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20 Nov Thurston County Redhead Ducks & Sandhill Cranes [". KDB ." ] 20 Nov Travel to Idaho ["Gleich, Kathleen L" ] 19 Nov Location of Seward Park Parakeets? [] 19 Nov Marymoor Park time and day ["Michael Hobbs" ] 19 Nov Marymoor Park Report (Redmond, King Co., WA) 2009-11-19 ["Michael Hobbs" ] 19 Nov Nisqually NWR 11/18/09 [] 19 Nov American Dipper in Snohomish Co [] 19 Nov RBA: Portland, OR 11-19-09 [Harry Nehls ] 19 Nov Varied Thrushes & A Thank-You! [Lydia Bishop ] 19 Nov RFI: Radio-Antenna Surf Scoter [Michael Price ] 18 Nov An Afternoon at the Zoo [Marc Hoffman ] 18 Nov Tacoma/Pierce County CBC [Faye McAdams Hands ] 18 Nov Douglas Co. Birds, inc. Gyr [] 18 Nov Kent - S 212th St by Orillia - Brant ["Lynn & Carol Schulz" ] 19 Nov Re: Feeding Winter Anna's (hummingbirds) [] 18 Nov Re: Yellow-shafted Flicker, Lacamas Lake ["Sherry Hagen" ] 18 Nov Thurston County Sandhill Cranes & Swan [". KDB ." ] 18 Nov Farmland shorebirds [bruce paige ] 18 Nov Re. Black-Tailed Gull [Hans-Joachim Feddern ] 18 Nov Late Black-necked stilt [] 18 Nov Brants off Golden Gardens ["Tim Kuhn Marla Adams" ] 18 Nov Juanita Bay Park ["Themartins" ] 18 Nov Feeding Winter Anna's [Gary Cummins ] 18 Nov Yellow-shafted Flicker, Lacamas Lake [Lyn Topinka ] 18 Nov First Snowy Owl report of season - Port of Tacoma [bill shelmerdine ] 17 Nov Re: Prairie Merlin [Denny Granstrand ] 17 Nov Re: Pied colored Dark-eyed "Oregon" Junco, Longview, WA ["Dennis Rockwell" ] 17 Nov Prairie Merlin [Steven Mlodinow ] 17 Nov Point Wilson Yellow-billed Loon's Return ["Bob Whitney" ] 17 Nov Re: Western Scrub Jay on Capitol Hill, Seattle [Kevin Purcell ] 17 Nov Ancient Murrelets at ERdmonds [Steve Pink ] 17 Nov Hi ["Judi L. Baker" ] 17 Nov RE: Western Scrub Jay on Capitol Hill, Seattle [Brien Meilleur ] 17 Nov Pied colored Dark-eyed "Oregon" Junco, Longview, WA [] 17 Nov Re: Western Scrub Jay on Capitol Hill, Seattle [] 17 Nov Western Scrub Jay on Capitol Hill, Seattle [Kevin Purcell ] 17 Nov 5 Brant at Golden Gardens ["Zuckerbond" ] 17 Nov Re: African bird ID help [Bruce Helmboldt ] 17 Nov Grand Coulee waterfowl trip-14 November ["Andy Stepniewski" ] 16 Nov Re: Rough-legged Hawk, Auburn ["Randy" ] 16 Nov Franklin County on Sunday [Russ Koppendrayer ] 16 Nov Franklin County on Sunday [Russ Koppendrayer ] 16 Nov Why Phalaropes can be tough to photograph with a cheap camera and unskilled photographer [Khanh Tran ] 17 Nov Fw: Al Larrabee update... ["Wilson Cady" ] 16 Nov Edmonds Cassin's Auklets ["Marv Breece" ] 16 Nov Coot's on our pond [Demarie Wood ] 16 Nov Re: Red-breasted Sapsucker and Pileated Woodpecker at Volunteer Park, Seattle [Kevin Purcell ] 16 Nov Re: Book Conflict - Question RE: Merlin, Thurston County, Thu, 12 Nov 2009 [Kevin Purcell ] 16 Nov Lapland Longspur and Northern Shrike [] 16 Nov Much ado about Merlins..... ["Bud Anderson" ] 16 Nov Edmonds: Cassin's Auklet Again [Carol Riddell ] 16 Nov Birding Columbia and Garfield Coutnies ["washingtonbirder.Knittle" ] 16 Nov Skagit Bay CBC: New Year's Day 2010 [Hal Opperman ] 16 Nov Birding Columbia and Garfield Coutnies ["washingtonbirder.Knittle" ] 16 Nov Immature Snow Goose near Stan Sayres pits [Gary Kelsberg ] 16 Nov 2 Violet-green Swallows at Lake Sammamish SP ["Ken and Tina" ] 16 Nov Oceanshores, Midway Beach, and Tokeland birding [Khanh Tran ] 16 Nov RE: african bird [Mike Patterson ] 15 Nov Re: Rough-legged Hawk, Auburn ["Buddha's Ghost" ] 15 Nov RE: african bird ["Christine Vadai" ] 15 Nov American DIPPER in Riffe Lake [Guy McWethy ] 15 Nov Ridgefield NWR - Rough-legged & Red-shouldered Hawks, Snow Geese, etc. [Scott Carpenter ] 15 Nov Franklin County and back today ["Tim O'Brien" ] 15 Nov Rough-legged Hawk, Auburn [Aquila Chrysaetos ] 15 Nov Fw: Bird and Herp Questions ["Stewart Wechsler" ] 15 Nov Re: Merlin Conundrum [Barbara Deihl ] 15 Nov Nanaimo bird alert ["The Backyard" ] 15 Nov Re: [Tweeters-Alerts] Pacific County birding [Tayler Brooks ] 15 Nov Rusty Blackbird still present [Rick Hibpshman ] 15 Nov african bird ["Larry & Jacque Goodhew" ] 15 Nov african bird. ["Larry & Jacque Goodhew" ] 15 Nov Last week on BirdNote [Ellen Blackstone ] 15 Nov FW: African bird ID help ["Eric Kowalczyk" ] 15 Nov African bird ID help [Bruce Helmboldt ] 15 Nov tweeters in space [Ian Paulsen ] 15 Nov Peterson's Merlins [] Subject: Thurston County Redhead Ducks & Sandhill Cranes From: ". KDB ." <buhrdz AT hotmail.com> Date: Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:21:29 -0800 Hello, On the north lobe of Capitol Lake, there were at least 2 REDHEADS this morning; magnificent yet mangy males merrily moving mixed amongst a myriad of multiple mallards, scaup, ring-necks etc. At the Nisqually Cut-off Road near I-5 is the continuing family group of SANDHILL CRANES. That was the best of it, Keith Brady Olympia, WA _________________________________________________________________ Hotmail: Trusted email with Microsoft's powerful SPAM protection. http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/177141664/direct/01/ http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/177141664/direct/01/_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Travel to Idaho From: "Gleich, Kathleen L" <GleichK AT bsd405.org> Date: Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:16:41 -0800 I have a friend who is driving to Idaho for Thanksgiving and I wonder if there are any snowy owl or interesting bird sightings off I-90 - I remember there were some last year. Kathleen Gleich Executive Secretary Human Resources x4074 _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Location of Seward Park Parakeets? From: hjnoble AT igc.org Date: Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:32:23 -0800 (GMT-08:00) Hi tweets, A friend asked me where one can see the Seward Park Parakeets. Can someone tell me? Thanks Henry _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Marymoor Park time and day From: "Michael Hobbs" <birdmarymoor AT verizon.net> Date: Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:58:14 -0800 Tweets - we're currently meeting at 7:30 a.m. Next week, we'll meet on WEDNESDAY, rather than on Thanksgiving. More information about my walks can be found at www.marymoor.org/birding.htm == Michael Hobbs == Kirkland, WA == http://www.marymoor.org/birding.htm == http://www.marymoor.org/BirdBlog.htm == birdmarymoor AT verizon.net _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Marymoor Park Report (Redmond, King Co., WA) 2009-11-19 From: "Michael Hobbs" <birdmarymoor AT verizon.net> Date: Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:56:34 -0800 Ugggh - it was wet today. Dark and wet and not terribly warm and wet and fairly birdless and wet. Ten of us started out, with a few dripping by the wayside after the main loop. There wasn't much to see, though we did have a good little flock near the mansion, and a few birds at the Rowing Club. Water levels are pretty high, especially for mid-November. We were grateful for the new boardwalk extension, as there must have been at least 8" of water under it that we'd otherwise have had to slog through. Higlights: Common Goldeneye Male at the lake, first of the winter Barn Owl Matt & Scott had 2 sightings early Varied Thrush Nice male singing at the Rowing Club Townsend's Warbler Female in the firs NE of the mansion Purple Finch One made the briefest visit to its usual tree See, I told you there weren't many highlights. The group total for the day was a whopping 49 species. == Michael Hobbs == Kirkland, WA == http://www.marymoor.org/birding.htm == http://www.marymoor.org/BirdBlog.htm == birdmarymoor AT verizon.net _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Nisqually NWR 11/18/09 From: Scrubjay323 AT aol.com Date: Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:30:30 EST Tweets, Yesterday 10 of us enjoyed a great walk and bird survey at Nisqually. We split into 2 groups with the main group led by Eric and Shep doing the regular walk and Kelley Turner, Dave Richardson and I doing the south part of the new dike that is usually closed. Kelley will post the survey results on the Nisqually web site. The weather started out cold and clear but got windier as the day progressed. Raptors had an easy time soaring but the passerines got scarce as the day went on. I was surprised by the number of waterfowl in areas we usually don't get a chance to look at. There had to be over 1000 GREEN WINGED TEAL on the new fresh water ponds created by the restoration and there were well over 2000 CACKLING GEESE on the refuge. Surveys will continue on a monthly basis for the foreseeable future. We also saw a TRUMPETER SWAN flying over the refuge. Both Dave Richardson and I got good looks at it as it flew overhead. Highlights were many including a PEREGRINE FALCON eating prey in the large trees at the start of the boardwalk, a couple of NORTHERN SHRIKE, an AMERICAN BITTERN, a SHORT-EARED OWL, and a GREAT HORNED OWL. There were scads of RED TAILED HAWKS and NORTHERN HARRIERS as well as BALD EAGLES and a COOPER'S HAWK over the new dike and a hunting MERLIN out behind the twin barns. Our group found an immature NORTHERN SHRIKE near where the old McAllister Creek trail crossed the new dike and we all saw an adult SHRIKE over the newly opened dike trail behind the twin barns. The other group saw the SHORT-EARED OWL over the outer part of the refuge before we joined them. The GREAT HORNED OWL was inside the boardwalk at the visitor center end of the grove of trees where the old nest tree was. The BITTERN was in the slough near the hummingbird tree near where the hummingbird interpretive sign is All told we saw 46 species for the day with the TRUMPETER SWAN being new for the year giving us a total of 146 species for the year. Mammals seen were COLUMBIAN BLACK-TAILED DEER, a COYOTE, and EASTERN GRAY SQUIRREL. Until next week when we do our usual walk.... . Phil Kelley scrubjay323 AT aol.com Lacey, WA 360-459-1499 _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: American Dipper in Snohomish Co From: jmy09 AT aol.com Date: Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:42:12 -0500 I saw an AMERICAN DIPPER having the time of his life at the fish ladder on Penny Creek in Mill Creek! The water is rushing over the dam and through the ladder very fast, and the Dipper was so happy!! I saw him just before dusk Tuesday night. The fish ladder is located just off Seattle Hill Rd. and Bothell Hwy and 164th St. (across from McDonalds and up Seattle Hill Rd. half a block) Janis Young Mill Creek, Snohomish Co _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: RBA: Portland, OR 11-19-09 From: Harry Nehls <hnehls6 AT comcast.net> Date: Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:47:46 -0800 - RBA * Oregon * Portland * November 19, 2009 * ORPO0911.19 - birds mentioned Trumpeter Swan Tundra Swan Eurasian Wigeon Canvasback White-winged Scoter Common Goldeneye Barrow¹s Goldeneye Red-breasted Merganser BROWN BOOBY Brown Pelican Northern Goshawk Swainson¹s Thrush Gyrfalcon American Golden-Plover Heermann¹s Gull Tropical Kingbird Varied Thrush BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER American Tree Sparrow Harris¹s Sparrow - transcript hotline: Portland Oregon Audubon RBA (weekly) number: 503-292-6855 To report: Harry Nehls 503-233-3976 compiler: Harry Nehls coverage: entire state Hello, this is the Audubon Society of Portland Rare Bird Report. This report was made Thursday November 19. If you have anything to add call Harry Nehls at 503-233-3976. The Coos Bay BROWN BOOBY continues to be seen. On November 15 a bright BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER was seen in Redmond. It could not be relocated. Large numbers of BROWN PELICANS continue along the central and southern Oregon coast. Three TROPICAL KINGBIRDS were seen during the week in Florence, three at Sallys bend near Newport, and two along Wireless Road near Astoria. On November 15 a GYRFALCON was near Brookings. An AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER was seen that day at New River near Langlois. On November 17 seven TRUMPETER SWANS were at Svenson Island east of Astoria. On November 14 a movement of 104 VARIED THRUSHES was seen at Mt. Tabor Park in Portland. A GOSHAWK was also there that day. Large flocks of wigeon are now at Westmoreland Park in Portland, including some EURASIAN WIGEON. A TREE SPARROW is now being seen at the Fernhill Wetlands. On November 14 two SWAINSON¹S HAWKS were along Livermore Road north of Baskett Slough NWR. A HEERMANN¹S GULL was seen November 17 at Finley NWR. On November 15 four BARROW¹S GOLDENEYES and 25 COMMON GOLDENEYES were at the mouth of Eagle Creek near Bonneville Dam. A HARRIS¹S SPARROW was in Bend November 12. On November 14 a WHITE-WINGED SCOTER, a RED-BREASTED MERGANSER, 320 TUNDRA SWANS, and 300 CANVASBACKS were on Davis Lake south of Bend. That¹s it or this week. - end transcript _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Varied Thrushes & A Thank-You! From: Lydia Bishop <gizacat AT mac.com> Date: Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:56:38 -0800 Hello Tweeties! This morning I looked out my kitchen window which faces a creek and woods to the sight of SEVEN Varied Thrushes poking around the soggy lawn! I've usually seen them in the company of American Robins - and it was usually just one. Did the wild weather stir them up? And a quick thank-you to the fellow Tweeters who helped me ID the salamander. It was a Long Toed Salamander. The birds hunkering down in my wetland were Wilson's Snipes, which it seems have moved on. Lydia Bishop Near Snohomish, WA _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: RFI: Radio-Antenna Surf Scoter From: Michael Price <loblollyboy AT gmail.com> Date: Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:48:41 -0800 Hi Tweets Peter Woods just photographed