Birdingonthe.Net Recent Postings from The Tweeters List > Home > Mail > Alerts Updated on Monday, February 8 at 11:50 PM ET The most recently received Mail is at the top.	Black-billed Peppershrike,©Dan Lane

8 Feb Port Townsend Area Birds [Carol Riddell ] 08 Feb Redheads at Fort Steilacoom Park [John Riegsecker ] 8 Feb Olympia OCWA, Westport Marina Kittiwake, Big Day non-results [Wheelan Drew ] 8 Feb Re: A pileated whacking on a bulldozer [Hans-Joachim Feddern ] 8 Feb Short eared owls ["Bonnie Block" ] 8 Feb A pileated whacking on a bulldozer ["Rob Sandelin" ] 8 Feb Clark County Sage Sparrow [Scott Carpenter ] 8 Feb Wave of warblers; it's only Feb 08, 2010!!! ["Maureen E. Ellis" ] 8 Feb Anna's Hummingbird nesting behaviors [Martha Anderson ] 8 Feb Re: Is it early for bats? [] 8 Feb Targeting Merlins in southeastern Washington ["washingtonbirder.Knittle" ] 8 Feb Yakima Robins-countng the spectacle ["Scott Downes" ] 8 Feb Yakima Robins-countng the spectacle ["Scott Downes" ] 8 Feb Re: Local Bat Species - Puget Sound Region [] 8 Feb feathers used like whiskers [Ian Paulsen ] 8 Feb Re: Juanita Bay Park Swamp Sparrow continues 2-7-10 [Kathy Andrich ] 8 Feb Fill hawk again [Connie Sidles ] 8 Feb Local Bat Species - Puget Sound Region [] 07 Feb Possible Rusty Blackbird photo - Yakima County [Denny Granstrand ] 7 Feb RE: The binocular tribe [Bill Anderson ] 7 Feb Re: The binocular tribe ["travelGirl" ] 7 Feb Rock Pipers at Westport [Knut Hansen ] 07 Feb Prairie Appreciation Day ["Douglas Canning" ] 7 Feb Nanaimo bird alert ["The Backyard" ] 7 Feb RE: Fooled yet again ["Melissa Willoughby" ] 7 Feb Hutton's Vireo-Renton ["Amy Schillinger" ] 7 Feb Re: The binocular tribe [Hans-Joachim Feddern ] 7 Feb The binocular tribe ["Rob Sandelin" ] 7 Feb RE: Is it early for bats? ["Rob Sandelin" ] 7 Feb Re: Is it early for bats? [] 7 Feb Re: arizona bird trip [] 7 Feb FW: RE: Good reasons to travel in search of birds ["Eric Kowalczyk" ] 6 Feb "Yellow-shafted" Flicker in Tenino yard ["Paul Hicks" ] 6 Feb Mallard X Wigeon hybrid [Gary Bletsch ] 6 Feb Skagit - and Samish Flats- Feb. 3rd, 2010 - Long! [Hans-Joachim Feddern ] 6 Feb Pictures from Gaston, OR and Ridgefield NWR ["Dave Hayden" ] 6 Feb Edmonds birds [Bill Anderson ] 6 Feb Re: Is it early for bats? ["Kelly McAllister" ] 6 Feb Is it early for bats? ["Ed Swan" ] 6 Feb re: peregrine at alki [dave templeton ] 6 Feb RE: Good reasons to travel in search of birds ["Guttman,Burt" ] 6 Feb Peregrine at Alki today ["Gary Smith" ] 6 Feb re: Peregrine question [dave templeton ] 6 Feb Fooled yet again ["Rob Sandelin" ] 6 Feb Birding on tv [Rick Wright ] 06 Feb BirdNote, last week, and the week of February 7, 2010 [Ellen Blackstone ] 6 Feb Edmonds: Hutton's Vireo Highlight [Carol Riddell ] 6 Feb Re: Crow horde, Lincoln's sparrow, Barrow's goldeneye, Discovery Park ["Buddha's Ghost" ] 6 Feb Re: Birding & Energy Consumption (was: "Life List" / Caryn - Wedgwood) [Michael Price ] 5 Feb RFI: Rock Sandpiper [Knut Hansen ] 5 Feb Okanogan Birding Trip [Knut Hansen ] 5 Feb Bohemian Waxwings Ellensburg [Lynne Mason ] 5 Feb Peregrine question ["Amy Schillinger" ] 5 Feb nature photo contests: recommendations? [Bill Anderson ] 5 Feb Re: Re: "Life List" ["Sherry Hagen" ] 5 Feb ALERT: Red-shouldered Hawk at Fill [Connie Sidles ] 5 Feb Re: Good reasons to travel in search of birds [] 5 Feb yellow-shafted flicker [Patricia Loesche ] 5 Feb Re: New Electronic Rat Zapper [Patricia Loesche ] 5 Feb Kenmore Herons [LINDA PHILLIPS ] 5 Feb my backyard today [LINDA PHILLIPS ] 5 Feb titlow [Bryan Owens ] 05 Feb Mourning Doves ["Darlene Sybert" ] 5 Feb New Electronic Rat Zapper [Jim Ullrich ] 5 Feb 13th Annual "Backyard Bird Count" February 12th-15th [Jim Ullrich ] 5 Feb banded Copper's Hawk ["tony m" ] 5 Feb Re: Good reasons to travel in search of birds [Adam Sedgley ] 5 Feb Good reasons to travel in search of birds ["Rachel" ] 5 Feb Crow horde, Lincoln's sparrow, Barrow's goldeneye, Discovery Park [Fiona Cohen ] 5 Feb Danzenbaker Tour Journal on BirdFellow.com [David Irons ] 5 Feb RE: Sharp Shinned Hawk vs. Cooper's Hawk [Bill Anderson ] 5 Feb Sharp Shinned Hawk vs. Cooper's Hawk [Bill Anderson ] 05 Feb Owls and their prey [] 5 Feb