittent sunshine while they preened and slept on the same muddy beach where the Godwit was actively searching for food.

observed by Floyd Schrock as reported on the Oregon Birders List and reported here by Stephanie Danyi of the South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve in Coos Bay, Oregon


46 Two homeschool students from Anacortes came to Padilla Bay today to look for brant. It was very windy and cold today. There were lots of white capped waves out on the water, which made it hard to see birds, because they went behind the waves. We went and looked down by the Swinomish channel. There were three brant on a sandbar by the spoil islands. There were lots of ducks. We saw one juvenile bald eagle chase the ducks, they all flew up in a swarm when it came near. There may have been more brant mixed in with the ducks, but it was hard to tell because they were all flying and bothered by the eagle. We also saw grebes, loons and comorants.

47 No Brant were in evidence yesterday, Jan 31, at Drakes Estero. I did see a Great Horned Owl roosting in a pine tree. Also, a large bull Elephant Seal was swimming in the estero. Elephant Seals are common on the ocean beaches at Point Reyes National Seashore, but never seen to my knowledge inside the estero.


No hay Branta en evidencia ayer, De enero el 31. Vi un Great Horned Owl de cuernos el roosting en un árbol del pino. También, un Elephant Seal grande del toro nadaba en el estero. Los Elephant Seal son comunes en las playas del océano en la costa nacional de Reyes del punto, pero nunca visto a mi conocimiento dentro del estero.


48 ESPAÑOL: Hoy salimos de la escuela eran como las 4:00 pm. Fuimos a Campo Cortez. El sol estaba fuerte, la marea baja y habia un leve viento del noroeste. Llegamos a la playa y había dos parvadas muy numerosas de aves (brantas) Las estuvimos contando, pero debido al gran número hicimos una estimación de 3,000 aproximadamente, también nos llamó la atención ver 19 pelícanos blancos que nadaban muy tranquilos por los canales de agua que quedaron con la marea. Después nos fuimos a Campo Ramón, pero no encontramos brantas. equipo 5
INGLES: Today we leave the school at 4:00 pm. We went to Campo Cortez. It was sunny, the tide was low and we had a light wind coming from the Northwest. We arrive at the beach and there were two very numerous flocks of birds (brant) We were counting them, but owed to the great number we did an estimation of 3,000 approxi-mately. We noticed 19 white pelicans that swam by the channels of water that remained with the tide. Later we went to Campo Ramón, but we do not find brant. Team 5


49 Español: Llegamos a la 4:07 pm a la playa a un costado donde se encuentra la desaladora y empezamos nuestro recorrido, el cual aunque las brantas se podían contar desde el carro, nos detuvimos en varias ocasiones porque unos compañeros de primero no conocían las brantas y con el telescopio las estuvimos observando más de cerca. Al terminar el recorrido contamos un total de 92 brantas. La marea estaba alta y no hacía viento, el día estaba soleado, observamos mucha basura en su mayoría botes de aceite que los pescadores arrojan al mar. El profe dijo que ibamos hacer una campaña de limpieza. Equipo 6
English: We arrive at 4:07 pm to the beach near to the desalination plant and we begin our trip, which although the brant could be counted from the car, we stopped in several times because some first grade students didn’t know the brant. and with the telescope we observe them closely. At the end of the trip, we count a total of 92 brant. The tide was high and the day was not windy, and it was sunny. We observed a lot of trash, mostly oil cans that the fishermen throw to the sea. The teacher said that we’ll make a cleaning campaign. Team 6


50 Español: Cuando llegamos, la Profesora nos dio las indicaciones, nos dio los binoculares y una guía de aves. Nos dividimos en tres equipos y nos fuimos a diferentes partes del estero. Había demasiadas brantas. Por todas contamos aproximadamente 2,000. Cuando terminamos, tuvimos la oportunidad de bañarnos. Después de bañarnos regresamos a la comunidad.
English: When we arrive, the teacher gave us instructions, binoculars and field guides. We divide our group in three teams and went to different places in the estuary. There were too many brant. All of them were about 2,000. When we finished, we had the chance to take a shower, and then went back to the town.


51 Español: Observador: César Iván Manríquez. Fui a la laguna de San Ignacio, llevando conmigo la Caja Branta para mostrarla a los estudiantes, y al llegar observé aproximadamente 60 brantas en la orilla.
English: Observer: César Iván Manríquez. I went to San Ignacio Lagoon, taking the Brant Care Package with me to show it to the students, and there I saw about 60 brant on the shore.