a male Surf Scoter off Stanley Park in Vancouver BC with a radio antenna attached to its back. Any info on whose program is this? Thanks Michael Price Vancouver BC Canada loblollyboy AT gmail.com "I feel like a fugitive from th' law of averages!" -- GI Willie_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: An Afternoon at the Zoo From: Marc Hoffman <tweeters AT dartfrogmedia.com> Date: Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:31:04 -0800 Having been down with the flu for over two weeks, and finally feeling just well enough to venture outside, I decided to visit the Woodland Park Zoo (it's been years). Arrived at the South Entrance at 1 pm, and closing time (4 pm) came way too soon. But I had time to pet a few goats, visit the Lowland Gorillas, and hang out in the tropical bird room for a good while. The zoo's not very busy these days: I recommend it for a little other-world vacation. Photos at: http://dartfrogmedia.com/naturephotos/woodlandParkZoo091118/index.html Marc Hoffman Kirkland, WA http://www.dartfrogmedia.com mailto: tweeters at dartfrogmedia dot com_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Tacoma/Pierce County CBC From: Faye McAdams Hands <zest4parus AT hotmail.com> Date: Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:48:47 -0800 Hello Tweeters! Our Tahoma Audubon CBC for Tacoma/Pierce County is on Saturday, December 19 for anyone that would like to join us in the south sound. We have some great and varied habitat in our Circle, and invite you to come join us! Please contact me if you have any questions about our count, or which Area you would like to participate in. Happy Birding, Faye McAdams Hands zest4parus AT hotmail.com _________________________________________________________________ Hotmail: Trusted email with powerful SPAM protection. http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/177141665/direct/01/_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Douglas Co. Birds, inc. Gyr From: merdave AT homenetnw.net Date: Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:19:05 -0800 (PST) Good Evening, Tweeters: Today a friend and I saw our first Gyr Falcon of the season, east of Mansfield, Wash., in Douglas Co. We also saw (but not all in Doug. co.), a Merlin, Kestrel and Prairie Falcon. Possibly our most unusual sighting was a Say's Phoebe. Never too soon to start looking for those possible CBC birds. Hope you all have good birding always. Meredith Spencer, Bridgeport, Wa. merdave AT homenetnw.net _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Kent - S 212th St by Orillia - Brant From: "Lynn & Carol Schulz" <linusq AT worldnet.att.net> Date: Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:22:58 -0800 Hi Tweets: In north Kent, I drove by the pumpkin field and corn maze place on S 212th St at the bottom of Orillia Rd today, Wed, Nov 18. There are a few pumpkins remaining and the corn field is now stubble. Driving 212th at 40 mph I looked north and there were large white birds and many geese, blackbirds, and crows. After an errand, I drove back there and parked on the south side of S 212th at the pullout to the 212th St pond. There is a rise there, and you get a fine view north across the fields. In the stubble field there were over 1000 Cackling Geese, 4 TRUMPETER SWANS, and 1 adult BRANT. I saw the Brant for about a minute, got distracted, and then could not relocate it in the flock. Back in late October there was a juv Snow Goose w/ the cacklers but it was not there today. There were a few Mallards in the field. I was there about 3pm, and Cackling Geese continued to fly in. Crows and Red-winged Blackbirds swirled about. In the pond just to the south of 212th up the gravel driveway there were Gadwalls, a Northern Shoveler, a Bufflehead, and one Coot. At about 3:20 hundreds of crows started to lift off and fly southwest to the back of the Polygon new homes. As I drove on Riverview Blvd over to the bottom of the hill where 216th goes up the hill from Riverview Blvd, hundreds of crows were settling into the trees down there. I could not stay to see if they remained there for the night. The Kent Ponds census team reported a crow roost over in Kent Ponds Sept 27. I don't know if these are the same group of birds, or if this is another roost. Yours, Carol Schulz Des Moines, WA linusq at att.net _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Re: Feeding Winter Anna's (hummingbirds) From: iwhonever AT comcast.net Date: Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:37:03 +0000 (UTC) Seems every Fall/Winter this question - or some form of it -  comes up on Tweeters. Anna's are resident/year around birds in the Puget Sound area. So yes, you can feed Hummingbirds all year round!  :-) And no, you don't need to bump up the sugar. I think most of us use a 4 part water to 1 part pure cane sugar.  The Anna's that live here do just fine in the Winter and in my experience have been on the increase over the past 10 years or more.  I get more feedrer use in Fall and Winter than I  do in Spring or Summer. I have about 5-6 different birds coming to my single feeder this Fall so far. K and P  Hammill Seattle, wa 98103 iwhonever AT comcast.net_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Re: Yellow-shafted Flicker, Lacamas Lake From: "Sherry Hagen" <littlebirder AT pacifier.com> Date: Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:50:14 -0800 Hi Lyn and all We have had "Yellow-shafted" Flickers since we moved to Vancouver, WA in 1977. Most of the ones now days are different variations of the Yellow-shafted / Red-shafted mix. Sherry Hagen Vancouver, WA littlebirder AT pacifier.com ----- Original Message ----- From: Lyn Topinka To: TWEETERS AT u.washington.edu Sent: Wednesday, November 18, 2009 7:38 AM Subject: [Tweeters] Yellow-shafted Flicker, Lacamas Lake hi group ... over the weekend I was looking at some images of a Flicker I shot at Lacamas Lake in early October and realized it was a Yellow-shafted variety ... the books comment on it being an Eastern variety and Great Plains --- I'm now curious as to how common is this variety out here ??? ... is this the kind of bird to jump up in joy about ??? ... is this the kind of bird folks on OBOL and Tweeters want to hear about so they can try and find it themselves ??? ... or is it rather common in spite of where the books say it lives ??? ... here's an image with under tail showing and just hint of red on back of head visible ... Flicker on the right is a red-shafted female ... http://columbiariverimages.com/Birds/Images09Oct/lacamas_lake_northern_flickers_10-07-09_B.jpg a nice shot of under the wings ... the two birds have switched positions ...they were having an all-out fight BTW and they tumbled and twisted pecking at each other through two trees while we watched ... http://columbiariverimages.com/Birds/Images09Oct/lacamas_lake_northern_flickers_10-07-09_F.jpg Lyn Lyn Topinka http://EnglishRiverWebsite.com http://ColumbiaRiverImages.com http://RidgefieldBirds.com _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Thurston County Sandhill Cranes & Swan From: ". KDB ." <buhrdz AT hotmail.com> Date: Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:49:28 -0800 Hello, This morning from Luhr Beach, a SWAN was evident resting upon the mudflats off Nisqually Reach. At about a mile away, I couldn't quite peg it to species, but may lean slightly towards TRUMPETER. EARED GREBE was here as well. At the pumpkin field, just west of and beyond the greenhouses at the base of Nisqually Cut-off Road (right near I-5), were 3 SANDHILL CRANES; 2 were adults and 1 a juvenile. dats dat, Keith Brady Olympia, WA _________________________________________________________________ Hotmail: Trusted email with powerful SPAM protection. http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/177141665/direct/01/_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Farmland shorebirds From: bruce paige <BBPaige AT nikola.com> Date: Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:30:18 -0800 There has been several flocks of black-bellied plovers (maximum count 230) and dunlin (maximum count 270) using the corn stubble in the farmland E. of Sequim at Schmuck and Holland Rds. on Nov. 17. 4 adult and 5 juv. trumpeter swans were in the same field on that date. _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Re. Black-Tailed Gull From: Hans-Joachim Feddern <thefedderns AT gmail.com> Date: Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:40:09 -0800 Shep, Tweeters - I went to recheck for the Black-Tailed Gull From the NE 5000 viewpoint at about 1:00 pm this afternoon, Wednesday 11/18. Shortly after I arrived, a gull with a black tail band and white rim and longish black wing tips, took of from the far end of the log boom. It flew out over Commencement Bay towards the mouth of the Puyallup River. I did not have my scope set up yet and since the winds were starting to pick up, i did not bother. In my opinion, there is a chance that the gull is still around. Any local birder who has the time, may want to keep checking for a while longer, in case it is indeed still present. I am sure that there are some birders who what still like to see it! Cheers and good birding! Hans Feddern Twin Lakes/Federal Way, WA._______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Late Black-necked stilt From: bobpatwoodley AT verizon.net Date: Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:29:34 -0600 (CST) _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Brants off Golden Gardens From: "Tim Kuhn Marla Adams" <timmarla1 AT comcast.net> Date: Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:16:48 -0800 I was out photographing birds this morning and stopped by Golden Gardens to see who may be hanging around there. Much to my surprise was a small flock of Brants! I don't recall seeing them in this area during November, they usually show up there around the first of the year. Also seen, Common Mergansers, Horned Grebe and a couple of pairs of Buffleheads in the small ponds. Tim Kuhn http://timkuhnphotography.zenfolio.com/ _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Juanita Bay Park From: "Themartins" <themartins AT tndmartin.com> Date: Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:15:10 -0800 Tip and I spent a very nice hour today at Juanita Bay Park. We only listed fourteen species, but we had some of the best views we can remember. A male GREEN-WINGED TEAL gave us great looks at his lovely coloring. Two mature BALD EAGLES, presumably male and female, were very cozy until they let us see their true magnificence in flight. A RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET kept us watching for the longest time even when he was too close to focus in our binoculars. We noticed the black and tan of the Pacific race of a male and female DOWNY WOODPECKER; we're used the seeing the more striking black and white DOWO of the eastern part of our state, but these two made for wonderful watching because they seemed oblivious to our presence. We also had wonderful views of a nervously twitching BEWICK'S WREN. And we always enjoy seeing the flight of a BELTED KINGFISHER. We also saw MALLARD, BUFFLEHEAD, PIED-BILLED GREBE, DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT, GREAT BLUE HERON and a few other likely suspects. It was a lovely break in the weather and a welcomed respite from babysitting three grandchildren. Dick Martin Wenatchee Valley _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Feeding Winter Anna's From: Gary Cummins <casacummins AT yahoo.com> Date: Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:26:09 -0800 (PST) We have at least one Anna's visiting our feeder despite the recent (and current) rough weather. We think it may the same one that stayed with us all last winter. As to feeding, does anyone know whether or not it's adviseable to bump up the sugar content a bit for an enegy boost? Also we have a Sharp-shinned hawk who has become a regular over the past week. It appears to be a mature bird who has survived despite a pretty unstealthy hunting technique - we usually see it perched atop a seed feeder in plain sight, apparently waiting for dinner to be served. Gary Cummins Port Townsend casacummins AT yahoo.com Sent from my iPhone _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Yellow-shafted Flicker, Lacamas Lake From: Lyn Topinka <pointers AT pacifier.com> Date: Wed, 18 Nov 2009 07:38:16 -0800 hi group ... over the weekend I was looking at some images of a Flicker I shot at Lacamas Lake in early October and realized it was a Yellow-shafted variety ... the books comment on it being an Eastern variety and Great Plains --- I'm now curious as to how common is this variety out here ??? ... is this the kind of bird to jump up in joy about ??? ... is this the kind of bird folks on OBOL and Tweeters want to hear about so they can try and find it themselves ??? ... or is it rather common in spite of where the books say it lives ??? ... here's an image with under tail showing and just hint of red on back of head visible ... Flicker on the right is a red-shafted female ... http://columbiariverimages.com/Birds/Images09Oct/lacamas_lake_northern_flickers_10-07-09_B.jpg a nice shot of under the wings ... the two birds have switched positions ...they were having an all-out fight BTW and they tumbled and twisted pecking at each other through two trees while we watched ... http://columbiariverimages.com/Birds/Images09Oct/lacamas_lake_northern_flickers_10-07-09_F.jpg Lyn Lyn Topinka http://EnglishRiverWebsite.com http://ColumbiaRiverImages.com http://RidgefieldBirds.com _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: First Snowy Owl report of season - Port of Tacoma From: bill shelmerdine <georn1 AT hotmail.com> Date: Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:07:17 +0000 Good Morning Tweeters, Yesterday