Re: lunch truck effect (?) [] 5 Feb Re: arizona bird trip [] 5 Feb Re: re: rat poison and birds (wildlife) [] Subject: Port Townsend Area Birds From: Carol Riddell <cariddell AT earthlink.net> Date: Mon, 8 Feb 2010 21:53:02 -0800 Hi Tweets, Yesterday (2-7-10) was mild but drizzly in Jefferson County. Birding was not the reason for my quick trip to Port Townsend, but like every other member of The Binocular Tribe, I'm always looking. I had a chance to stop on the southwest side of Discovery Bay at a relatively new state wildlife area (about the size of a postage stamp), just south of the railroad cars restaurant (Pizza, Ice Cream, Espresso). The tide was high when I was there at 8:30 a.m. There were no particularly noteworthy birds but at least there were birds. I say that because later in the day, it was decidedly UNbirdy at the Port Townsend boatyard, North Beach park, and over at Diamond Point at the western entrance to Discovery Bay. After the fog burned off today (2-8-10) the sun and blue sky perked things up a bit. But Port Townsend Bay remained only lightly populated with our avian buddies. Although just before the ferry left, a flock of Black Turnstones flew in with two Surfbirds. It was a little more interesting crossing to Keystone because a lot of Ancient Murrelets were in the middle of Admiralty Inlet along with a couple of Harbor Porpoises. Around 3 this afternoon Crockett Lake (Island County) had good numbers of ducks. Northern Pintails appeared to be the most abundant with perhaps Lesser Scaup coming close. Among the wigeons were one Eurasian Wigeon and one American x Eurasian hybrid. Discovery Bay (2-7-10) Bufflehead Mallard Green-winged Teal Gadwall American Wigeon Bald Eagle (1 ad.) Red-tailed Hawk (1) Great Blue Heron (1) Glaucous-winged Gull Mew Gull Belted Kingfisher (1 male) Crow Raven Port Townsend/Admiralty Inlet (2-8-10) Common Goldeneye Surf Scoter White-winged Scoter Common Loon (1) Red-necked Grebe Pelagic Cormorant Double-crested Cormorant Brandt's Cormorant Great Blue Heron Black Turnstone (50+) Surfbird (2) Glaucous-winged Gull Pigeon Guillemot Ancient Murrelet Crockett Lake (2-8-10) Gadwall Eurasian Wigeon (1) American Wigeon American x Eurasian Wigeon Hybrid (1) Mallard Northern Pintail Lesser Scaup Bufflehead Common Goldeneye Hooded Merganser Red-breasted Merganser Ruddy Duck Pied-billed Grebe Double-crested Cormorant Great Blue Heron Bald Eagle (2 juv.) Red-tailed Hawk Golden-crowned Sparrow Good birding, Carol Riddell Edmonds _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Redheads at Fort Steilacoom Park From: John Riegsecker <jriegsecker AT pobox.com> Date: Mon, 08 Feb 2010 21:19:08 -0800 All, I saw what I believe were two male Redheads at Fort Steilacoom Park this afternoon, swimming among the Ring-necked ducks. The slight doubt is because the body coloring described in Sibley doesn't exactly match what I saw. They were not Canvasbacks. The head and bill look like Redheads. However all the descriptions say they have a black breast and gray backs, while I would say these birds have dark gray breasts and sort of a tanish/grayish back. I had good looks at them through my scope, but unfortunately they were too far away to photograph. -- John Riegsecker jriegsecker at pobox dot com Gig Harbor, WA _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Olympia OCWA, Westport Marina Kittiwake, Big Day non-results From: Wheelan Drew <amazilia55 AT yahoo.com> Date: Mon, 8 Feb 2010 19:39:02 -0800 (PST) On Sunday, Just after kick off I had an Orange-crowned Warbler at my friend's house near 9th and Eastside Ave in Olympia. I saw all sorts of birds Sunday that would have helped me out a lot on my big day on Saturday. On Friday night I had a Black-legged Kittiwake still in juvenal plumage roosting with mostly western Gulls at the end of dock number 11 at the Westport Marina. I didn't see nearly as many birds as I had expected on my Big Day, but what the hay, I had a great day looking at birds, and enjoying some wonderful western washington scenery. We are truly blessed to live in such a picturesque place. I started the day off near Lake Wynoochie in the Olympics to try for owls. I got skunked. I then