Stanley Park hosted a mystery today. I'm learning to sit in the perplexity of unanswered questions. But why, exactly, were five hundred black and white Barrow’s Goldeneye gathered in Georgia Straight?
As I stood watching the birds, a man walked towards me. He also watched. He wore a black outdoors jacket, black nylon pants and hiking boots. He looked in the know. “Hi, do you know why there are so many or what they’re doing?” I asked. “I was going to ask you the same thing,” he said. We both laughed. “I don’t know what they're doing, I’ve never seen so many in one place,” I said. “It is a bit strange,” he said. "Are they feeding?" The birds dipped under the surface and popped up fast, as if they were diving in a cool pool after a day in the Mexican sun. “I just don't know, we’ll both be left in mystery,” I said. About an hour later, on the opposite side of Stanley Park, two women stood at the seawall’s edge. One woman looked through a small telescope (or funky camera?) on a tripod. The other held a clipboard. I had seen these women before. “Hi, good morning, I’m curious, what are you recording?” I asked. “We’re BCIT {British Columbia Institute of Technology} students working on a research project,” the one with the clipboard said. “Ah, the camera is usual, but the clipboard made me curious,” I said. “Are you documenting birds then?” “Yes, mostly the Barrow’s Goldeneye,” she said. “Ninety percent of the world’s population are on the pacific coast here right now.” “Ah, ok, that explains it, I saw four or five hundred of them in the water on the west side,” I said. “Yes, they migrate here in the winter and were probably feeding on mussels,” she said. “And do you guys come out often?” I asked. “Yes, every Wednesday and to various points on the seawall. This research project has been active for over 10 years, we mostly track trends in the population,” she said. Reminder to check if my Beach Chair story, was in fact, a Wednesday. “Well, thank you for the info and good luck with your research,” I said. Mystery solved. Photo by Drew Avery Comments are closed.
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