Re: tides for Colonial Beach, VA

Jack C. Leighty/Susan J. Noble (jleighty@chesapeake.net)
Tue, 24 Mar 1998 17:53:33 -0500 (EST)


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On feeding patterns:
I suppose it depends on the nature of the water habitat.  However
I've noticed that on high mountain lakes common mergansers cluster
to feed together very actively in the late afternoon when the "bait
fish" seem to rise naear to the surface.  That also seemed to occur
with common loons on lakes in the Boundry Waters in Minnesota.  The
tidal Potomac may be much different situation than the crystal clear
lakes.
Jack Leighty
Huntingtown
jleighty@chesapeake.net  
>From: "PObrien776" <PObrien776@aol.com>
>Date: 3/24/98  5:31:12PM
>To: mdosprey@ARI.Net
>Subject: Re:  tides for Colonial Beach, VA
>
>MDOspreys,
>
>Interesting!  Thanks for the research on the tides.  One could make
>the case
>that at the high tide (null), very little in the way of Loon-chow
>is being
>swept out of the creek.  Note that the sightings are all just
>inside the
>narrow inlet between the creek and the bay.   It could be that the
>Loon feeds
>out in the bay or down stream when the tide is moving out. 
>Yesterday I
>scanned the bay and found only one Loon sleeping.  It was a Common.
> At
>Oswego, NY the juvenile Yellow-billed Loon spent a lot of time
>feeding outside
>the breakwater separating the river mouth from Lake Ontario.  It
>would
>occasionally come into the river and make a tour around the harbor
>then go
>back out into the lake.  I don't know what that means other than
>that it may
>have preferred the deeper water of the lake but found something to
>its liking
>in the river from time to time.  Perhaps the deeper water of the
>bay is this
>bird's preferred habitat.  I wish I knew something about the habits
>of Yellow-
>billed Loons.  Anybody have any ideas?
>
>Paul O'Brien
>Rockville, MD
>pobrien776@aol.com
>301-424-6491
>
>