hit the coast at Ocean Shores and got skunked on almost all hoped for seabirds including Alcids, and "rock" pipers. I did see many Black-legged Kittiwakes though as a consolation. I also had a male Townsend's Warbler on Marine drive in Ocean Shores. Thanks to everyone who sent me information on Anna's Hummingbird and Wood Duck. I ended up scrapping searches for both and tallied a paltry 81 species for the day. A full list of species seen is up on my blog http://www.drewtube.net/blog.html Drew Wheelan Wilkeson, WA check out my blog at www.drewtube.net and stay tuned for the Vicarious Living Project www.vicariouslivingproject.com _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Re: A pileated whacking on a bulldozer From: Hans-Joachim Feddern <thefedderns AT gmail.com> Date: Mon, 8 Feb 2010 19:08:42 -0800 Rob, Interesting story! We all know that Flickers are really into heavy metal such as gutters and drainpipes! It is very annoying when my wife's "boyfriend" gives its mating call at 5:00 am in the spring and I have to get out of bed and shoo it! I have indeed heard a Pileated Woodpecker drum on wood and you will know from quite a distance who the drummer is! Hans Feddern Twin Lakes/Federal Way, Wa. thefedderns AT gmail.com On Mon, Feb 8, 2010 at 6:56 PM, Rob Sandelin wrote: > The owner of the property that accesses our school wetlands did some road > building and clearing so I went out to evaluate how that might affect our > spring wetland days. I had climbed up the newly reshaped and now treeless > hill when I heard this odd, hollow, metallic, BONK BONK BONK. I looked up > towards the sound and heard it again, then I saw a Pileated fly out from the > other side of the machine. I have never heard of a Pileated drumming > before, I always thought they called instead but I could figure no other > reason for the noise other than the bird whacking on the machine. > > Go get em. > > Rob Sandelin > Naturalist, Writer, Teacher > Snohomish County, WA > > _______________________________________________ > 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: Short eared owls From: "Bonnie Block" <bonblock AT centurytel.net> Date: Mon, 8 Feb 2010 19:03:49 -0800 Hi Tweets, We have some friends that are coming up from the bay area--avid birders and photographers. We would really like to show them a SEO--but they are a bit scarce this year. Have any of you seen some recently in the area. I know a few have been spotted up near the Skagit, but I have drawn a blank on them this year. Thanks for any help! Bonnie Block Kingston, Wa. www.fieldandfarmphoto.com_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: A pileated whacking on a bulldozer From: "Rob Sandelin" <floriferous AT msn.com> Date: Mon, 8 Feb 2010 18:56:10 -0800 The owner of the property that accesses our school wetlands did some road building and clearing so I went out to evaluate how that might affect our spring wetland days. I had climbed up the newly reshaped and now treeless hill when I heard this odd, hollow, metallic, BONK BONK BONK. I looked up towards the sound and heard it again, then I saw a Pileated fly out from the other side of the machine. I have never heard of a Pileated drumming before, I always thought they called instead but I could figure no other reason for the noise other than the bird whacking on the machine. Go get em. Rob Sandelin Naturalist, Writer, Teacher Snohomish County, WA_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Clark County Sage Sparrow From: Scott Carpenter <slcarpenter AT gmail.com> Date: Mon, 8 Feb 2010 17:36:21 -0800 At about 2:30 pm today, I came across a SAGE SPARROW on LaFrambois Rd in Vancouver, Clark County. The sparrow was loosely associating with a large flock of GOLDEN-CROWNED and WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS. Also in this loose flock was a single LINCOLN'S SPARROW. I managed to snap a few quick photos before the sparrow disappeared. I waited in the area, continuously scanning the sparrows from my car, until about 3:20, but never got good looks at it again, though I thought I saw it in flight twice with my naked eye. I have no reason to think it left the area. A relatively bad photo, but