52 Español: Observador: César Iván Manríquez Castro.
La noche anterior a hoy dormí en la laguna, en el Campo La Freidera. Por la mañana, al despertar, lo primero que miré fueron alrededor de 80 brantas, comiendo muy cerca de la orilla. Creo que aquí las brantas están acostumbradas a no ser asustadas por la gente, ya que me acerqué despacio y pude sentarme en la orilla con mis binoculares y telescopio. Las brantas siguieron nadando y comiendo. Una de ellas me miró y se acercó un poco. Me siguió mirando con cierta curiosidad (o con cierto temor), y llegó a estar a aproximadamente 8 metros de mí. Finalmente, se convenció que no le haría daño y se alejó tranquilamente, mientras seguía comiendo. Creo que es lo más cerca que he estado de una branta viva.
Ese mismo día llevé la Caja Branta a la secundaria, donde los muchachos me dieron algunos artículos nuevos que metí en ella.
Más tarde, antes de irme de la laguna, tuve oportunidad de realizar un viaje de avistamiento de ballena gris. Fue increíble. A pesar de haberlo hecho antes (hace como 5 años), es una experiencia que no deja de sorprender. El poder tocar un animal de ese tamaño y a su bebé fue grandioso. Durante la observación de la ballena, también miré alrededor de 100 brantas, y otras aves como pelícanos cafés, charranes, zarapicos, cormoranes y otros.
English: Observer: César Iván Manríquez.
Last night I slept in la Laguna, in Campo La Freidera. In the morning, the first thing that I saw were about 80 brant, eating very near to the shore. I believe that here it’s unusual that people scare the brant, since I approached slowly and I could sit down in the shore with my binocular and telescope. The brant keep swimming and eating. One of them looked at me and a then approached. It continued looking at me with certain curiosity (or with certain fear), to approximately 25 feet from me. Finally, it was convinced that I won’t do any harm, and it moved away easily, while continued eating. I think this is the closest I’ve been from a brant.
That same day I carried the Brant Care Package to the school, where the students put some new articles in yhe package.
Later, just before I leave, I had the opportunity of make a gray whale sight trip. It was incredible. Even when I’ve done this before (about 5 years ago), this an experience that keeps exciting me. To touch an animal of that size and its baby was magnificent. During the observation of the whale, also I looked about 100 brant, and other birds as brown pelicans, terns, long billed curlew, cormorants and more.


53 Bay City is North of Tillamook on the Oregon Coast

Our last stop of the day was the oyster factory in Bay City as the sun was setting where we were able to pick out about 20 Common Loons, 14 Horned Grebes, 3 Red-breasted Mergansers, and several Brant (I generally try to let participants figure out what a bird is but the Brant were quite a ways away so the students had to settle for me telling them what they were). A great day with lots of birds and beautiful weather.
Good birding.
Observer: Luke Redmond
Reported on Oregon Birders online and added to Brant Database by Stephanie Danyi at the South Slough NERR, in Coos Bay, OR


54 Four homeschool students came to look for Brant at Padilla bay. The weather was sunny, clear, with a light wind. We went to Samish Island and looked into Padilla Bay. They were swimming far away from shore in two groups. They were a little bit more spread out then I am use to seeing. Two motor boats came and frightened them, they took flight, but then they settled back down a little bit closer to shore. One group had 17 brant, and the other group had 18 brant. There were not any other birds nearby in the water, but there were some seagulls on the shore. We did see a lot of eagles and hawks.

55 Five homeschool students came on a trip to look for brant. Sunny, cold, clear, breezy, light wind. First we went north to Samish Island and looked into Samish Bay. We saw about 130 brant on the other side of the bay from us, they were spread out close to the shore in a long line. We also saw around 28 buffleheads and some scooters, grebes, and mergansers.
Then we went south and looked into Padilla bay from the Swinomish channel. We saw about 50 brant mixed in with a group of ducks. The brant were moving towards the shore of a spoil island. We also saw a juvenile eagle fly over the ducks, possbily scanning for sick or younger birds. We also saw a great blue heron on the spoil island.

56 about 100 brant were observed near Fossil Point, in Coos Bay, Oregon.

57 83 Brant were counted. Too far away to identify juveniles, as is almost always the case at Drakes Estero. It was a beautiful, calm day. Many Red Tailed Hawks, Widgeon, and Harbor Seals were present.


83 Brantas fueron contados. Demasiado lejos lejos identificar a juveniles, al igual que casi siempre el caso en Drakes Estero. Era un hermoso, día tranquilo. Muchos Red Tailed Hawks, Widgeon, y Harbor Seals del puerto estaban presentes.



58 Comentarios: Salimos del Ejido Luis echeverria a las 4:00, de la tarde a las 4:12 llegamos a la laguna no habia ninguna branta y nos fuimos a campo pachico llegamos, el viento era del norte y era leve, estaba un poco nublado. Contamos las brantas que se veian, por total fueron 86 brantas. Este fue el reporte de los compañeros, Roberto. Juan Jesus, Sahid, Rafael y Gael.
Inglés: We leave the Cooperative Luis Echeverria at 4:00 pm. At 4:12 we arrive to the lagoon. There wasn’t any brant, and we went to Campo Pachico. When we arrive, a light wind was coming from the North, it was a little cloudy. We count the brant, and they were 86. Report made by: Roberto, Juan Jesus, Sahid, Rafael and Gael.
GELSI - LAGUNA SAN IGNACIO.