I got a message from a reliable source that a young Snowy Owl turned up at the Port of Tacoma, yesterday or the previous day. It was in a private area near the large black loading cranes near Commencement Bay/ waterfront. Sorry I don't have more details than this. I'm told there are photos. Time to keep an eye out for these guys, or perhaps time to check your favorite haunts... Cheers... Bill Shelmerdine Olympia mailto: georn1 AT hotmail.com _________________________________________________________________ Windows 7: I wanted simpler, now it's simpler. I'm a rock star. http://www.microsoft.com/Windows/windows-7/default.aspx?h=myidea?ocid=PID24727::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:WWL_WIN_myidea:112009 _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Re: Prairie Merlin From: Denny Granstrand <dgranstrand AT charter.net> Date: Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:15:15 -0800 Hi Tweeters, Having just read Steve Mlodivow's e-mail, I looked at Merlin sections of Brian Wheeler's "Raptors of Western North American" and the large Sibley field guide. I photographed a Merlin on the power pole in our backyard southwest of the Yakima airport on March 6, 2006. After I loaded these photos on my website, Steve e-mailed me to say the photos were of a Prairie Merlin. The photos can be seen at: http://www.granstrand.net/gallery/album44 Scroll down to the folder titled "Prairie Merlins in the Yakima Valley". You will also see photos of Boreals, which Sibley calls Taiga. Wheeler calls the Prairie subspecies Richardson's Merlins. Sibley uses Prairie. I will use Prairie here. The maps in Wheeler show Prairies being more widespread in Eastern Washington than Boreals. I think Boreals are much more common, at least in the Yakima area, than are Prairies. Wheeler's map for Boreals appears to follow the Yakima River through our area. Just because the map shows a more widespread wintering area does not mean that subspecies is more common. I have seen many Boreals in the Yakima area, including several I have photographed on our street, but only two Prairies. The only Black Merlin I have seen in Central Washington was in Sunnyside in early 2006 but I didn't have a camera with me. Denny Granstrand Yakima * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Denny Granstrand * * Yakima, WA * * dgranstrand AT charter.net * * Denny's bird photos can be seen online at: * http://granstrand.net/gallery/ _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Re: Pied colored Dark-eyed "Oregon" Junco, Longview, WA From: "Dennis Rockwell" <dennisrockwell AT dwwireless.net> Date: Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:04:17 -0800 And I had a Dark-eyed "Oregon" Junco at my feeders on Monday with an all white tail. Dennis Rockwell Kennewick, WA dennisrockwell AT dwwireless.net ----- Original Message ----- From: jeffjendro AT aol.com To: tweeters AT u.washington.edu Sent: Tuesday, November 17, 2009 12:56 PM Subject: [Tweeters] Pied colored Dark-eyed "Oregon" Junco, Longview, WA A pied colored Dark-eyed "Oregon" Junco has shown up at my seed feeders again. It might be the same bird that was here last fall, winter and spring, but disappeared with the rest of the juncos during the summer. Jeff Jendro Longview, WA jeffjendro AT aol.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 9.0.707 / Virus Database: 270.14.69/2508 - Release Date: 11/16/09 23:40:00 _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Prairie Merlin From: Steven Mlodinow <sgmlod AT aol.com> Date: Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:30:44 -0500 Greetings All I am at work and, alas, can not wade in as fully as I'd like to. It should be noted that phenotypically "typical" Prairie Merlins have previously been photographed in WA, including one at the outskirts of Edison last year. The ID of several of these birds have been verified by both Jerry Ligouri and Brian Wheeler, and I'd suggest a study of Wheeler's raptor book of w. North America for a suite of identification tips. Yes, like all subspecies, and some species that hybridize regularly (eg, RN and RB Sapsuckers), caution must be used to try to weed out intergrades/hybrids. This does not mean that the taxa involved can not be identified with a reasonable degree of certainty. Also of interest is a specimen of a Prairie Merlin, at the Slater Museum, from Skagit County brought there by a falconer who knows his hawk ID well. Best Wishes Steven Mlodinow_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Point Wilson Yellow-billed Loon's Return From: "Bob Whitney" <rlw AT cablespeed.com> Date: Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:02:10 -0800 Point Wilson N48*08.648' W122*45.262' 11-17-09 time 0900~1230, tide outgoing, seas 1ft swell, high broken clouds, wind 3~5 mph from the south,air temp 51 degrees Pacific Loon 23 Red-throated Loon 1 Yellow-billed Loon 1 Red-necked Grebe 2 Horned Grebe 2 Pelagic Cormorant 17 Double-crested Cormorant 18 Brandt's Cormoeant 4 Common Murre 16 Pigeon Guillemot 17 Rhinoceros Auklet 2 Marbled Murrelet 2 Ancient Murrelet 14 Glaucous-winged Gull+ hybrid 32 Mew Gull 5 Bonaparte's Gull 1 Black Brant 10 Surf Scoter 29 White-winged Scoter 14 Black Scoter 3 Harlequin Duck 9 Bufflehead 18 Red-breasted Merganser 27 Sanderling 23 Dunlin 1 Northern Flicker 1 American Crow 1 Song Sparrow 2 House Sparrow 53 House Finch 5 I think the YbL is the same bird that spent last winter in the waters near and around Point Wilson. Now why do I say that! I have looked at images from 11-14-08 with today's images of 11-17-09 and both birds look very much alike. That alone does not mean that both birds are one and the same. I spent over 30 hours observing the YbL from last year. The YbL of 11-17-09 showed the same feeding behavior and preference for feeding area. So I say this is the same YbL from last year, welcome back. I look forward to seeing you in the months to come. I acquired some nice images from 11-17-09 and will put a few up on my site in the coming days. Robert Whitney rlw AT cablespeed.com www.flickr.com/photos/rlw/_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Re: Western Scrub Jay on Capitol Hill, Seattle From: Kevin Purcell <kevinpurcell AT pobox.com> Date: Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:17:26 -0800 On Nov 17, 2009, at 12:59 PM, Brien Meilleur wrote: > For info, I would guess that you probably saw one of the birds from > a small resident group of Western Scrub Jays that has been in the > area, and reproducing, between E. Union and E. Cherry and between > 10th Ave. and 15th Ave., just East of the main Seattle U. campus, > for at least five years now (perhaps most often seen in the alley > behind 13th Ave. E.). > Brien Meilleur Thanks Brian. That would probably account for the others I've reported before on Cap Hill. I looked at the CBC data. There is a sharp gradient in occurrence of Western Scrub Jay in the Western Puget Sound. The first CBC record was in a single bird in 1995 for both Seattle and Tacoma. I don't see any reported north of Seattle. They're 10x more common in Tacoma than in Seattle and the surrounding suburbs and a bit more common in the Kent CBC and more so in Olympia. And if you go to south or south-west WA (say Cowlitz Co CBC) they're 10x more common than Tacoma. Then about another 4x more common in Salem and Eugene as you head south into northern CA. Based on last years CBC data they're a rather uncommon bird in Seattle in late fall/early winter: 0.015 per party hour or once every 66 hours of birding (for the sort of birders who do the CBC) or about 10x less common than a Cooper's Hawk in the same CBC. And that's why I posted. Perhaps not an exciting bird but a rather uncommon one. Even if I now know that I'm close to their territory. Thanks for most of the comments. -- Kevin Purcell kevinpurcell AT pobox.com twitter: AT kevinpurcell _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Ancient Murrelets at ERdmonds From: Steve Pink <pirangas AT hotmail.com> Date: Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:13:39 -0800 Hi . A group of 5 Ancient Murrelets were seen flying south about 11:30 this morning. Alas no sign of Cassin's Auklets despite several birders looking. Cheers and good birding, Steve Steve Pink Edmonds, WA mailto: pirangas AT hotmail.com _________________________________________________________________ Windows 7: I wanted simpler, now it's simpler. I'm a rock star. http://www.microsoft.com/Windows/windows-7/default.aspx?h=myidea?ocid=PID24727::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:WWL_WIN_myidea:112009 _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Hi From: "Judi L. Baker" <judilbaker AT earthlink.net> Date: Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:07:48 -0800 (GMT-08:00) I'm new to the NW, but I have heard that there are snowy owls to be seen/photographed in the winter. Can anyone tell me when/where is a good place to look for them? Thank you. Judi L. Baker "Keep close to nature's heart..." John Muir _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: RE: Western Scrub Jay on Capitol Hill, Seattle From: Brien Meilleur <brienm AT live.com> Date: Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:59:18 -0800 Hi Kevin, For info, I would guess that you probably saw one of the birds from a small resident group of Western Scrub Jays that has been in the area, and reproducing, between E. Union and E. Cherry and between 10th Ave. and 15th Ave., just East of the main Seattle U. campus, for at least five years now (perhaps most often seen in the alley behind 13th Ave. E.). Brien Meilleur > From: kevinpurcell AT pobox.com > To: tweeters AT u.washington.edu > Date: Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:09:42 -0800 > CC: kevinpurcell AT pobox.com > Subject: [Tweeters] Western Scrub Jay on Capitol Hill, Seattle > > I was out this morning watching a Cooper's Hawk in my Deodar Cedars > and hunting over Broadway when a saw a Western Scrub Jay with an acorn > in his bill. He flew up onto the top of a low spruce on 200 block 10th > Ave E and eventually turned before flying off to the south east giving > a nice view of his back. Initially I wondered if it was Blue Jay or > other stray but he had the brown back. > > A bit late for Western Scrub Jays at the northern end of their range I > would have thought. Has the year-around range now extended to Seattle? > -- > Kevin Purcell > kevinpurcell AT pobox.com > twitter: AT kevinpurcell > > > > _______________________________________________ > Tweeters mailing list > Tweeters AT u.washington.edu > http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters _________________________________________________________________ Windows 7: I wanted simpler, now it's simpler. I'm a rock star. http://www.microsoft.com/Windows/windows-7/default.aspx?h=myidea?ocid=PID24727::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:WWL_WIN_myidea:112009 _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Pied colored Dark-eyed "Oregon" Junco, Longview, WA From: jeffjendro AT aol.com Date: Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:56:09 -0500 A pied colored Dark-eyed "Oregon" Junco has shown up at my seed feeders again. It might be the same bird that was here last fall, winter and spring, but disappeared with the rest of the juncos during the summer. Jeff Jendro Longview, WA jeffjendro AT aol.com_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Re: Western Scrub Jay on Capitol Hill, Seattle From: mgd AT myuw.net Date: Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:37:04 -0800 (PST) Western Scrub-jays are in my yard on Beacon Hill almost daily all year long; they've been around almost three years. I occasionally feed them peanuts and when I do so it's interesting to watch their interactions with the Steller's Jays. The Scrub-jays are dominant over the Steller's. The Steller's usually carry away two peanuts--one in their crop and one in their beak, while the Scrub-jays carry only one--in their beak. I often find the cached peanuts when I'm gardening. Mike Donahue Seattle's Beacon Hill _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Western Scrub Jay on Capitol Hill, Seattle From: Kevin Purcell <kevinpurcell AT pobox.com> Date: Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:09:42 -0800 I was out this morning watching a Cooper's Hawk in my Deodar Cedars and hunting over Broadway when a saw a Western Scrub Jay with an acorn in his bill. He flew up onto the top of a low spruce on 200 block 10th Ave E and eventually turned before flying off to the south east giving a nice view of his back. Initially I wondered if it was Blue Jay or other stray but he had the brown back. A bit late for Western Scrub Jays at the northern end of their range I would have thought. Has the year-around range now extended to Seattle? -- Kevin Purcell kevinpurcell AT pobox.com twitter: AT kevinpurcell _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: 5 Brant at Golden Gardens From: "Zuckerbond" <Zuckerbond AT comcast.net> Date: Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:54:24 -0800 Tweeters, Tuesday morning at Golden Gardens, I saw 5 Brant fly in from the north and circle a few times before landing in the water about ½ way from the shore to the green buoy. I also saw a Harlequin Duck bobbing in the waves further out in the bay towards Carkeek. Mary Bond, Seattle _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Re: African bird ID help From: Bruce Helmboldt <brucetweet AT gmail.com> Date: Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:34:01 -0800 Many thanks to all who contributed assistance. I think we've got most of his birds identified, and a possible convert, too. Oh, the humanity! LOL Bruce H On Sun, Nov 15, 2009 at 10:16 AM, Bruce Helmboldt wrote: > My brother-in-law just got back from a trip to South