sufficient for documentation, can be found online at: http://www.westerngrebe.com/SageSparrow/ The flock of sparrows was on both sides of the road, and both sides of the yellow gate and red sign that signify you are entering the Shillapoo Unit of Vancouver Lake. This is relatively close to the location of the Swainson's Hawk that Lyn Topinka found last winter. As some of you may recall, there was also a Sage Sparrow last year in February at Ridgefield NWR. Steve Nord and I came across that bird on 23 February 2009, though there is some indication that one of the Ridgefield regulars may have seen that bird the week prior to that. Perhaps now is a good time to re-examine all of those wintering sparrow flocks. Scott Carpenter Portland, Oregon_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Wave of warblers; it's only Feb 08, 2010!!! From: "Maureen E. Ellis" <mj2ephd AT uw.edu> Date: Mon, 8 Feb 2010 13:40:35 -0800 Folks, Between 12:30PM and a bit after 1PM today, I saw a flock, probably dozens, of Yellow-rumped Warblers, seemed to be all Audubon's morph, at my condo deck feeders. They were after the hanging suet block, and eating the suet flecks off the deck. There were no males in breeding plumage yet. They stayed about 30 min, then moved on. It is a bit early for spring migration. I know that in milder winters, a few Yellow-rumps may hang around this far north. What I had today was a migration-like wave. I've had two other warbler species come to my suet feeder, the Townsend's routinely all year for past few years, and Black-throated Gray, one or two, during past couple of fall migrations. I'll have deck pot daffodils blooming within week. What a contrast relative to the WA DC and mid-Atlantic states' mega-snowstorms. Counting local climate blessings and good birding to all, Maureen Ellis NE edge of Seahurst Park forest in Burien, WA._______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Anna's Hummingbird nesting behaviors From: Martha Anderson <scribenbirder AT msn.com> Date: Mon, 8 Feb 2010 13:04:18 -0800 I have been observing several Anna's on my daily walk near work ( Canyon Park, Bothell) Mid-January I observed three males having display flights and squabbling One male has set up territory on a pond, a second is about 500 feet away up slope on a plateau. Today I observed the plateau bird in display flight and then singing. I observed a female fly up and the male join her, leading her to a shrub where I observed copulation. This is the first time I have seen Anna's on nesting territories. Is this normal timing or is our non-Winter getting them ahead of schedule? Marti Anderson scribenbirder AT msn.com _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Re: Is it early for bats? From: gregf AT efn.org Date: Mon, 8 Feb 2010 12:39:50 -0800 (PST) Its never too early for the Silver-haired and Calif. myotis bats, as Kelly noted. They -- or at least some of them -- stick around the Puget Sound region all winter, and come out to feed when the mood/food strikes them. There are also some records of Big brown bats, mostly specimens in the Burke Museum collection, that were collected from structures in W.Washington during the winter months, and there is one under a bridge here in /Olympia that I've been monitoring this winter, though there's no evidence that its been coming and going like the other two species. I can't say that I've ever recorded a Big brown call in the winter, but most dry non-freezing nights I hear the other two. Saturday night I put out a detector and recorded both Silver-haired and Calif. bats, after the rain stopped. To answer the original question, the bats that seem to leave the area (incl. Big browns) start showing up in March, though its not until mid-April that the airwaves become busy. Capitol Lake in Olympia has thousands of Little brown and Yuma myotis bats feeding over it by early May, and can be viewed surface-feeding (w/ binocs or scope) on calm nights in the reflection of the Gov. House hotel from across the lake (around lamp-post 38). So if you are there birding at dusk during the summer, stick around another half our or so and you can catch the late show. If you can see the ears/face (skin) and