59
Comentarios: Estimados Amigos: El dia de hoy realizamos nuestro segundo monitoreo de BRANTAS salida a las 10:00 a.m. salida Puerto Chaparrito en esta ocasión no participaron niños.
Fuimos a la Laguna Ojo de Liebre, el dia esta muy bonito y estuvimos hora y media, observamos 575 BRANTAS en total,
Saludos / Marisol Aguilar Aguilar, Gabriel A. Zaragoza Aguilar
Comments: Dear Friends: Today we carry out our second monitoring of BRANTAS. We started at 10:00 a.m. We went to Port Chaparrito. In this occasion did not participate children. We went to Laguna Ojo de Liebre. The weather was very nice and we spend an hour and a half there. We observed 575 BRANT.



60 Estimados Amigos: El día de hoy realizamos nuestro primer monitoreo de BRANTAS. Salida a las 10:30 a.m. salida Puerto Chaparrito, fuimos acompañados por 10 niños de la Escuela Marcelo Rubio sus nombres son:
Karla Noemí González 4 “B”, Flor G. Macario 5 “A”, Edhu Aldair Mendoza Patiño 4 “B”, Alondra Sánchez 4 “A”, Brianda Medina Andrade 4 “B”, Ignacio de J. Pérez Mayoral 4 “A”, Luis Alfredo Castillo Leo 4 “A”, Carlos Javier Aguier 5 “A”, Juan Luis García Suárez 5 “A”
Fuimos a la Laguna Ojo de Liebre, el dia esta muy bonito y estuvimos dos horas, observamos 993 BRANTAS en total, a los niños se les dio una pequeña platica sobre las BRANTAS y los niños estaban muy participativos también observamos otras especies de aves como (Pelícanos blancos y café, garzas blancas y morenas, chorlitos, gaviotas, sarapicos pico curviado
Saludos / Marisol Aguilar Aguilar, Gabriel A. Zaragoza Aguilar


61 Pigeon Point, Cape Arago Hwy, 3:30 - 4:15
Other birds seen:
10 western grebe
2 bald eagle
15 common loon
30 surf scoter
32 scaup
10 bufflehead
1 great egret

62 Dear:friends
we saw about 120 brant geese today near north spit across from pigeon point. Then we also saw about 20 surf scoters, 140 greater scaup, 20 bufflehead and the coolest thing we saw was a belted kingfisher. The brant geese were just resting. It was 4:30 p.m. and it was cold.

63 Comentarios: Fui con Gabriel Zaragoza (Reserva de la Biosfera El Vizcaíno) y Antonio Hidalgo (observador de aves) a el espigón de la compañía salinera, donde observamos alrededor de 33 brantas. En el lugar había además Oystercatcher, un par de rufescens, gaviotas y varias águilas pescadoras anidando.
Ese mismo día más tarde fuimos al Refugio para Aves. Ahí observamos alrededor de 33 brantas muy cerca de la orilla. Creo que ahora es lo más cerca que he estado de ellas. Tomamos varias fotografías. Estaban muy tranquilas y no se asustaban aunque estuvieramos tan cerca de ellas. Como aves acompañantes estaban algunas gaviotas, cormoranes, patos golondrinos, pato americano, 1 gran garza azul, 1 pequeña garza azul, un par de chorlos y otros playeros.
Comments: I went with Gabriel Zaragoza (Reserve of the Biosphere the Vizcaíno) and Antonio Hidalgo (bird photographer) to the spit of the saltworks company, where we observed about 50 brant. We also saw several Oystercatchers, a pair of Reddish egrets, sea gulls and several Ospreys nesting. Later we went to the Bird’s Refuge. There we observed about 33 brant very close to the shore. This is the closest that I’ve ever been to them. We took several photos. They were very calm and they weren’t scared, even when we get very close to them. Other birds we saw: Gulls, Cormorants, Pintails, American wigeon, 1 Great blue heron, 1 Little blue heron, a pair of Plovers and other coastal birds.


64 The Brant have been here since Wednesday enjoying the Eelgrass near Pigeon Point in Coos Bay, Oregon. Today was low tide, so I was able to approach the Brant more closely. The Brant were coming out of the water and I began to read tarsal bands, when the crows chased the brant back into the water. Bummer!
While watching the Brant we also saw
1 Osprey
1 Belted Kingfisher
2 Great Blue Herons
2 Great Egrets
4 Red-Breasted Mergansers
20 surf scoters
25 Western Grebes
lots of Greater Scaup
lots of Bufflehead
lots of gulls and crows