Africa/Swaziland. > He's got some amazing pictures of birds that he can't identify. Can anyone > point me to an online source of bird IDs with pictures? Thanks! Elephants > are easy, but the birds have him really stumped. -- bru helmboldt Union Hill, Redmond, WA http://www.helmboldt.us Tweeters teeshirts, etc. at http://www.cafepress.com/tweets_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Grand Coulee waterfowl trip-14 November From: "Andy Stepniewski" <steppie AT nwinfo.net> Date: Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:04:37 -0800 GRAND COULEE WATERFOWL 14 NOVEMBER 2009 Yakima Valley Audubon, under the able leadership of Bill Drenguis, headed to the Grand Coulee lakes to check out waterfowl on this cold, but mostly sunny day. Our first stop was Soap Lake in the Lower Grand Coulee where Ruddy Ducks, Common Goldeneyes, and Canada Geese were the prominent members of the waterfowl clan. Far out in the lake, careful scoping turned up a few Redfheads, Northern Shovelers, Ring-necked Ducks, and Lesser Scaup. Eared Grebes still numbered in the several hundreds, this being their major concentration point in eastern Washington. Shorebirds were few but we found a few Killdeer and several Least Sandpipers. Our pulse rose as we hit Lake Lenore and noted it was peppered with swans, geese, and ducks. Combined with a dramatic scene of basalt cliffs looming to the west, this was our most memorable stop of the trip. Towards our waterfowl goal, we spotted 17 species here, making this our best stop of the trip for this group: Canada Goose Cackling Goose Tundra Swan Gadwall American Wigeon Mallard Northern Shoveler Northern Pintail Canvasback Redhead Ring-necked Duck Greater Scaup Lesser Scaup Bufflehead Common Goldeneye Barrow's Goldeneye Ruddy Duck We searched carefully for scoters and Long-tailed Duck with no luck. All three scoters had been here in October (even Black, exceptionally rare in eastern Washington) but these had evidently moved on to their usual saltwater wintering sites. Several of us kept an eye out for raptors soaring over the cliffs in the brilliant morning sunshine, noting both Golden and Bald Eagles and Red-tailed Hawks, along with numerous Common Ravens. Heading north along the chain of lakes to Upper Grand Coulee, we stopped in Steamboat Rock State Park and added Hooded and Red-breasted Mergansers. Many Mule Deer grazing the state park lawns were probably the most memorable sighting here. A Canyon Wren called "zeet.zeet" from the towering basalt cliffs. Across the bay, we admired the colorful granites of the Okanogan Highlands terrane that pokes through the basalts here, revealing our position very close to the margin of the Columbia Basin. >From here we headed south on the high plateau east of the Upper Grand Coulee, hoping to spot some "northern" birds on the snowy wheatlands. Snowy it was, but also enveloped in dense fog, our only inclement weather of the day. Only on the descent towards Almira did we break out of the fog. Several stops here revealed Rough-legged and Red-tailed Hawks hunting the wheatfields, and a few small flocks of Horned Larks. Our final stop of the day was at Brooks Lake (east of Soap Lake), usual staging grounds for thousands of geese in the fall. The show was either over or the geese were someplace else as we scoped the lake near dusk. We spotted only a few hundred each of Canada Geese, Northern Pintails, and Mallards., and a few Green-winged Teal. We did spot our first (surprisingly) Common Merganser, bringing our total waterfowl to 2 species for the day. Andy Stepniewski Wapato WA Windypointandy AT dishmail.net _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Re: Rough-legged Hawk, Auburn From: "Randy" <randimal AT comcast.net> Date: Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:32:05 -0800 I stopped by the flooded field a couple of times today to check for the Rough-legged Hawk. I didn't have any luck but there was a nice group of shorebirds in the small pond north of the barns. About 50 Dowitchers and a dozen or so Dunlin. Randy Bjorklund Federal Way, WA_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Franklin County on Sunday From: Russ Koppendrayer <russkope AT gmail.com> Date: Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:26:06 -0800 Hi All, Anne Kahle and stayed over after the fine "Footsteps of Townsend" WOS trip to bird the Franklin County side of the Snake River on Sunday morning.Some highlights included a Sharp-shinned Hawk patrolling the roadside on the way into Big Flat HMU. Our walk through Big Flat we restricted to the roadway due to the presence of upland bird hunters;we still saw lots of birds incuding Townsend's Solitaire(in keeping with Saturday's theme),Northern Shrike and 2 WINTER WRENS(One seen well-one heard only).Windust Park was quiet but we did manage to find a Great Horned Owl and a Sharp-shinned Hawk.Lyon's Ferry was also quiet but we managed probably our best bird of the day-a RED-NECKED GREBE graced lagoon just inside the boom.We then crossed the Snake River and followed Lyon's Ferry Road into WallaWalla County where we had 13 Rough-legged Hawks and a Prairie Falcon in the first 3 or 4 miles. Good birding, Russ Koppendrayer Longview,Wa_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Franklin County on Sunday From: Russ Koppendrayer <russkope AT gmail.com> Date: Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:26:06 -0800 Hi All, Anne Kahle and stayed over after the fine "Footsteps of Townsend" WOS trip to bird the Franklin County side of the Snake River on Sunday morning.Some highlights included a Sharp-shinned Hawk patrolling the roadside on the way into Big Flat HMU. Our walk through Big Flat we restricted to the roadway due to the presence of upland bird hunters;we still saw lots of birds incuding Townsend's Solitaire(in keeping with Saturday's theme),Northern Shrike and 2 WINTER WRENS(One seen well-one heard only).Windust Park was quiet but we did manage to find a Great Horned Owl and a Sharp-shinned Hawk.Lyon's Ferry was also quiet but we managed probably our best bird of the day-a RED-NECKED GREBE graced lagoon just inside the boom.We then crossed the Snake River and followed Lyon's Ferry Road into WallaWalla County where we had 13 Rough-legged Hawks and a Prairie Falcon in the first 3 or 4 miles. Good birding, Russ Koppendrayer Longview,Wa_______________________________________________ Inland-nw-birders mailing list Inland-nw-birders AT uidaho.edu https://www.lists.uidaho.edu/mailman/listinfo/inland-nw-birders Subject: Why Phalaropes can be tough to photograph with a cheap camera and unskilled photographer From: Khanh Tran <fsprucegrouse AT yahoo.com> Date: Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:12:11 -0800 (PST) Hi all, I didn't do the bird justice in either presentation but for what it's worth, here it is.... A 45 second, amateur video of RED PHALAROPE swimming, feeding, and walking... Their plumages are so variable this time of year and feet, quite interesting. Videoed on 11/14/2009 at Oceanshores, WA. Apologies for not editing, very raw footage... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plCnARQxcyo If you prefer to see a comparison of red necked vs. red phalarope in non-breeding plumage, here are some shots... Red necked was photographed on 8/15/2009. http://www.pbase.com/spruce_grouse/snowbirds_in_autumn&page=all Good birding, Khanh Tran www.ktbirding.com _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Fw: Al Larrabee update... From: "Wilson Cady" <gorgebirds AT juno.com> Date: Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:38:58 GMT FYI, Wilson Cady Washougal, WA ---------- Forwarded Message ---------- From: Will Clemons To: Eric Anderson , Jennifer Brown , Josie Finley , Bob Flores , Kolleen Irvine Cc: Jeanne Larrabee , Wilson Cady , Scott Carpenter , Carol Ledford , Ken Meyer , Sumner Sharpe , Lyn Topinka , Roger Windemuth , Barry Woodruff , Galeon Schoenth , Linda Forsgren , CRAIG STRAND , Jeannette Gailey , Joni Chambers , Allan Larrabee Subject: Al Larrabee update... Date: Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:05:54 -0800 (PST) Al Larrabee is still in the Cardiac ICU at SW Washington Medical Center. Today, about 1PM, I chatted for a bit with Al's daughter Jeanne Larrabee (oregon2236 AT aol.com) who is here from Fort Lauderdale. Jeanne told me that Al had collapsed on Wednesday (Nov 11) while at his gym, and his heart had stopped. A trainer and another person kept him going with CPR and mouth-to mouth until the EMTs got there. They used paddles to restart Al's heart. The doctors have done an Angiogram and found some blockage at/near an existing stent site. It may need more attention than can be accomplished using instrumentation. Doctors will be consulting with Sandy and Al to decide just what course to follow next (I assume this will take place today). Jeanne also said that Al is weak and a bit confused. In his present condition, we should wait for calls and or visits, until Al's wife Sandy or his daughter Jeanne gives us the go ahead. Prayers and good thoughts are appreciated for now. Jeanne called me as I was leaving to go to the library to email you folks. She said Al wanted to talk to me. I talked to Al for a brief few minutes. He sounds weak and sedated, but he is still the Al we all love. Roger Windemuth or I will keep folks informed. If I missed sending to anyone - please email me or call me at (503) 635-8933 Cards may be sent to: Al Larrabee 28909 NE 6th Avenue Ridgefield, WA 98642-9137 ____________________________________________________________ Renters Insurance Quotes Get Competitive Renters Insurance Quotes and Save! http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/c?cp=0pgCk_bh2KkpVPf5s3UBhwAAJ1Af3IvMi6Mtlwa2MO7vQOwHAAQAAAAFAAAAAPT91D0AAANSAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAgoSQAAAAA= _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Edmonds Cassin's Auklets From: "Marv Breece" <mbreece AT earthlink.net> Date: Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:42:29 -0800 I received a call from Steve Pink this morning telling me that Carol Riddell had spotted a Cassin's Auklet in Edmonds. I couldn't get to the site until about 2:30PM. After a long search, I spotted a single Cassin's Auklet south of the fishing pier, perhaps 100-150 yards away. After 15 or 20 minutes of watching the bird, all of a sudden there was a total of 6. I didn't see the other 5 come in. By air or by sea I don't know. But there were definitely 6 Cassin's Auklets. Marv Breece Seattle, WA mbreece AT earthlink.net_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Coot's on our pond From: Demarie Wood <maknati AT hotmail.com> Date: Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:26:15 -0800 At noon today we had 12 coot on our pond. I guess this storm is as bad as they say, never had more than 2 before. Demarie Wood Port Angeles, WA maknati AT hotmail.com "Things are never so bad but they could be worse." Grandfather winter 1904 Working as a Teacher for Dr. Sheldon Jackson Ikogmute (Russian Mission), AK _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Re: Red-breasted Sapsucker and Pileated Woodpecker at Volunteer Park, Seattle From: Kevin Purcell <kevinpurcell AT pobox.com> Date: Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:09:33 -0800 On Nov 12, 2009, at 7:41 PM, Hans-Joachim Feddern wrote: > RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKERS are year round residents here in Twin Lakes > and I suspexcted breeding in my neighborhood this year. I did > observe one excavating a nesting hole right at the parking lot for > Dumas Bay earlier this year. > I do have at least one individual, which has drilled neat rows of > sap holes in one of my trees, two of my neighbors and more at the > neighbors across the street. I'm sure they are much more common in less than urban areas but in urban Seattle they're not that common (even less common in a place with no conifers like the Fill). And we are only 2 miles or so as the sapsucker flies from the Fill here hence the wondering if there might be a connection. There is at least one tree in Volunteer Park though that does show signs of being drilled for sap holes but I don't know when that happened but as I did see them drilling holes in the cold eruption (there were at least four on Capitol Hill and I saw two interacting in the park with their "I can fly slower than you" spiraling interaction around the tree. The same with the Pileated Woodpecker. A common bird you would think. You'd think one might see more often (e.g. when I was at Microsoft I'd see one regularly on my walk through the woods around the campus after lunch) but so far I've seen Pileated on the Hill only twice in perhaps 10 years of paying (some) attention and only once in two years with a lot of attention at VP. I suspect it's mostly the lack of really good big snags for food and nesting despite the quite high tree density (for an urban area). Urban birding ... it's a whole different game :-) -- Kevin Purcell kevinpurcell AT pobox.com twitter: AT kevinpurcell _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Re: Book Conflict - Question RE: Merlin, Thurston County, Thu, 12 Nov 2009 From: Kevin Purcell <kevinpurcell AT pobox.com> Date: Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:05:07 -0800 On Nov 14, 2009, at 1:16 PM, Yelm Backyard Wildlife wrote: > I really enjoyed reading the differences between the subspecies of > Merlin, the photo's, drawings, and comparisons in each title were > helpful. I, however, believe them to be as clear as MUD. If my bird > were to be a confirmed Merlin, it would be a richardsonii according to > Sibley's; A male "Prairie richardsonii" according to Smithsonian. And > a male "richardsonii" according to National Geographic. Peterson's > Field Guide indicates in word description to be a male "Prairie" > Merlin but of the "suckleyi" variety in its drawing or illustration, > (which Kelly McAllister has stated was mismarked, incorrect, or > mis-identified.) There's only one error here: the subspecific labels are mixed up on the illustration in the Third Edition of the Western Peterson. Good catch. They should be (left to right on p187): "Pacific" (suckleyi), "Taiga" (columbaris - the nominate subspecies) and "Prairie" (richardsonii). The subspecific labels move "one to the right". This is corrected in the (new) Big Peterson where they switched to using "toponymic" race names ("Taiga", "Prairie" and "Pacific") but mention the subspecific names in the text correctly matching them to the toponymic races. And I'm sure will be fixed in a future new Western (if they release it). Smithsonian uses both toponymic race names ("Taiga") and the subspecific names. Pick one or the other as user preference. Sibley only uses the toponymic race names in both my Big (200, first printing) and Small/Western (2003). Nat Geo 5th (and the Nat Geo Western which has more callouts on the illustrations) uses only the subspecific names. The latest Princeton Western Birds guide uses the subspecific names in the text but shows photos of only the nominate race. Different field guide writers make different choices. > The Merlin photos/illustrations available in five titles do not > compare to the actual bird in flight with its smooth lying feathers > and incredible agility! Each illustration and photograph is different > from the other. > > > It is no wonder that one would easily call my bird a Sharp shinned > Hawk. > It is no wonder that one would easily call my bird a Merlin. Aside from the wingshape, bodyplan and flight style which are a bit different between the two :-) but "Hawks in Flight" can help you find the differences in flight better than the field guides to tell them easily apart with a little practice. And more than you every wanted to know about "The SUBSPECIES and MIGRATION PATTERNS Of MERLINS" which is a good overview of the literature and even mentions the Peterson error. http://www.stanford.edu/~kendric/birds/Merlie/LitSurvey.html One thing is worth quoting: > I have thought for some time that "Merlie" the Merlin, who has been > coming back to a tree near our house for 10 years (as of 2001) is a > Black Merlin (F.c. suckleyi). HOWEVER, after a moreCareful Visual > Study, I am NOW fairly cetain that he is a Taiga Merlin (F.c. > columbarius). And that only took 10 years and photos too :-) In general, I wouldn't worry too much about subspecies names unless you are taking photos and can muse over the differences and are really interested in different population groups. They vary in color. They vary in size. And they appear intergrade too. And I think that's the main reason for moving from subspecific names to the toponymic race names as you don't have to remember the mapping from one to the other but can say that's more like an X. Or you can just say it was dark or light. [obligatory rant about subspecies and clines omitted :-)] -- Kevin Purcell kevinpurcell AT pobox.com twitter: AT kevinpurcell _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Lapland Longspur and Northern Shrike From: cgluckman AT aol.com Date: Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:33:19 -0500 A Lapland Longspur and Northern Shrike were seen in the Castle Hill area of Port Townsend yesterday. The juvenile Longspur was photographed. Neither are usual for our area. I missed both by an hour. David Gluckman 811 22nd St. Pt. Townsend, WA 98368 360 379-0360_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Much ado about Merlins..... From: "Bud Anderson" <bud AT frg.org> Date: Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:50:56 -0800 Hi Original Tweets, I'd like to make a comment or two about the recent spate of Merlin posts here on Tweeters. First off, regarding subspecies, much has been alluded to in these posts, some enlightening and some "endarkening" if you will. We do have two races of Merlin that occur in western Washington all year. Both breed here, in some cases together, i.e. a Black with a Taiga Merlin. I have seen this several times now as have many of my colleagues. So they are capable of mixing the two subspecies together. We have the Black Merlin (F.c.suckleyi) named for George Suckley, who, incidentally, collected the first one at Steilacoom in the mid-1800's. They were first reported as breeders in WA by Dawson and Bowles (1909) near Puyallup. We also have what used to be called the Western Merlin (a name I still really like) but this was dropped back in 1972 after Stan Temple wrote an article on the races of Merlins in North America. This is available on SORA (AUK April 1972) so you can download and read it at home. It is still a pretty good read. One of the things that you will notice in his article is how difficult it can be to separate them, even in the hand. I think this might explain some of the frustration expressed in the recent posts. I am not certain why identifying the precise subspecific identity of a particular bird is so important, but in general, we just call them Black or Brown Merlins and let it go at that. Ed Biglow, a falconer living in SE BC, has all three races breeding in his area. The combinations of young that result would confound anyone. So don't be too worried if you can't call them in the field. Some you can, some you can't. And, of course, this is the problem with field guides in general. Because of space and costs, they are limited in their ability to show all of the variations possible (much to the frustration of the authors I am sure). Anyway, the Western is now termed the Taiga Merlin, as it breeds all the way across North America in the Taiga or boreal forest zone. When Temple wrote the article, there were very few good records of nesting Merlins, especially the brown form, in western Washington, but pioneering work by Tom Gleason, Al Ingram and others in the 1990's confirmed that there were pairs breeding on the Olympic Peninsula and within the Puget Sound basin. Since 2000, when the first city pair was reported from Bellingham (both black birds), the species has "marched" its way down into Burlington, Sedro Woolley, Mt. Vernon, Marysville, Anacortes, Edmonds and finally Seattle in 2008. As they become more common in cities, we expect their numbers will increase substantially as we saw with Red-tailed Hawks, Bald Eagles, peregrines and, most recently, the accipiters being studied by Jack Bettesworth. Also, it has been stated that Richardson's Merlin occurs here in western WA. It definitely does show up east of the Cascade Mountains. We have caught two at Entiat Ridge above Leavenworth during the fall migration and Joe Snyder has caught them in Spokane. But in all of the years that I have been looking at Merlins, I have never seen one west of the Cascades in Washington. We do see pale Taiga birds, like the one currently in Edison (Skagit County), and I think they are often mistaken for Richardson's Merlins due to the tan coloration of plumage. But until I see one in hand (or pictures of one on hand), I'd be skeptical. To get a positive ID, you'd need to see all five tails bands (all five bordered by dark), the presence of anterior barring on the outermost primary and complete barring on the second most distal spot on the posterior vane of the outermost primary. I am not saying that it is not possible that a few could eventually show up. As bird people, we all know just about anything is possible in this arena. But, personally, I'd need some pretty definite evidence to confirm it. Incidentally, we had a meeting of 20 or so Merlin people just this weekend to organize a cooperative study of this very issue. Dan Varland of the Coastal Raptor Survey, Jack Bettesworth and also banders from the Falcon Research Group were all in attendance. Our main goal is to obtain DNA samples for a continent-wide survey of North American Merlins being conducted by Josh Hull of the USFWS. He is focusing on many of these same subspecific issues. Hawk banders all across the country are contributing to his work. Our Washington cooperative Merlin Study Group will be banding Merlins here in western WA over the next year or two to provide Josh with samples and hopefully to help with learning more about the relationships among NA Merlins. Kent Woodruff at Chelan Ridge has already started out with 24 samples from this last fall migration so we are all hoping to contribute a really large sample size for the study. So, if there are other Merlin banders in the NW, especially here in WA, and you would like to join this effort, please get in touch. Hope this might help...... Bud Anderson Falcon Research Group Box 248 Bow, WA 98232 USA (360) 757-1911 (office) (206) 962-7838 (cell) bud AT frg.org_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Edmonds: Cassin's Auklet Again From: Carol Riddell <cariddell AT earthlink.net> Date: Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:26:43 -0800 Three of us, in two different sightings, saw a Cassin's Auklet in Edmonds waters on October 18th. There was one again this morning off the public pier. I went down about 9 a.m. The rain was steady but there was little wind to speak of so viewing conditions were pretty decent. There weren't too many birds about but off to the south of the pier I noticed a black dot on the water. When I put the scope on it, I could tell it was an auklet although too small to be a Rhinoceros Auklet. I could not see the white eyebrow at the distance but the rounded head and slender, smaller bill were noteworthy. I watched the bird for about half an hour while it preened on the surface, rolling on its side, spreading its wings, and spinning in circles. From every angle the head continued to be rounded with a small bill. It did not have the flat head and larger bill of the Rhinoceros Auklet. There were Rhinos in the area and this auklet was just quite a bit smaller, more the size of a Marbled Murrelet. I went home to warm up and make a call. I met up with Steve Pink back on the pier about 11 a.m. We scanned the waters for quite a while but could not relocate the bird. Carol Riddell Edmonds _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Birding Columbia and Garfield Coutnies From: "washingtonbirder.Knittle" <washingtonbirder AT hotmail.com> Date: Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:52:36 -0800 November 13 & 15 Friday and Sunday morning Tom Mansfield and I birded Columbia Co. November 14 we birded Garfield Co. In Columbia Co. on Friday we birded Lyon’s Ferry Pond, Tucannon River mouth and wildlife management area, Little Goose Dam Road, Texas Rapids, Little Goose Dam, Riveria Rd., Ferrall Rd., Archer Rd., then worked our way up the Tucannon River Valley to Spring Lake, Blue Lake, Rainbow Lakes, Camp Wooten, up Patrick Grade and returned to Dayton by way of Eckler Mountain Road stopping at the cemetery. The last half of our day was windy turning to rain then snowing. Sunday morning we revisited the Snake River areas and hit all the hot spots in Starbuck before heading south up Kellogg Hollow to Mead Rd. and finishing our morning off birding Lewis & Clark Trail State Park. Highlights in Columbia Co. were Cackling Goose and Gadwall at Lyon’s Ferry, Rock Wren near the Tucannon River mouth and also 1 along Ferrall Rd. in a grassy ravine. In the wildlife management area we had Lincoln’s Sparrow and 1 American Tree Sparrow mixed in a large flock of White-crowned Sparrows. Also I young Sharp-shinned Hawk dispersed the sparrow flock. Next we hit the Rosy-Finch rocks along Little Goose Dam Rd. and had 50 Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches chasing a Peregrine Falcon and calling loudly on Friday and on Sunday 1 imm. Golden Eagle was soaring back and forth along the same cliffs being harassed by Ravens. Both days we had a Say’s Phoebe as we approached Little Goose Dam. A Mew Gull adult was mixed in with the other gulls below the dam and a female Red-breasted Merganser was diving above the dam on Sunday. Friday afternoon at Spring Lake we had a calling Sora which is very late and also a super tough bird to find in Columbia County at any time of year. Across from Spring Lake were Hermit and Varied Thrush. Near Dayton 1 Townsend’s Solitaire was atop the row of juniper trees along Hwy 12 east of town. In Garfield County (Nov. 14) we visited Central Ferry, (Hastings Hill Rd.) to Willow Bar, Rice Bar, Lower Granite Dam, Peola Rd., Pataha Creek, Brown Gulch, Pomeroy and both cemeteries. The Red-necked Grebe seen on Oct. 24 on the WOS field trips was still at the same spot along Hastings Hill Rd. Also near Willow Bar were lots of sparrows which included Lincoln’s Sparrows. At Rice Bar were Barn and Long-eared Owls. 4 Eared Grebes were near Almota on the Snake River. Nearing Lower Granite dam was another Say’s Phoebe and a Belted Kingfisher making it my last county to find a Kingfisher in. 1 Adult Golden Eagle was ne of Pomeroy over the wheat fields. Near where Peola Rd. crosses Pataha Creek was a fast flying Merlin and a huddled along the roadside a Ruffed Grouse. South of Pomeroy was our best bird of the trip----Gyrfalcon, a ‘County First’ and very tough in southeast Washington. At the most southern cemetery in Pomeroy we had both Great Horned and Barn Owls only 20 ft. apart in the row of evergreens that flushed as we walked by. In Pomeroy 2 Eurasian Collared-Doves and a Townsend’s Solitaire were found. Total species seen in Columbia Co. on Friday Nov. 13 was 57. Total species seen in Garfield Co. on Sat. Nov. 14 was 56. These two counties represent the toughest counties in Washington State to bird in and yet what super birds were waiting for us to find in cold weather with the wind blowing. These counties are waiting for other birders to explore their hidden treasures. Ken Knittle