fur, Big browns have highly contrasting brown fur against nearly black skin, and the Silver-haired are dark against dark, and I'd call both species 'chunky.' If anyone has data or info on Big brown bats here in the winter, I'd love to hear about it, we're just scratching the surface on winter behavior for bats. Greg Falxa Olympia, Wa gregf at efn.org Paper on winter bats in W.Wash: > Date: Sat, 6 Feb 2010 17:34:37 -0800 > From: "Kelly McAllister" > Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Is it early for bats? > To: "Ed Swan" , "tweeters" > > > Greg Falxa has done research on foraging bats during winter in western > Washington and found that Silver-haired bats and California Myotis are > both present in our area during the winter. California Bats are small, > smaller than your description, I think. Silver-haired bat matches your > size description fairly well. Big Brown Bats are about the right size but > I forget whatever I may have heard about their status in winter here. > > Kelly McAllister _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Targeting Merlins in southeastern Washington From: "washingtonbirder.Knittle" <washingtonbirder AT hotmail.com> Date: Mon, 8 Feb 2010 12:33:14 -0800 Friday, Feb. 5, on my way east to Columbia County I stopped by the rock cliffs along a small graveled road leading west from where the Hwy 97 bridge heads south across the Columbia River into Oregon. This small gravel road goes west along the Columbia River in Klickitat Co. The first rock cliffs all I had were Canyon Wrens. But the second rock cliffs 1000 feet further west I had calling/feeding Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches. Cathy Flick found them earlier in the week here. At Whitcomb Island NWR there was a large flock of Snow Geese feeding in the Alfalfa fields. I did not stop to scope them out. In Columbia County at Lyons Ferry Pond there were Bufflehead and at the Tucannon River about 1/4 mile from it's mouth were a pair of Hooded Mergansers. In Dayton after meeting Marv Breece we were mainly concentrating on finding Merlins and with our strategy of looking in towns near evening and early mornings and returning to the same roads over and over watching in the tops of trees, power poles, etc. we were able to find 1 in the residental area south of Hwy 12. Other birds noted in Dayton Friday afternoon were 2 Eurasian Collared-Doves south of Guernsey on 5th where Tom Mansfield and I had seen them in Dec. Near the ball fields in the sw corner of town on the steep hillside we found a beautiful light morph Harlan's Hawk, a sub-species of Red-tailed. Sat. with our main target of finding Merlins we spent all day in Asotin Co. Again our strategy paid off with finding 1 in Asotin on the road that follows the Snake River not too far from where it leaves the hwy. in town. Heading south on Hwy 129 we covered much of the side roads that were passable. A small flock of Gray Partridge had their heads sticking up when we spotted them along the hwy. Other birds had were 2 Prairie Falcons, numerous Red-tailed and Rough-legged Hawks, Northern Shrike, and while stopped watching Northern Harrier in the wheat stubble we had a Short-eared Owl cal from nearby in the stubble, but the bird never showed itself. This was south of Savage Ponds. We stopped by Fields Spring State Park and had the Rocky Mt. race of Gray Jays, Brown Creeper, Red Crossbills, and Wild Turkeys that weren't too wild. Back down in Asotin we headed up Asotin Creek and had Dipper and a pair of Canyon Wrens close to the road. One last check for Merlin in Clarkston again paid off by finding one near dusk on Hwy 129 north of Swallow's Park. Sunday we worked the town of Pomeroy for Merlins. After some time going up and down the streets we decided to give it a rest and we headed for the 2 Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches that Rick and Tina Taylor found 3 weeks earlier on Kirby-Mayview Rd. before you get to Debow Rd. We were surprised to find them still there feeding on the ground below some feeders. They were the Hepburn form. Back to Pomeroy, Garfield Co., we began to search for Merlin and right away found a feeding bird near Donna's Cafe on a utility pole. Couldn't believe we were so lucky with 4 Merlins in 3 counties. A side note of 22 Eurasian Collared-Doves along Hwy 12 in Pomeroy right where Tom and I had seen them tow weeks earlier. We finished the rest of the morning going to Central Ferry and Willow Bar. Many Goldeneyes with the odd Barrow's were seen. A Chukar called along Willow Grove in Whitman County across the Snake River. Our last good bird was a young Goshawk at Willow Bar. A good weekend with birding with a target species in mind and learning more on how to find them. Long live the Merlins. 