65
Comentarios: Llegué al Campo La Freidera acompañado por Antonio Hidalgo, un Médico aficionado a las aves proveniente de Monterrey, y en ese momento había 30 brantas en la orilla. El campamento está justo en la costa, así que ahí tomamos algunas fotos. Más tarde fuimos al campo conocido como El Cardón. Cerca de la zona de mangle había alrededor de 60 brantas alimentándose. Había una branta con un anillo verde. Había también algunos Ibis blancos (Eudocimus albus), Limosa fedoa, pelícanos cafés y cormoranes.
Inglés: I arrived to La Freidera camp accompanied by Antonio Hidalgo, a Doctor and bird lover, who comes from the state of Nuevo León, México. We saw 30 brant on the shore. The camp is very close to the shore, so we take some photos. Later, we went to Camp El Cardón. Close to the mangroves, there were about 60 brant feeding. There was a banded brant (green band) There were also some White Ibis, Marbled Godwit, brown pelicans and cormorants.


66 Español: El día de hoy realizamos nuestro tercer monitoreo de brantas. Salida a las 11:00 am. Salida a la laguna Guerrero Negro en esta ocasión no participaron niños. Se observó 1,582 brantas.
Saludos / Marisol Aguilar Aguilar / Gabriel A. Zaragoza Aguilar
English: Today we made our third brant monitoring field trip. Started at 11:00 am, in Guerrero Negro lagoon. This time we did not bring children. We observed 1,582 brant.
Saludos / Marisol Aguilar Aguilar / Gabriel A. Zaragoza Aguilar


67 300 Brant were observed by Tim Rodenkirk in the Empire and Charleston, Oregon area.

Here are some other notes from his birding:
Charleston, harbor area (off Point Adams):
5- FORK-TAILED STORM-PETRELS, rarely seen in the bay,
three were just off Point Adams and I was able to look
at them with a spotting scope from close range. Not
often you can watch this species with a spotting
scope! The birds were circling and feeding and would occasionally land. Two others were further out in the bay off towards Fossil Point in Empire (but probably not visible from that location).

Bastendorff Beach area (pastures just across from the
turnoff on Cape Arago Hwy):
1- juvenile SNOW GOOSE (still around)

Nice day although a bit cool,

Happy birding,
Tim R
Coos Bay


68 Español: El día de hoy realizamos nuestro cuarto monitoreo de brantas. Salida a las 3:00 pm. Salida a la laguna Guerrero Negro. Se observó 2,500 brantas.
Saludos / Marisol Aguilar Aguilar / Gabriel A. Zaragoza Aguilar
English: Today we made our fourth brant monitoring field trip. Started at 3:00 pm, in Guerrero Negro lagoon. We observed 2,500 brant.
Saludos / Marisol Aguilar Aguilar / Gabriel A. Zaragoza Aguilar


69 It was a beautiful sunny day today, so I went for a bike ride. I stopped at the Pump station on Cape Arago Hwy to look for Brant Geese. Circling overhead were 2 bald eagles.

There were 20 Brant off of Pigeon Point and another 80 Brant at Fossil Point. Other birds near by were Greater Scaup, Surf Scoters, Western and Herring Gulls, and Western Grebe's.

A little farther North on my ride, I stopped to look again and saw one Brant Goose and one Canada Goose swimming and foraging together.

I have put together a website to post pictures from field trips with students. The URL is http://brantgeese.blogspot.com

70 Español: El agua estaba subida, el cielo despejado, viento intenso del oeste. A las cuatro veinte llegamos a la freidera y contamos 20 brantas, encontramos un esqueleto de delfin bien conservado. Estamos a 100 metros aproximadamente de la freidera, nos paramos y contamos 12 brantas alimentándose, el viento era demasiado fuerte, pero creemos que traíamos suerte, porque despues de 20 minutos se calmo un poco, ya que seguimos el camino observamos 11 Brantas mas, seguimos nuestro recorrido, cuando de pronto nos paramos y miramos 8 Brantas, una Garza negra, 9 pelicanos, 10 Zarapicos y 6 Gaviotas, fuimos para la Laguna y cuando llegamos observamos 20 Brantas, enseguida nos regresamos y pasamos el reporte. Somos el equipo 2, está integrado por Rosario, Perla, Vianey e Isa.
English: The tide was high, the sky clear, intense wind from the west. At 4:20 pm we arrived to La Freidera tourist camp and there we count 20 brant. We find a dolphin skeleton well preserved. We approach about a 100 meters from La Freidera, we stop and we count 12 brant being fed. The wind was too strong, but we think we brought luck, because after 20 minutes it become calm. Then we continued our trip and observe 11 Brant. We continue our travel, when suddenly we stop and looked 8 Brant, a black Heron (?), 9 Pelicans, 10 Long billed curlews and 6 Seagulls. We went to La Laguna Camp and there we saw 20 Brant, immediately we return and sent this report. We are the team number 2: Rosario, Perla, Vianey and Isa.


71 Tom Gaskill observed 75 Brant today south of Sand Point (Sitka dock) on the bay. They were tightly flocked and calm. No other birds were in the immediate vicinity.