Vancouver WA 98665 mailto:washingtonbirder AT hotmail.com Washington Birder online http://www.wabirder.com/ _______________________________________________ Inland-nw-birders mailing list Inland-nw-birders AT uidaho.edu https://www.lists.uidaho.edu/mailman/listinfo/inland-nw-birders Subject: Skagit Bay CBC: New Year's Day 2010 From: Hal Opperman <hal AT catharus.net> Date: Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:01:03 -0800 Art Campbell has stepped down as compiler of the Skagit Bay CBC. Lee Barnes and I have agreed to organize the count for this year. It will be on January 1, 2010. Lee is in charge of recruiting volunteers and section leaders, and I will serve as compiler. The count needs your help in the field. If you are interested, please contact Lee by e-mail at lbarnes45 AT hotmail.com, or by phone at 206-365-7316. The count circle includes areas of outstanding importance for wintering birds: the Skagit River Delta (Fir Island, Dodge Valley, Big Ditch, and adjoining areas in the Conway vicinity); the southern part of Skagit Bay itself (south of La Conner) and the northeast end of Saratoga Passage; a chunk of Whidbey Island shoreline and uplands (Strawberry Point); the north end of Camano Island (English Boom, Utsalady, Rocky Point, Triangle Cove); the north end of Port Susan Bay; the Stillaguamish River Delta (Eide Road, Boe Road, Norman Road); and a forested, hilly stretch east of I-5. Leaders and parties receive their assignments in advance and go straight to their areas on count day. We meet for a compilation countdown at the Stanwood Library at day's end. Under Art's leadership, with Rob Thorn as co-compiler the first few years, the Skagit Bay count has an unbroken record since 1987. We regularly tally upwards of 120 species, including outstanding numbers of waterbirds, and see our share of rarities. For a complete table of Skagit Bay CBC results, visit: http://www.audubon.org/bird/cbc In the column on the left, under "Results," click on "Historical" On the next page, underneath the "Get Count Data" box at the bottom, click on "By Count Circle" On the next page, follow these steps: Under Step 1, Option C, enter "WASB" and click on "Find Count" Under Step 2, highlight the count name in the box and click "Add" Under Step 3, Count Year Start, select "88 - 1987-1988" Count Year End, select "109 - 2008 -2009" Under Step 4, click "Make a Table" We look forward to hearing from you and seeing you in Stanwood. Many thanks! Hal Opperman - Medina, WA - hal AT catharus.net CONTACT FOR SIGNUPS: Lee Barnes - Seattle, WA - lbarnes45 AT hotmail.com _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Birding Columbia and Garfield Coutnies From: "washingtonbirder.Knittle" <washingtonbirder AT hotmail.com> Date: Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:52:36 -0800 November 13 & 15 Friday and Sunday morning Tom Mansfield and I birded Columbia Co. November 14 we birded Garfield Co. In Columbia Co. on Friday we birded Lyon’s Ferry Pond, Tucannon River mouth and wildlife management area, Little Goose Dam Road, Texas Rapids, Little Goose Dam, Riveria Rd., Ferrall Rd., Archer Rd., then worked our way up the Tucannon River Valley to Spring Lake, Blue Lake, Rainbow Lakes, Camp Wooten, up Patrick Grade and returned to Dayton by way of Eckler Mountain Road stopping at the cemetery. The last half of our day was windy turning to rain then snowing. Sunday morning we revisited the Snake River areas and hit all the hot spots in Starbuck before heading south up Kellogg Hollow to Mead Rd. and finishing our morning off birding Lewis & Clark Trail State Park. Highlights in Columbia Co. were Cackling Goose and Gadwall at Lyon’s Ferry, Rock Wren near the Tucannon River mouth and also 1 along Ferrall Rd. in a grassy ravine. In the wildlife management area we had Lincoln’s Sparrow and 1 American Tree Sparrow mixed in a large flock of White-crowned Sparrows. Also I young Sharp-shinned Hawk dispersed the sparrow flock. Next we hit the Rosy-Finch rocks along Little Goose Dam Rd. and had 50 Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches chasing a Peregrine Falcon and calling loudly on Friday and on Sunday 1 imm. Golden Eagle was soaring back and forth along the same cliffs being harassed by Ravens. Both days we had a Say’s Phoebe as we approached Little Goose Dam. A Mew Gull adult was mixed in with the other gulls below the dam and a female Red-breasted Merganser was diving above the dam on Sunday. Friday afternoon at Spring Lake we had a calling Sora which is very late and also a super tough bird to find in Columbia County at any time of year. Across from Spring Lake were Hermit and Varied Thrush. Near Dayton 1 Townsend’s Solitaire was atop the row of juniper trees along Hwy 12 east of town. In Garfield County (Nov. 14) we visited Central Ferry, (Hastings Hill Rd.) to Willow Bar, Rice Bar, Lower Granite Dam, Peola Rd., Pataha Creek, Brown Gulch, Pomeroy and both cemeteries. The Red-necked Grebe seen on Oct. 24 on the WOS field trips was still at the same spot along Hastings Hill Rd. Also near Willow Bar were lots of sparrows which included Lincoln’s Sparrows. At Rice Bar were Barn and Long-eared Owls. 4 Eared Grebes were near Almota on the Snake River. Nearing Lower Granite dam was another Say’s Phoebe and a Belted Kingfisher making it my last county to find a Kingfisher in. 1 Adult Golden Eagle was ne of Pomeroy over the wheat fields. Near where Peola Rd. crosses Pataha Creek was a fast flying Merlin and a huddled along the roadside a Ruffed Grouse. South of Pomeroy was our best bird of the trip----Gyrfalcon, a ‘County First’ and very tough in southeast Washington. At the most southern cemetery in Pomeroy we had both Great Horned and Barn Owls only 20 ft. apart in the row of evergreens that flushed as we walked by. In Pomeroy 2 Eurasian Collared-Doves and a Townsend’s Solitaire were found. Total species seen in Columbia Co. on Friday Nov. 13 was 57. Total species seen in Garfield Co. on Sat. Nov. 14 was 56. These two counties represent the toughest counties in Washington State to bird in and yet what super birds were waiting for us to find in cold weather with the wind blowing. These counties are waiting for other birders to explore their hidden treasures. Ken Knittle Vancouver WA 98665 mailto:washingtonbirder AT hotmail.com Washington Birder online http://www.wabirder.com/ _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Immature Snow Goose near Stan Sayres pits From: Gary Kelsberg <kelsberg AT u.washington.edu> Date: Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:45:42 -0800 There was one immature Snow Goose amongst a flock of about 20 Canada Geese along Lake Washington Blvd. this morning (Monday, 11/16) on the grassy area near a pullout about 1/2 mile south of the Stan Sayres hydroplane pits (about 2 miles north of Seward Park). It was a bit aloof from the larger geese, but stayed roughly in the vicinity of the flock. Also, half a dozen or so beavers (busy), numerous Mallards, Buffleheads, etc. Gary Kelsberg _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: 2 Violet-green Swallows at Lake Sammamish SP From: "Ken and Tina" <kenandtina AT comcast.net> Date: Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:47:57 -0800 Tweets, Had an unexpected pair of Violet-green Swallows at Lake Sammamish SP this morning circling Issaquah Creek south of the bridge and near the edge of the large parking lot. Other highlights included 2 Canvasback out on the lake and 3 river otters feeding in the creek north of the bridge. Quite windy out there, Ken Grant North Bend WA kenandtina AT comcast.net _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Oceanshores, Midway Beach, and Tokeland birding From: Khanh Tran <fsprucegrouse AT yahoo.com> Date: Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:54:09 -0800 (PST) Hi Tweets, This Saturday, Chris S. and I birded the Oceanshores, Midway Beach and Tokeland areas. Nothing rare but a few decent birds were seen along with some late occurring ones. Overall a nice day until the light rain came down around 4PM or so. Lots of water at Midway Beach and Damon Point was literally washed out at high tide. Walking on the jetty was quite the challenge and I fell in the shallow ponds at Midway Beach. A fun trip nevertheless. *****OCEANSHORES AREA***** 20 Snow Geese (flyby) 6 Greater White-fronted Geese (Sewage Plant) 2 Brant (Damon Point-almost washed out) 1 POMARINE JAEGAR (Point Brown) 1 Sharp shinned Hawk 2 Merlin 2 Peregrine Falcon 1500+ Dunlin (Game Range) 12 Black bellied Plovers 1 PACIFIC GOLDEN PLOVER (Game Range) 5 RED KNOTS (Game Range) 3 Whimbrel (Game Range) 2 Willet (Game Range) 6 Black Turnstone (Point Brown and Game Range) 1 ROCK SANDPIPER (Point Brown) 1 Pectoral Sandpiper (Game Range) 1 RED PHALAROPE (Game Range) 1 BLACK LEGGED KITTIWAKE (Point Brown) 2 Harlequin Duck (Point Brown) 1 Eurasian Collar Dove *****MIDWAY BEACH*****(literally several mini-beaches with lots of water) 3 RED PHALAROPE 3 Snowy Plover 2 Bonaparte's Gull 1 Peregrine Falcon 2 American Bittern 3 SNOW BUNTINGS (about 1.0 miles from Grayland Beach entrance) *****TOKELAND***** 1 TROPICAL KINGBIRD (Kindred and North Rd) 2 PACIFIC GOLDEN PLOVER species (Graveyard Spit) 6 Black bellied Plovers 10 Willets NO GODWITS (Zippo) *****Elsewhere***** 1 Rough-legged Hawk near LaBam 1 Short-eared owl (along Hwy 105 and Airport Rd) 2 NORTHERN SHRIKE (along Hwy 105) Good birding, Khanh Tran www.ktbirding.com _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: RE: african bird From: Mike Patterson <celata AT pacifier.com> Date: Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:12:32 -0800 And my venerable old copy of Robert's Birds of South Africa calls it Black-eyed Bulbul (Pycnonotus barbatus), as does my copy of Birds of Malawi (Benson and Benson c.1975). Williams and Arlott (1980) call _barbatus_ "Yellow-vented Bulbul" which is how I first learned it back in my Peace Corps days. Different authors (and different countries) interpret the number of distinct species differently. My advice, if you plan on becoming a world-traveling birder, is to get a copy of “Birds of the World: A Check List”, by James F. Clements and stick to that list. Yes, you're over-all list will probably be smaller, but this is the "official" world list for the ABA. And keep a secondary list of these outliers (mine's in the margin of the dissenting field guides). RE: african bird From: "Christine Vadai" Date: Sun, 15 Nov 2009 22:51:30 -0800 Hi Larry and Bruce, Sinclair/Ryan's Birds of Africa (2003) also has it labeled "Dark-capped (Black-eyed) Bulbul", Pycnonotus tricolor. It must have been reclassified around 2000. -Christine -----Original Message----- From: tweeters-bounces AT mailman2.u.washington.edu [mailto:tweeters-bounces AT mailman2.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Larry & Jacque Goodhew Sent: Sunday, November 15, 2009 12:09 PM To: tweeters AT u.washington.edu Subject: [Tweeters] african bird Newmans book is 1994 not 1914 sorry Larry Goodhew _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters -- Mike Patterson Astoria, OR Things juvenal http://www.surfbirds.com/blog/northcoastdiaries/11935/ _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Re: Rough-legged Hawk, Auburn From: "Buddha's Ghost" <buddhasghost AT comcast.net> Date: Sun, 15 Nov 2009 23:54:08 -0800 I was walking our dog this morning on Interurban between the flooded field and the track and saw that Rough-legged Hawk sitting on a fence post about 40 feet from the trail. He was rather bedraggled in the rain. By the time I got my camera from the truck and made it back he had flown out to midfield and taken over where a Cooper's Hawk had been sitting when I first spotted the Rough-legged Hawk. I snapped a couple of distant photos; nothing good, but enough for me to ID it having been there. The Bald Eagle was there as well, sharing a light pole with a crow . J Lemons zen AT buddhasghostgraphics.com_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: RE: african bird From: "Christine Vadai" <cvadai AT verizon.net> Date: Sun, 15 Nov 2009 22:51:30 -0800 Hi Larry and Bruce, Sinclair/Ryan's Birds of Africa (2003) also has it labeled "Dark-capped (Black-eyed) Bulbul", Pycnonotus tricolor. It must have been reclassified around 2000. -Christine -----Original Message----- From: tweeters-bounces AT mailman2.u.washington.edu [mailto:tweeters-bounces AT mailman2.