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: Yakima Robins-countng the spectacle From: "Scott Downes" <downess AT charter.net> Date: Mon, 8 Feb 2010 12:23:20 -0800 For the past several years Yakima Audubon has taken upon the duty of counting an annual phenomenon, the massive amounts of robins that fly into roost near Sun Tides Golf Course near Yakima in February. I've pasted a clip below of what I sent to Tweeters last February as part of the Great Backyard Bird Count (I'm the Washington Reviewer and really encourage everyone to help add to this citizen science project). This year, Yakima Audubon is sponsoring a tally effort and encouraging people to see the spectacle. Time is 4:30 pm at the intersection of the Old Naches Highway and Galloway Road off of Hwy. 12 west of Yakima on Saturday Feb. 13, 2010. If you want an experience seeing literally thousands of robins per minute flying past your field of view, please join us! If you need further information on directions, I can help. >From last year's count: Here is a recap of the "two night event". Last night the team counted 92, 633 robins. Tonight there were three of us, Rich, I and Kelly. We divided the sky. A few robins were beginning to move when I got there at 4:10. Rich and Kelly's methods differed a little from mine. They counted for 5 minute intervals estimating the best they could. Rich had Hwy.12 north to our station, Kelly had directly overhead and I took everything north of our station (many of them are higher and up to a mile north of the counting station). I counted by 50's, but could only keep up that pace for 2 minutes, so I counted for 2 minutes, took a minute off to rest my eyes and made the assumption that the per minute rates were same for the third minute as the first two. For example, at 4:42-4:44 I counted 1850 robins and estimated that from 4:44-4:45 there were approximately 925 that I missed (1850/2). As stated by Jeff the peak seemed to be from about 4:45-5:00. During the peak each counter was getting roughly 900-1000 robins per minute, so going past in total was about 2700 or so robins per minute, wow! I just got home tallied and the numbers. Kelly had 25, 250 in his path, Rich had 31, 700 in his path and I had 41, 631. This comes to a total of 98, 581. I would bet that either night we are only accurate at best to +/-5000 robins, so basically the two nights tallied fairly close totals (Saturday was 5,948 higher or 6% higher) that difference is well within the margin of error I'm sure the count has. Given the sheer number of robins going past, it is actually amazing to me that there was such regularity in the two nights. Our count ended at 5:30 for a total of 1 hour 20 minutes. The plan this year is to have several official counters, myself included and a person to help visitors observe the robins, complete with scope set up to scan the wave moving across the sky. So, if you have the night free, come on over. If you can't make it on Saturday, the spectacle should be happening for a couple weeks and the peak is usually about 15-30 minutes before sunset. Scott Downes downess AT charter.net Yakima WA_______________________________________________ Inland-nw-birders mailing list Inland-nw-birders AT uidaho.edu https://www.lists.uidaho.edu/mailman/listinfo/inland-nw-birders Subject: Yakima Robins-countng the spectacle From: "Scott Downes" <downess AT charter.net> Date: Mon, 8 Feb 2010 12:23:20 -0800 For the past several years Yakima Audubon has taken upon the duty of counting an annual phenomenon, the massive amounts of robins that fly into roost near Sun Tides Golf Course near