Mike Graybill observed over 100 Brant at Fossil Point that were agitated by two Bald Eagles feeding in the area


72 Español: El día de hoy realizamos nuestro quinto monitoreo de brantas. Salida a las 10:40 am. Salida a la laguna Guerrero Negro. Se observó 810 brantas.
Saludos / Marisol Aguilar Aguilar / Gabriel A. Zaragoza Aguilar
English: Today we made our fifth brant monitoring field trip. Started at 10:40 am, in Guerrero Negro lagoon. We observed 810 brant.
Saludos / Marisol Aguilar Aguilar / Gabriel A. Zaragoza Aguilar


73 High schoolers from Myrtle Point visited Coos Bay today to learn about Brant Geese and their habitat. We began the morning with the 10:42 am low tide, counting shoot density of eel grass. Then we traveled to the pump station between Pigeon Point and Fossil Point. The Brant were at Fossil Point foraging.

We also saw: 70 Greater Scaup, 5 Buffle Head, 4 Red-breasted Mergansers, 1 Great Blue Heron, 1 Great Egret, 10 surf scoters, 2 black turnstones, and Western Gulls.

The weather was cloudy with intermittent sprinkles, a steady wind and in the low 50's.

74 03/23/06 Today in Boundary Bay there was an east-northeast wind at about 12 to 14 knots and the tide at 12:20 was falling and at about 10 feet. The sky was cloudy and there were LARGE flocks of brant totaling about 1,350 birds.

I saw a grey-belly brant family with 2 adults and 3 young. One of the adults was equipped with a VHF radio antenna. I think it was a VHS antenna because it was badly worn with ribbons from the insulation dangling. This is how Sean Boyd, wildlife Biologist with Environment Canada told me these radios begin to deteriorate. The brant can strip the insulation. I might have seen the same bird yesterday, too. Twice, between times when the birds flew because of a bald eagle and a great blue heron, I was able to see a blue band on the left leg of the adult with the radio. Once I saw the other adult also had a blue band on the left leg. I couldn’t read all of the code but the last symbol on both birds was a heart.

Later I was able to make a fairly accurate count with a total of 1,885 brant.
They were mostly black brant but there was a high percentage of grey-bellies, too.

Again I went to the Coal Port and found over 3,000 brant. About 1,000 of these were right in the area scheduled to be dredged and filled by the Vancouver Ports Corp. for their new terminal.

Richard

75 Today we went to watch Brant Geese at 4pm, it was high tide and raining. KCBY, the local TV station came out to film the geese and the students. We watched for the Geese at the normal location (Fossil Point and Pigeon Point) For most of the time the Geese were far away, but right before we left they flew to Fossil Point and were foraging. We also saw 80 Greater Scaup and 5 Western Gulls. It was in the high 40's, windy and rainy.

76 Español: Hoy salimos de la escuela a las 8:00am nos tocaba vinculación con la comunidad, un día en que prestamos un servicio a la comunidad. Hoy fuimos a limpiar la playa, desde La Freidera hasta la pista aérea. Durante nuestra campaña, pudimos ver 48 brantas. Estaban retiradas de la orilla. La marea era alta y el día soleado.
También le comunico que los jóvenes realizaron una exposición ante sis padres del proyecto de la branta negra, migración, alimentación, anidación, etc.
Inglés: Today we started at 8:00 am. We have this school event called “Community Linking”, it is a day dedicated to community services. Today we went to a beach cleanup. It started on La Freidera, and finished in the “airplane trail” (where the planes separate and land). During the cleanup, we saw 48 brant, far from the shore. The day was sunny and the tide was high.
Also the students presented the project to their parents (migration, feeding, nesting, etc.)


77 Español: El día de hoy realizamos nuestro sexto monitoreo de brantas. Salida a las 2:30 pm. Salida a la laguna Guerrero Negro. Se observó 1,200 brantas. También se observó pelicanos y garzas.
Saludos / Marisol Aguilar Aguilar / Gabriel A. Zaragoza Aguilar
English: Today we made our sixth brant monitoring field trip. Started at 2:30 pm, in Guerrero Negro lagoon. We observed 1,200 brant. We also saw pelicans, herons and egrets.
Saludos / Marisol Aguilar Aguilar / Gabriel A. Zaragoza Aguilar



78 I observed 50 brant feeding at a low tide near Fossil Point on lower Coos Bay. While they have been seen here quite frequently in the last couple of weeks, their numbers were lower than previously observed.

Observé que 50 brant que alimenta en una bajamar el Punto cercano del Fósil a bajar Arrulla la Bahía. Mientras ellos han sido vistos aquí bastante con frecuencia en la última pareja de semanas, sus números eran más bajo que previamente observado.