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Larry & Jacque Goodhew Sent: Sunday, November 15, 2009 12:09 PM To: tweeters AT u.washington.edu Subject: [Tweeters] african bird Newmans book is 1994 not 1914 sorry Larry Goodhew _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: American DIPPER in Riffe Lake From: Guy McWethy <lguy_mcw AT yahoo.com> Date: Sun, 15 Nov 2009 20:14:56 -0800 (PST) Hey Tweets, Bob Stallcop and I went tearing thru Lewis county on saturday. best sighting was an AMERICAN DIPPER on the east end of Riffe Lake. Not in the river. in the LAKE!! Right near the boat ramp. He was swimming near the shore, bobbing up and down like a miniature duck. He would then dive down towards the bottom, which I estimated was at least 3 feet deep. He could stay down a LONG time, and we would see bubbles coming up where he was. I've never seen a dipper feeding and diving in a lake before ... Also along hwy 12, west of Morton, at the Riffe Lake overlook, I spotted a NORTHERN PYGMY-OWL as we drove past at 60 MPH. Managed to get stopped and turned around. We had great looks for about 10 minutes, while he watched all the cars ripping past. The first time I've located a NOPO like THAT !! It was a good day. Guy McWethy Renton, WA mailto: lguy_mcw at yahoo.com _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Ridgefield NWR - Rough-legged & Red-shouldered Hawks, Snow Geese, etc. From: Scott Carpenter <slcarpenter AT gmail.com> Date: Sun, 15 Nov 2009 17:08:54 -0800 I birded the River S Unit of Ridgefield NWR this afternoon with my son Andrew. Although we did not see any arrivals for the season, we did see the following: SNOW GOOSE -- flock of 7, presumably the same group that has been around for a while now CINNAMON TEAL -- at least 15 birds CANVASBACK -- 1 very cooperative (injured?) bird in the canal across the road from Long Lake RED-SHOULDERED HAWK -- 1 ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK -- 2 GREAT HORNED OWL -- 1 TUNDRA SWAN numbers were substantially higher than several days ago, but the bulk of the winter residents apparently have not yet arrived. Scott Carpenter Portland, Oregon_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Franklin County and back today From: "Tim O'Brien" <kertim7179 AT yahoo.com> Date: Sun, 15 Nov 2009 17:02:31 -0800 (PST) Today, I made the trek down into Franklin County and back. I saw a lot of Red-tailed Hawks and Rough-legged Hawks on poles in 3 different counties. On the Adams County side of Sprague Lake by the old stock pens there was an adult Bald Eagle watching over the lake. Waterfowl were numerous and a few hunters about. No swans or white geese today. However, there was a male and female pair of Hooded Mergansers. Southwest of Sprague Lake on Klein Road, I found an immature Golden Eagle with a couple Common Ravens in a field. The young eagle allowed great looks. At Basset Park in Washtucna, I found a Varied Thrush and a Spotted Towhee. Not to mention 13 Wild Turkeys as well. Crossing over into Franklin County, I drove up Copp Road and found a little wetland that held a Marsh Wren, Song Sparrows, White-crowned Sparrows, and Dark-eyed Juncos. It was a busy place! I haven't had the pleasure of visiting the small town of Connell until today and was greeted by vast numbers of Eurasian Collared Doves. Around the grain silos, there were at least 50 of these doves. A few Mourning Doves were around town as well. At Scootenay Reservoir, there was another good assortment of waterfowl and hunters. American Wigeon and Green-winged Teal were busily working the mudflats of the far western end of the reservoir. With them were a few shorebirds that included Killdeer, Dunlin, and Long-billed Dowitchers. On Moulton Road, headed back northeast, I found two Northern Shrikes. Back in Adams County, two Prairie Falcons were not too far apart along Benge-Ritzville Road. One was very brown versus the other being paler and smaller. All in all it was a good day! Good birding! Tim O'Brien Cheney, WA mailto: kertim7179 AT yahoo dot com _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Rough-legged Hawk, Auburn From: Aquila Chrysaetos <ladyhawk707 AT msn.com> Date: Sun, 15 Nov 2009 17:02:46 -0800 Tweeters, Kevin Steiner and I visited the flooded field on M Street, west of the Emerald Downs grandstand this afternoon. There was a lot of water and lots of waterfowl. Kevin spotted a hawk in a tree just north of the farm which proved to be a juvenile ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK. We observed it from quite a distance so as not to spook it. A Bald Eagle flew in and put up some of the ducks before settling into a tree near the water. Shortly after that a Red-tailed Hawk flew from the south toward the Rough-legged, which left its perch to fly at the Red-tail, then veered off to fly north, showing its under-wing markings as it did. The Red-tail took over its perch. It was a very nice sight to see, especially since the Red-tailed Hawk population around there is down quite a bit since the spate of humongous warehouse construction in the area. Sandy Daniels Enumclaw Plateau Ladyhawk707 AT msn DOT com _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Fw: Bird and Herp Questions From: "Stewart Wechsler" <ecostewart AT quidnunc.net> Date: Sun, 15 Nov 2009 15:53:52 -0800 Lydia, A small additional note on your salamander: While it is not strange to have the yellow dorsal stripe be solid, as in your photo, most of the indivuals in our area have broken or irregular yellow stripes. The relatively large head and the long middle hind toe distinguishes your specimen from a Western Red-backed Salamander. The Western Red-backed Salamander - Plethodon vehiculum - will occasionally have a more or less yellow dorsal stripe (the stripes on that species vary from a more or less dark brick red to yellow, but if yellow, usually not quite as yellow as in your photo.) I'm reasonably confident your specimen is indeed a Long-toed Salamander - Ambstoma macrodactylum as Kelly indicated (and I would usually bet on Kelly being right on most ID questions in this area.) On the Snipe, I too first thought of Wilson's Snipe and your description fits reasonably well. It is about the most likely to be flushed out of a wet meadow habitat (though that meadow may be dry in summer) at this time of year without having been seen first. It will typically land not too far away and once again be hard to distinguish from the background, as it has excellent camoflauge in this habitat. I don't remember its call, but your description seems to fit my pretty vague memory of what it might have sounded like. There should be numerous call notes of this species to listen to on the internet. I often use the word "audio" (you could also use "video") as a search term to find audio clips. Cornell's website almost surely has an audio clip. -Stewart Stewart Wechsler -Ecological Consultant - Nature Guide Naturalist - Botanist 206 932-7225 ecostewart AT quidnunc.net -Advice on the most site-appropriate native plants to maximize the site's potential for native biodiversity -Educational programs, nature walks, and field trips for schools, public and private groups -Botanical Surveys ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kelly McAllister" To: "Lydia Bishop" ; Sent: Saturday, November 14, 2009 2:58 PM Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Bird and Herp Questions > Ah, Lydia, I have a good hunch on the birds and a definite answer on the > salamander (nice picture, by the way). Your descripton of the birds make > only one bird come to mind, the Wilson's Snipe. The salamander is a > Long-toed Salamander, Ambystoma macrodactylum. > > Kelly McAllister > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Lydia Bishop" > To: > Sent: Saturday, November 14, 2009 2:29 PM > Subject: [Tweeters] Bird and Herp Questions > > >> Hello Tweets! >> >> First is my bird related question. >> >> We are enjoying watching our winter - spring wetland filling up and >> awaiting the ducks, geese, and heron to fly in for rest stops. >> Something is already living in the wetland and I've not gotten a good >> look at them to make and ID. Our property is just outside of Snohomish. >> The birds seem to be hunkered down deep in the shrubs and wetland grasses >> (no cattails). There are quite a few of them and when I've been out >> mooshing around in the mud taking photos I spook them and they fly out >> making an annoyed "scraaaaach." I think they may killdeer or some other >> shorebird. They don't really sound like killdeer. When they fly off they >> seem to be gray, beige and dark gray in color. Their wings are a bit >> angular when in flight. They just fly from one part of our wetland to >> another. I don't recall seeing or hearing killdeer this past summer >> either. Any idea what sort of birds they are? >> >> And now my herp question: >> >> While slithering around under the house in the crawlspace my husband >> found a strikingly marked salamander. It was a deep, dark reddish brown >> with one very yellow stripe going from the back of it's head all the way >> down the tail. Here is a link to a photo I got of it: >> http://www.flickr.com/photos/gizathecat/4103505409/ >> >> >> Thank you, >> Lydia Bishop >> Somewhere near Snohomish, WA _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Re: Merlin Conundrum From: Barbara Deihl <barbdeihl AT comcast.net> Date: Sun, 15 Nov 2009 15:26:01 -0800 Even surrounded by shrieking, swirling and swooping Merlins, a collection of descriptions, photos and drawings of them and even with consulting folks with considerably more experience with Merlins and Sharp-shins than I, the results of attempted identifications, not only to species, but to subspecies, often is fraught with much confusion and uncertainty. Though I have watched some urban Merlins during their nesting season for 2 years now, I find myself as flummoxed as to which individual I have just looked at or heard. Adding to the confusion are visiting Merlins who wander through the nesting territory, the fact that Merlins from different subspecies do interbreed and the fact that all 3 subspecies have been spotted in Puget Sound (usually in fall/winter). By the way, the Merlin subspecies that I have been watching are considered to be the Black or Pacific Merlin, but a few expert birders who have seen them have thought that perhaps there is some Taiga mixed in. They are fairly dark, which is the main distinguishing characteristic of them (yes, the Peterson guide is in error). Then, of course, it takes quite a bit of experience to key in on whether or not you are looking at an adult or juvenile, a male or a female, because it's supposed to take a year or two for the juveniles to come into their adult plumages and in some cases, depending on light, it can be quite the challenge to tell if you are seeing a dusty brown or a light gray, or a dark, chocolaty brown or a brownish black, and on and on... I find that behavioral cues such as flight patterns, mode of hunting, ways of interacting with intruders, breeding displays and other unique mannerisms are most helpful for semi-definitive identification. And, especially in the case of the Merlins noted in the Seattle/Puget Sound area (and I would suspect in other populations as well), the vocalizations are quite distinctive (and often quite LOUD). But, with limited experience with raptors (such as mine), a Northern Flicker can easily trick you into thinking you have heard a Merlin. And, I am now wondering if birds such as Steller's Jays will start to mimic the Merlin calls, as they share the same habitat! Things certainly aren't as simple as either they seem or we'd like. So, Michelle, join the group of us who try, often with a mere fleeting glance at a bird from only one vantage point and angle and in trying light conditions, to share with others just which kind of bird just visited our world. I suspect that even your memory of some of the details of the bird you saw approach the juncos in your yard, may already have been influenced by all of the responses you have received from all of us who have tried to help solve your mystery. That happens to me all the time - if you are lucky enough to have gotten a photo of a visiting bird like that, that significantly helps get you back on track, but so often there has been just a quick pass-through by the bird. Rather than drowning in a sea of frustration over identifying the bird you saw, maybe you can savor the special memory of this bird in your yard, and hope that, in the future you will have some more experiences with Merlins and Sharp-shinned Hawks, to add to your personal base of info and gestalts of them. And maybe some future sighting will tweak the memory of your Junco-bird and bring you closer to identification of your brief visitor. Meanwhile, if you sometime wish to look at more information about and photos of Merlins, here is a non-field-guide reference you may find helpful or interesting: www.merlinfalconfoundation.org - about WA Merlins, particularly the Black/Pacific/Coastal Forest subspecies Or, you may wish to check out the occasional raptor class offered by Bud Anderson (Falcon Research Group) or Tom Aversa (through Seattle Audubon). Bud had a 5-session class last year, but I don't believe he is having one this year. However, Tom is offering one (2 lectures and 1 fieldtrip) starting at the end of this month. Thanks for stimulating me and the others who responded, to your sighting and questions, to think about and research some things for you and for the general tweeterage. ------------------ Barb Deihl North Matthews Beach, Seattle barbdeihl AT comcast.net _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Nanaimo bird alert From: "The Backyard" <thebackyard AT shaw.ca> Date: Sun, 15 Nov 2009 14:55:36 -0800 NANAIMO BIRD ALERT To report your sightings phone the Store at 250-390-3669 e-mail us at thebackyard AT shaw.ca call the Bird Alert at 250-390-3029 Also check the birdstore blog for the latest bird alerts and updates: www.thebirdstore.blogspot.com Post your sightings on this site: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bcbirdingvanisland/messages Birds of British Columbia: http://www.geog.ubc.ca/biodiversity/efauna/SpeciesChecklists.html International Birdwatching Guides http://www.guidedbirdwatching.com Birdwatching contacts and information find a local birder to go birdwatching with: http://www.birdingpal.org/ Please remember, when reporting a sighting, to leave your name and phone number, along with the date and location of your sighting. Sunday November 15, 2009: The Sunday Bird Walk went to Buttertubs Marsh in Nanaimo. The rain fell all morning and it was very windy. The highlights included seeing a Barred Owl perched in full view on a branch. A small flock of unidentified Shorebird flew over us. A Wilson's Snipe circled around us for several minutes. Five birders heard and saw the following twenty-seven species of birds: Canada Geese, Mallard, Hooded Merganser, American Wigeon, Gadwall, Wood Duck, American Coot, Pied-billed Grebe, Wilson's Snipe, Great Blue Heron, Barred Owl, Glaucous-winged Gull, Northern Flicker, Rock Pigeon, Varied Thrush, American Robin, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Spotted Towhee, Song Sparrow, Golden-crowned Sparrow, American