Yakima in February. I've pasted a clip below of what I sent to Tweeters last February as part of the Great Backyard Bird Count (I'm the Washington Reviewer and really encourage everyone to help add to this citizen science project). This year, Yakima Audubon is sponsoring a tally effort and encouraging people to see the spectacle. Time is 4:30 pm at the intersection of the Old Naches Highway and Galloway Road off of Hwy. 12 west of Yakima on Saturday Feb. 13, 2010. If you want an experience seeing literally thousands of robins per minute flying past your field of view, please join us! If you need further information on directions, I can help. >From last year's count: Here is a recap of the "two night event". Last night the team counted 92, 633 robins. Tonight there were three of us, Rich, I and Kelly. We divided the sky. A few robins were beginning to move when I got there at 4:10. Rich and Kelly's methods differed a little from mine. They counted for 5 minute intervals estimating the best they could. Rich had Hwy.12 north to our station, Kelly had directly overhead and I took everything north of our station (many of them are higher and up to a mile north of the counting station). I counted by 50's, but could only keep up that pace for 2 minutes, so I counted for 2 minutes, took a minute off to rest my eyes and made the assumption that the per minute rates were same for the third minute as the first two. For example, at 4:42-4:44 I counted 1850 robins and estimated that from 4:44-4:45 there were approximately 925 that I missed (1850/2). As stated by Jeff the peak seemed to be from about 4:45-5:00. During the peak each counter was getting roughly 900-1000 robins per minute, so going past in total was about 2700 or so robins per minute, wow! I just got home tallied and the numbers. Kelly had 25, 250 in his path, Rich had 31, 700 in his path and I had 41, 631. This comes to a total of 98, 581. I would bet that either night we are only accurate at best to +/-5000 robins, so basically the two nights tallied fairly close totals (Saturday was 5,948 higher or 6% higher) that difference is well within the margin of error I'm sure the count has. Given the sheer number of robins going past, it is actually amazing to me that there was such regularity in the two nights. Our count ended at 5:30 for a total of 1 hour 20 minutes. The plan this year is to have several official counters, myself included and a person to help visitors observe the robins, complete with scope set up to scan the wave moving across the sky. So, if you have the night free, come on over. If you can't make it on Saturday, the spectacle should be happening for a couple weeks and the peak is usually about 15-30 minutes before sunset. Scott Downes downess AT charter.net Yakima WA_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Re: Local Bat Species - Puget Sound Region From: vogelfreund AT comcast.net Date: Mon, 8 Feb 2010 19:21:38 +0000 (UTC) Feb 8th Your link to the description of the Silver-haired Bat is right on, regarding my encounter all those years ago. I had turned my head to say something to the guy to my left, when I saw the movement coming from behind us. It flew in between us, and then powered itself forward away from us. I looked at it from slightly above, as it zoomed away. It may be that it is instinctively attracted to large mammals, e.g. deer, that might have flies, etc. hovering around their warm bodies? I noticed several days ago, with rare sunny weather, that "march Flies" are already out and about. They would makes tasty snacks for cool weather bats, I should think. Phil Hotlen Bellingham, WA ----------------------------------- ----- Original Message ----- From: pzfree-nature AT yahoo.com To: tweeters AT u.washington.edu Sent: Monday, February 8, 2010 5:33:50 AM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific Subject: [Tweeters] Local Bat Species - Puget Sound Region Tweets, I recognize that Bats are not birds but I thought that the recent discussion on bats was interesting. Bats are mammals, of course. Per my research, here are the bats that are local to the Puget Sound Region. I am interested in learning more. California Myotis Myotis