79 Español: La marea era baja, día soleado y poco viento; como a las 4:00pm fuimos a la playa, observamos un grupo de brantas bastante grande, las contamos y las vimos un buen rato hasta que pasó un avión bajo y con el ruido se espantaron y se fueron a otro lugar.
Inglés: The tide was low, sunny day and light breeze. We went to the beach at 4:00 pm and saw a very big group of brant, we count them and watch them for a while. Then a plane passes flying low and scared them. They went to another place.


80 Español: El día de hoy realizamos nuestro séptimo monitoreo de brantas. Salida a las 10:30 am. Salida a la laguna Ojo de Liebre. Se observó 250 brantas.
Saludos / Marisol Aguilar Aguilar / Gabriel A. Zaragoza Aguilar
English: Today we made our seventh brant monitoring field trip. Started at 10:30 am, in Guerrero Negro lagoon. We observed 250 brant.
Saludos / Marisol Aguilar Aguilar / Gabriel A. Zaragoza Aguilar




81 I observed two flocks near Pigeon Point on lower Coos Bay. One flock of 25 birds appeared to be mingling with gulls along the shore, but the other flock was almost exclusively Brant.

82 The brant are arriving! A huge low has been sitting over Izembek Lagoon for the past several days bringing freezing temperatures, snow, and strong winds. It began to taper off yesterday and the brant soon followed. Several small and large flocks (more than 1000 birds) were observed flying above central Izembek Lagoon yesterday. Today, a regular procession of small flocks (30-100 birds) have been arriving from the south, flying over Cold Bay on their way to Izembek Lagoon. An observer at Grant Point, a peninsula in the middle part of Izembek Lagoon, said that several thousand brant were flying into the area for the southeast (which would be from Cold Bay). The brant were restless, landing on eelgrass beds then picking up again. Six observers have reported the brant flocks, so this is definitely a strong influx of birds.

83 Happy Earth Day!
Today South Slough Manager Mike Graybill reported 45 Brant on Fossil Point in Coos Bay, OR around 3:30pm. They seemed restless and agitated.

84 About 1500 Brant were migrating north over Chimney Rock at Point Reyes National Seashore.

Brantas cerca de 1500 en varias multitudes grandes emigraba al norte sobre roca de la chimenea en la costa del nacional de Reyes del punto.

85 39 Brant were observed by Phillip Pickering on Wed, 3 May 2006 between 5:45-9 AM at Boiler Bay in Oregon

It was Sunny, wind N 5-20, 7-9 ft swells.

Boiler Bay is South of Lincoln City and North of Depoe Bay. Here is a list of the other birds he observed.

1500+ Red-throated Loons (high percentage of basic/imm)
14000+ Pacific Loons (again no funnel but clumpy sustained
40-200/minute, most flying with Murres)
200+ Common Loons
3 Red-Necked Grebes (N)
6 Western Grebes
12 Sooty Shearwaters
3 Double-crested Cormorants
250 Brandt's Cormorants (flocks both directions)
120 Pelagic Cormorants (most N)
39 Brant
18 Greater White-fronted Geese
5 Northern Pintail
3 American Wigeon
3 Northern Shoveler
35 Green-winged Teal
6 scaup sp.
1 Harlequin Duck (male N)
6 Black Scoters
40 White-winged Scoters
1000 Surf Scoters
10 Red-breasted Mergansers
30 Black-bellied Plovers
4+ golden-plover sp.
250+ Semipalmated Plovers
490 Whimbrel (380 in first 25 minutes)
1 Marbled Godwit
3000+ Dunlin
45000+ Western Sandpipers (continuous small flocks, still going
strong when I left)
20+ Least Sandpipers (low)
400+ dowitcher sp.
300+ Bonaparte's Gulls
500+ California Gulls (N most immature)
500+ Western Gulls (N most immature)
80+ Glaucous-winged Gulls (N all immature)
220 Caspian Terns
27000+ Common Murres (many flocks N)
50 Pigeon Guillemots (N)
6 Marbled Murrelets
25 Rhinoceros Auklets
1 Tufted Puffin
5 American Pipits
40 Barn Swallows (mixed trickle of swallows N over the point)
3 Cliff Swallow
12 Rough-winged Swallows
30 swallow sp.

This is reported by Stephanie Danyi of the South Slough NERR, based on Phil's report on the Oregon Birders Online Listserve.


86 For Wed, 3 May 2006 Diane Pettey was in Florence, OR observing birds from 7-8:15pm.
She parked at two locations on North Jetty Road, Siuslaw River, Florence.
She observed wave after wave of shore and other birds, blasting their way through the wind gusts.

Species:
BLACK BRANT - 25
BONAPARTE'S GULL - 4
WHIMBREL - 12
SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER - about 75
DUNLIN - about 1000
RED KNOT - 3 (one banded like 5/1 bird, same bird?)
WESTERN SANDPIPER - between 2000-3000

As sunset approached, she got to hear several species calling as they flew around and over the mudflats. A beautiful sight and a soothing, peaceful end to a busy workday.


Also for today, May 4th, Philip Pickering at Boiler Bay only observed 2 Brant.

Reported by Stephanie Danyi of the South Slough NERR

87 I observed 50 brant feeding along the edge of the deep channel at a low tide near Sand Point, north of Pigeon Point. A similar number of brant were there the next morning as well. There were numerous Great Blue Heron and Great Egret hunting nearby.

88 Biologists from the Migratory Bird Management Office in Anchorage conducted their spring emperor goose survey in early May. During this survey, they counted 80,201 brant in western and southwestern Alaska. Brant continue to arrive at Izembek Lagoon. Shorebird biologists from the Alaska Science Center spotted a total of 1503 brant in 21 flocks flying along the Bering Sea coast on May 3. The brant flocks were observed passing down the coast to Izembek Lagoon throughout the morning and were also spotted during late afternoon. If these flocks continued to arrive steadily throughout the day, then at least several thousand brant must have arrived at Izembek Lagoon on May 3.

89 Tom Gaskill and his family observed 8 brant feeding on sea lettuce at a low tide near the beach at Sunset Bay State Park. This park is on the outer coast near Coos Bay and has been a resting spot historically for small flocks of Brant. In fact, one of the pictures in the curriculum for the mock birding activity was taken here of 8 brant!

90 Tom Gaskill saw 150 Brant feeding near the edge of the channel at a low tide on lower Coos Bay near Pigeon Point. This has been a common feeding and resting area frequented by the Brant this season.

91 At 5pm on Friday I was visiting Simpson Reef near Coos Bay to watch sea lions, as I was scanning the water I noticed some Brant Geese. There were 37 Brant total. I have never seen them here, but then again I have never looked. It was exciting to see them. I was surprised to notice that the Brant were spread out rather then being clumped together like I normally see them in the bay.

also 4 more Brant geese were seen at Sunset Bay.

92 At 3 pm on Monday I visited several places along the Coos Bay shore line. I saw 29 Brant Geese at Simpson Reef, 6 at Sunset Bay, 52 on shore at Pigeon Point plus another 14 off the shore at Pigeon Point. The tide was high.

A couple surprising observations. Sunset Bay is a popular place for people to go and enjoy the water. The 6 Brant Geese were along the shore line and there were 3 people near by, within 15 feet, and the geese didn't move further out in the water. They seemed comfortable with the people there. This is very different from the Geese I normally see in the Bay which will move further out in the water as soon as I approach within 200 feet of them.

Also the 52 geese on the shore at Pigeon Point were very brown in color over all. At first I wasn't sure they were Brant Geese, but I soon could distinguish the neck ring. The other 14 off shore in the water, were more of the typical black color.

93 this morning 40 brant were on the sandy shore of pigeon point, Coos Bay.

94 25 Brant were seen last evening on a small island in the bay where seals usually haul out between Pigeon Point and Sand Point in Coos Bay.

95 Español: En esta ocasión fuimos a observar brantas a campo pachico. Llegamos como a las 2:pm, la marea estaba baja el día era soleado y hacia un viento leve, pensamos que ya no había brantas y encontramos un grupo de 60. Se veían muy gordas y grandes, estaba comiendo a la orilla, después de unos 10 minutos volaron hacia la freidera.
Creemos que fueron las ultimas que vamos a ver ya que ya casi no se ven pero haremos un último viaje en estos días por todos los sitios para levantar el último censo. Gracias. Saludos a todos. Equipo ·5

English: This time we went to watch the brant to Pachico’s camp. We arrive around 2:00 pm. The tide was low, the day sunny and there was a little breeze. We thought there will be no more brant, but we find a group of about 60. They were very fatty and big, feeding on the shore. After 10 minutes, they fly toward La freidera. We think this could be the last brant in La Laguna, because we haven’t seen many. Anyway, we’re going to make another field trip, the last one, around the different sites in the lagoon. Thanks. Greetings. Team # 5


96 Español: El sábado 20 de mayo por la mañana recibí una llamada del biólogo Enrique Zamora, quien colabora con Pro Esteros en diferentes proyectos. Me comentó que estaba observando 2 brantas en la Lagunita del Ciprés. Estaban alimentándose de la vegetación que crece en el sitio. Esta laguna está ubicada al sur de la ciudad de Ensenada, B. C. Se trata de una pequeña laguna de agua dulce muy cercana a la costa. Está ubicada en una zona urbana y es un lugar que la gente visita con fines recreativos. Enrique nunca había observado brantas en el lugar, a pesar de que lo visita frecuentemente. Yo tampoco las había visto en el sitio y fue muy emocionante encontrarlas.
Enrique regresó al día siguiente (mayo 21) y logró grabarlas con una cámara de video. Creemos que tal vez se queden algunos días. Estaremos pendientes, y de ser así, les enviaremos un nuevo mensaje.
Redactado por: Iván Manríquez – Pro Esteros, A. C.
Comments: On the morning of Saturday May 20th I received a phone call from biologist and Pro Esteros collaborator Enrique Zamora, telling me he was watching 2 Brant at Lagunita de El Ciprés, a small brackish coastal lagoon south of the city of Ensenada. The 2 Brant were feeding on ground vegetation at the water’s edge. The Lagunita is located within an urban environment and is used as a recreational area by local people. Despite being a frequent visitor to the area, Enrique had never seen Brant there before. Neither had I, and it was really exciting to see them.
Enrique went back to the Lagunita the next day (May 21st) and managed to capture the 2 Brant on video with his video camera. We think the Brant will stay on the Lagunita a few more days. We will be on the lookout and send you a new message should the need arise.


97 Comentarios: El sábado 20 de mayo por la mañana recibí una llamada del biólogo Enrique Zamora, quien colabora con Pro Esteros en diferentes proyectos. Me comentó que estaba observando 2 brantas en la Lagunita de El Ciprés. Estaban alimentándose de la vegetación que crece en el sitio. Esta laguna está ubicada al sur de la ciudad de Ensenada, B. C. Se trata de una pequeña laguna de agua salobre muy cercana a la costa. Está ubicada en una zona urbana y es un lugar que la gente visita con fines recreativos. Enrique nunca había observado brantas en el lugar, a pesar de que lo visita frecuentemente. Yo tampoco las había visto en el sitio y fue muy emocionante encontrarlas.
Enrique regresó al día siguiente (mayo 21) y logró grabarlas con una cámara de video. Creemos que tal vez se queden algunos días. Estaremos pendientes, y de ser así, les enviaremos un nuevo mensaje.
Redactado por: Iván Manríquez – Pro Esteros, A. C.
Comments: On the morning of Saturday May 20th I received a phone call from biologist and Pro Esteros collaborator Enrique Zamora, telling me he was watching 2 Brant at Lagunita de El Ciprés, a small brackish coastal lagoon south of the city of Ensenada. The 2 Brant were feeding on ground vegetation at the water’s edge. The Lagunita is located within an urban environment and is used as a recreational area by local people. Despite being a frequent visitor to the area, Enrique had never seen Brant there before. Neither had I, and it was really exciting to see them.
Enrique went back to the Lagunita the next day (May 21st) and managed to capture the 2 Brant on video with his video camera. We think the Brant will stay on the Lagunita a few more days. We will be on the lookout and send you a new message should the need arise.
Ivan Manriquez - Pro Esteros

98 At 1:00 PM I observed 20 Brant swimming past Pigeon Point headed North into the Bay. I was surprised to see them. I didn't have my binoculars with me, so there could have been more that I was unable to see.

99 Comentarios: Siguen presentes en la lagunita de El Ciprés dos brantas adultas, desde hace dos semanas. En los últimos días ha habido temperaturas más elevadas (alrededor de 85°F el sábado 3 de junio), por lo que esperaba que se fueran pronto, pero aún están alimentándose en la zona.
Además, en el lugar están constriuyendo una carretera, pero ni las máquinas trabajando las han ahuyentado.
Algunas otras aves en el sitio: Pato de collar (Anas platyrhyncos), Garza blanca (Ardea alba), Pato canelo (Anas cyanoptera), Pato cabeza roja (Aythya americana), Pato tepalcate (Oxyura jamaicensis), Avoceta (Recurvirostra americana) y Monjita (Himantopus mexicanus), entre otros.
Iván Manríquez – Pro Esteros.
Comments: There's still two Brant in El Ciprés Lagoon (since may 20th) The last days we have an increased temperature (about 85°F on saturday june 3rd), so I though they will leave, but they stayed, and keep feeding. Also they are constructing a road close to the lagoon, but not even the machines scared them.
Some other birds in the place are: Mallard, Great egrett, Cinnamon teal, Redhead, Ruddy duck, Avocet and Black-necked stilt (and many more)
Iván Manríquez - Pro Esteros

100 Hello friends:
Yesterday I went to Punta Banda Estuary (South of Ensenada city). I was with a group of students, and we saw a brant! We think it was sick or something, because it didn't fly away, even when we get very close to it (I was about 12 feet close!!!) It just walked very slowly. Even when the students get closer, it stayed there, eating Glasswort.
It has a very diferent plumage. It was like colorless, in general very pale, and the ring around its neck was very thin. We don't know if it stayed all these months in México, or if it has arrived so soon this season. What do you think?
Some of the students took some pictures. I'd ask them to send me the photos, so I can send them to you. I hope they can send them by next Monday.
Someone else told me that he saw three brant in Guerrero Negro two weeks ago. Maybe these had arrived soon.
Greeting (I hope I can send you the pictures next week)

César Iván Manríquez Castro
Cooordinador Educativo / Education Coordinator
Pro Esteros, A. C.

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