Typically, I think, sea ducks only bring food up the surface when they have
something too big or too awkward to swallow under water.
Wayne
On 1/14/2018 6:54:43 PM, David Irons <llsdirons@xxxxxxx> wrote:
I just pulled up today's Steller's Eider reports on OBOL and saw Jason Crotty's
perhaps discouraging report from 11:45AM. Then I noted another report saying
that it was "back" around 3:30PM. I just pulled up the most recent eBird
checklist submissions for Clatsop County and saw the latest report (Jen Roethe)
who saw the bird up until 4:45PM, a little before dark. The bird was back at
the usual spot and very close to shore according to her notes.
In talking to a number of folks (including Skip Russell yesterday and Trent
Bray today) several have now shared essentially the same story about the eider.
They watched it drift way out towards the point disappearing for a span of time
from spot where everyone is seeing it. Then they have seen it come flying in by
itself and landing back in its usual haunts. It sounds like if you go to see
this bird and it is not present when you arrive, patience has thus far been
rewarded. Hopefully that continues. For whatever reason, surely a steady food
supply, it returns over and over to this one spot. For the duration of the hour
and a half we watched the bird yesterday it was diving and feeding constantly
in a footprint of space no larger than a basketball court. I never saw it
return to the surface with a food item, but it surely wouldn't have spent all
that time in one place diving that many times without success. Has anyone seen
the bird return to the surface with a food item? And if so, what?
Dave