Goldfinch, Pine Siskin, Dark-eyed Junco, House Finch and House Sparrows. A first fall female Common Yellowthroat was seen in a backyard in Columbia Beach. Saturday November 14: Three Trumpeter Swans were seen flying over a field off highway 19, between Nanoose Bay and Parksville. One Brant Goose was seen at the Parksville Beach Community Park in with a flock of American Wigeon. One Snow Goose was seen in with a flock of Canada Geese at Winchelsea School Grounds along Renz Road in Parksville. Steller's Jays and Anna's Hummingbirds are visiting feeders along Benson View Road opposite Witchcraft Lake in Nanaimo. An American Dipper was seen in a stream that runs into Witchcraft Lake in Nanaimo. A Chukar was seen alongside Church Road by the three-way stop in Parksville. Four Steller's Jays and Anna's Hummingbirds are visiting feeders in the 4600 block of Lost Lake Road in Nanaimo. An Anna's Hummingbird is visiting feeders along Valewood Drive in Deerwood Estates in north Nanaimo. Friday November 13: One Snow Goose and three Cackling Geese were seen in with a large flock of Canada Geese in the Winchelsea School grounds along Renz Road in Parksville. A Sharp-shinned Hawk was seen scouting the feeders in a backyard along Meridian Way in Parksville. Thursday November 12: Three Short-eared Owls, two Northern Harriers, two Eurasian Wigeon and a Northern Shrike were seen at the Nanaimo River Estuary in south Nanaimo. Four Brant Geese were seen offshore heading south from Yellowpoint in Cedar. Tuesday November 10: The Tuesday bird walk went to the Plummer Road side of the Englishman River Estuary in Parksville. The morning was cloudy with showers but the sea was calm. A Varied Thrush greeted us as we started the walk. The highlights included the sighting of a Red-tailed Hawk perched high in a tall tree overlooking the estuary and the flooded mudflats. Three Gadwall, four Northern Shovelers and a flock of Dunlin shared the incoming tide on the mud flats. A male and female Long-tailed Duck, Surf, White-winged and Black Scoters, Harlequin Ducks, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Common Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser, Pacific Loons, Common Loons, Horned Grebes, Double-crested Cormorant and Pelagic Cormorant were playing hide and seek with us by diving and popping up out of the water. Fifteen birders saw and heard the following fifty-one species of birds: Canada Goose, Gadwall, American Wigeon, Mallard, Northern Shoveler, Green-winged Teal, Greater Scaup, Harlequin Duck, Surf Scoter, White-winged Scoter, Black Scoter, Long-tailed Duck, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Hooded Merganser, Common Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser, Pacific Loon , Common Loon, Horned Grebe, Red-necked Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Bald Eagle, Red-tailed Hawk, Killdeer, Dunlin, Bonaparte's Gull, Mew Gull, California Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Ancient Murrelet, Belted Kingfisher, Northern Flicker, Pileated Woodpecker, Northwestern Crow, Common Raven, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, American Robin, Varied Thrush, European Starling, Spotted Towhee, Song Sparrow, Golden-crowned Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Red-winged Blackbird, Brewer's Blackbird, Purple Finch, House Finch and Pine Siskin. Sunday November 08: Three Rufous Hummingbirds were seen visiting feeders along Cosgrove Crescent in Nanaimo. Three Greater White-fronted Geese. three Cackling Geese and two Gadwall were seen at Buttertubs Marsh in Nanaimo. For further information on these sightings or for help in identifying a bird please call The Backyard Wildbird and Nature Store AT 250-390-3669 Toll Free AT 1-888-249-4145 e-mail: thebackyard AT shaw.ca ********************************** Arrowsmith Naturalists Guest speaker, Haida Bolton will talk about "Camp Uganda, an educational camp in the Wildlife Education Centre for underprivileged Uganda Children and their parents." Monday November 23, 2009 AT 7:30 pm. Springwood School Parksville ********************************** The Nanoose Naturalists Thursday December 10, 2009 AT 7:00 pm Nanoose Library, Nanoose Bay ********************************** Everyone is welcome to join us for a 2-3 hour bird walk on the Sunday and Tuesday mornings. We leave from the Store at 9 A.M. Sunday Mornings and go to a different location in and around Nanaimo and from the Parksville Beach Community Park at 9 A.M. on Tuesdays and go to different areas in and around the Oceanside area. ************************************************************** The Tuesday Bird Walk on November 17, 2009 will be going to Columbia Beach. Meet at the Parksville Beach Community Park near the parking area at the Lion's Playground at 9:00 A.M. or at the parking area off Admiral Tyron Bld. at about 9: 15 A.M. ***************************************************** The Sunday Bird Walk on November 22, 2009 will be going to Neck Point Park in Nanaimo. Meet at the Birdstore at 9:00 A.M. or at the parking lot of Hammond Bay Road at about 9:20 A.M. ******************************************************* Good birding Neil Robins THE BACKYARD Wildbird & Nature Store 6314 Metral Drive, Nanaimo, BC V9T 2L8 250.390.3669 250.390.1633 fax thebackyard AT shaw.ca CHECK OUT OUR BLOG---> www.thebirdstore.blogspot.com _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Re: [Tweeters-Alerts] Pacific County birding From: Tayler Brooks <ornithophile AT gmail.com> Date: Sun, 15 Nov 2009 14:46:39 -0800 Hello all, To any who are interested, I recorded the flight calls made by one of the Red Phalaropes encountered at Leadbetter Point. I uploaded the sound to Xeno-Canto: http://www.xeno-canto.org/recording.php?XC=40499 Good birding, ~Tayler Brooks Brier, WA On Sun, Nov 8, 2009 at 10:01 PM, Charlie Wright wrote: > Hello All, > Tayler Brooks and I braved the weather on the coast today. We started at > North Head Lighthouse near Ilwaco. The surf was impressive, making it hard > to see much even at our height at the lighthouse. We had a SABINE'S GULL fly > by along with a good number of Black-legged Kittiwakes. At Leadbetter Point > we had two RED PHALAROPES. > West of South Bend near Carruthers Slough there was a nice flock of 61 SNOW > GEESE and 24 GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE. We checked the ag fields along Bay > Center Dike Road at a very high tide, where we found a PACIFIC GOLDEN-PLOVER > and a RED KNOT along with a nice mixture of other shorebirds. We tried to > make a mad dash out to Tokeland Marina, but by the time we got there the > light was fading and all the godwits were soundly asleep, so we couldn't > pick out the Bar-tailed which very likely was present. > Charlie Wright > Bonney Lake, Washington > _______________________________________________ > Tweeters-Alerts mailing list > Tweeters-Alerts AT u.washington.edu > https://mailman1.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters-alerts >_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Rusty Blackbird still present From: Rick Hibpshman <hibpshman AT hotmail.com> Date: Sun, 15 Nov 2009 12:37:00 -0800 The RUSTY BLACKBIRD was still present at about 0830 Sunday morning, 15NOV2009, along Leyman Road, Kingston at the previously reported spot near the blue farm house. A few poor photographs can be seen: http://www.flickr.com/photos/crappywildlifephotography/4107009856/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/crappywildlifephotography/4107009848/ R. Hibpshman Issaquah, WA _________________________________________________________________ Windows 7: It works the way you want. Learn more. http://www.microsoft.com/Windows/windows-7/default.aspx?ocid=PID24727::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:WWL_WIN_evergreen:112009v2 _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: african bird From: "Larry & Jacque Goodhew" <lgoodhew AT surfin-g.com> Date: Sun, 15 Nov 2009 12:09:16 -0800 Newmans book is 1994 not 1914 sorry Larry Goodhew _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: african bird. From: "Larry & Jacque Goodhew" <lgoodhew AT surfin-g.com> Date: Sun, 15 Nov 2009 12:05:44 -0800 Interesting in the names in Africa. My 1997 BIRDS OF SOUTHERN AFRICA by Sinclair, Hockey, and Tarboton. List the name as Blackeyed Bulbul Pycnonotus barbatus Also Newmans BIRDS OF SOUTHERN AFRICA 1914 gives the same name. Anyhow I think we have the right bird even if the names seems a bit different. Larry Goodhew _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Last week on BirdNote From: Ellen Blackstone <ellen AT 123imagine.net> Date: Sun, 15 Nov 2009 12:01:07 -0800 Hello, Tweeters! Last week, BirdNote aired: * Birds Carry Plants to Hawaii http://www.birdnote.org/birdnote.cfm?id=1392 * Common Redpoll http://www.birdnote.org/birdnote.cfm?id=1395 * Goldeneyes and Whistling Wings http://www.birdnote.org/birdnote.cfm?id=434 * More Eyes and Ears - Mixed-species flocks http://www.birdnote.org/birdnote.cfm?id=419 * Interview w/Father Tom Pincelli, the birding priest of the Lower Rio Grande Valley + a link to birding festivals across the U.S. http://www.birdnote.org/birdnote.cfm?id=1693 * When Birds Ruled the Earth http://www.birdnote.org/birdnote.cfm?id=932 * The Douglas Squirrel http://www.birdnote.org/birdnote.cfm?id=416 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- BirdNote is a two-minute audio program, airing on several public radio stations and available by podcast: http://tinyurl.com/y24e8n. You can listen to the mp3, see a photo, and read the transcript on the website. All episodes are in the archives. -------------------------------------------- Ellen Blackstone mailto:ellen AT 123imagine.net http://www.birdnote.org Seattle, Washington _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: FW: African bird ID help From: "Eric Kowalczyk" <aceros AT mindspring.com> Date: Sun, 15 Nov 2009 11:24:40 -0800 most likely a Dark-capped bulbul, Pycnonotus tricolor check out Birds of Southern Africa, Sinclair, Hockey, Tarboton 2002 (Princeton Field Guides) ----- Original Message ----- From: Bruce Helmboldt To: tweeters Sent: 11/15/2009 10:17:14 AM Subject: [Tweeters] African bird ID help My brother-in-law just got back from a trip to South Africa/Swaziland. He's got some amazing pictures of birds that he can't identify. Can anyone point me to an online source of bird IDs with pictures? Thanks! Elephants are easy, but the birds have him really stumped. Here's one example. http://helmboldt.us/image001.jpg What's this birdie? bru h -- bru helmboldt Union Hill, Redmond, WA http://www.helmboldt.us Tweeters teeshirts, etc. at http://www.cafepress.com/tweets_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: African bird ID help From: Bruce Helmboldt <brucetweet AT gmail.com> Date: Sun, 15 Nov 2009 10:16:42 -0800 My brother-in-law just got back from a trip to South Africa/Swaziland. He's got some amazing pictures of birds that he can't identify. Can anyone point me to an online source of bird IDs with pictures? Thanks! Elephants are easy, but the birds have him really stumped. Here's one example. http://helmboldt.us/image001.jpg What's this birdie? bru h -- bru helmboldt Union Hill, Redmond, WA http://www.helmboldt.us Tweeters teeshirts, etc. at http://www.cafepress.com/tweets_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: tweeters in space From: Ian Paulsen <birdbooker AT zipcon.net> Date: Sun, 15 Nov 2009 10:04:09 -0800 (PST) HI ALL: FYI: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091115/ap_on_re_us/us_space_shuttle;_ylt=AgWGzwax9wUrt8g33eu9Ex8PLBIF;_ylu=X3oDMTJoZXJpamUyBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMDkxMTE1L3VzX3NwYWNlX3NodXR0bGUEY3BvcwMxBHBvcwMyBHNlYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcnkEc2xrA2dlZWt5dHdlZXRlcg-- -- Ian Paulsen Bainbridge Island, WA, USA " Which just goes to show that a passion for books is extremely unhealthy." from Cornelia Funke's "Inkheart". _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Peterson's Merlins From: stahlfelde AT aol.com Date: Sun, 15 Nov 2009 01:50:59 -0500 I agree with Kelly that Roger Tory Peterson's Western Birds (3rd ed, paperback) mislabels the merlin subspecies -- the lightest should be Richardsons. I went back to my copy of his earlier book on Western Birds (the only date I could find was 1941) back when Merlins were called Pigeon Hawks, and his written descriptions of the subspecies agree with everyone else. I'd also guess that I'm not sure that considering only the size and blue-gray back would distinguish a Merlin from a male, adult Sharp-shinned Hawk. Wheeler and Clark's Photographic Guide lists male sharp-shinned's as being 9-11 inches long, and weighing 3-4 ounces. They show a nice picture of the back view on page 34, photo SS05. Wheeler and Clark show a soaring Taiga Merlin on page 137, photo M02, which looks pretty close to the same shade of gray as the sharp-shinned. They don't break out the Merlin's measurements by male/female, but Kate Davis, Falcons of North America (2008) lists a male Merlin as 9 to 11 inches long as well, and weighs 5.6 to 6 ounces. So if one were looking for the smaller of the two, the sharp-shinned actually weighs a good bit less. I wouldn't be surprised that either would be described as swooping around agilely and with much speed, when chasing birds at a feeder. Wouldn't the best way to start off distinguishing a flying Merlin from a sharp-shinned be to focus on the shape of the wings, pointed for the Merlin and relatively shorter and more rounded for the sharp-shinned, and also consider the style of flight, more powerful and direct for the Merlin, compared to a sharp-shinned which is more likely to change directions and perhaps dive between or into bushes? Eric Stahlfeld Seattle, WA_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters