I went for a relatively short outing around town to see what birds I might be able to find.
Weather: It was sunny and calm with cool temperatures. I was thinking it might have been a good day to go winter kayaking, as the calm air with the sun reflecting off the water probably would have felt much warmer than the upper-20s air temperature might have otherwise.
Birds: There were a couple of loons that swam along shore by the O’Connell Bridge lightering facility. One was a Pacific Loon, the other a Common Loon. The Pacific Loon was by itself, then the Common Loon popped up at a location where the Pacific Loon could see it and the Pacific Loon swam over toward the Common Loon. Perhaps the Pacific Loon was looking for company, as they often seem to be found in groups.
I was able to get photos of them swimming near each other, unfortunately they were not too near me and the light was a bit harsh.
I saw a Pelagic Cormorant bring up a pretty good sized fish. I was going to try for a picture of it, but unfortunately I didn’t have my camera ready, and by the time I got it, the fish was gone. I think it was too big for the Cormorant to easily swallow.
There I saw a couple of Buffleheads fly by, there were Goldeneyes on the other side of the channel, near the island at the base of the Japonski side of the bridge. A Common Merganser was in the cove on town side of the bridge. There were Long-tailed Ducks and gulls in the channel.
My iNaturalist Observations for Today