californicus Vespertilionidae Vespertilionid Bats California Myotis Yuma Myotis Myotis yumanensis Vespertilionidae Vespertilionid Bats Yuma Myotis Little Brown Bat Myotis lucifugus Vespertilionidae Vespertilionid Bats Little Brown Bat Long-legged Myotis Myotis volans Vespertilionidae Vespertilionid Bats Long-legged Myotis Long-eared Myotis Myotis evotis Vespertilionidae Vespertilionid Bats Long-eared Myotis Silver-haired Bat Lasionycteris noctivagans Vespertilionidae Vespertilionid Bats Silver-haired Bat Western Pipistrelle Pipistrellus hesperus Vespertilionidae Vespertilionid Bats Western Pipistrelle Big Brown Bat Eptesicus fuscus Vespertilionidae Vespertilionid Bats Big Brown Bat Hoary Bat Lasiurus cinereus Vespertilionidae Vespertilionid Bats Hoary Bat Townsend's Big-eared Bat Corynorhinus townsendii (Plecotus townsendii) Vespertilionidae Vespertilionid Bats Townsend's Big-eared Bat The link to the far right should be a hyperlink to eNature where you can see a picture and read a description of each one. There is a bat crisis going on out on the east coast right now where the bat populations are crashing. Frogs, honeybees and now bats... Thanks - Paul Zoba Woodinville _______________________________________________ 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: feathers used like whiskers From: Ian Paulsen <birdbooker AT zipcon.net> Date: Mon, 8 Feb 2010 10:05:38 -0800 (PST) HI ALL: FYI: http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8500000/8500620.stm sincerely -- 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: Re: Juanita Bay Park Swamp Sparrow continues 2-7-10 From: Kathy Andrich <chukarbird AT yahoo.com> Date: Mon, 8 Feb 2010 09:22:13 -0800 (PST) Hi Tweeters, Heard the Swamp Sparrow calling on on 2-6 but could not see it and went back again yesterday to the location below and finally was able to get some semi-decent looks. The Swamp Sparrow called some yesterday and once in direct association with one of my quick looks. The call is nothing like any of the other sparrows and I found that to be very helpful. I did not note the rusty tinged cap but was able to see just how much it looks like a Lincoln's Sparrow--a lot, enough for me to maybe think of it as Lincoln's evil twin. Noted the white chin and the same tone of gray from the face extending down the breast. Both marks differ from Lincoln's. I was expecting more red tones to the wings, the Song Sparrows were redder than the Swamp Sparrow. It ate some of the small soft red fruit things the other sparrows like too. I think they are nightshade fruit but I am not positive. I can finally say I have had a good enough look to add it my "life list". This is really my last true nemesis bird. The other Wa birds I haven't seen yet are for most part tough for everyone to see or pelagics which is the same difference in a way. Just as a FYI only, I was able to finally see it without tapes or pishing in case that might help anyone. But it did take 5 trips to JBP to see it. I don't know how many times I have been to Carnation Marsh, that place near Monroe and the Fill when Connie saw one there....oh yeah, and Fir Island too chasing after this sparrow. Once I even asked Brian Bell how much it would cost for him to find me one! He didn't bite on that one. Thank you Evan and Ryan and Tweeters. I nestled a triangle shaped rock into a broken forked branch at the spot I heard and saw the bird the most, this is about 100 feet past the first telephone pole and looking towards Lk Wa. Good luck! Kathy Roosting in Kent, near Lake Meridian (chukarbird at yahoo dot com) Any driving directions contained within this message are given as a courtesy, beware, author is directionally challenged and will not vouch for them. --- On Sat, 1/16/10, Evan Houston wrote: > From: Evan Houston > Subject: [Tweeters] Juanita Bay Park Swamp Sparrow continues > To: "Tweeters" > Date: Saturday, January 16, 2010, 12:14 PM > Hi > Tweeters, > > This morning (1-16), I observed a Swamp Sparrow at Juanita > Bay Park in Kirkland, likely the same bird found by Ryan > Merrill over a month ago.  In addition to calling a > couple of times, it allowed respectable viewing, letting me > see its mainly gray face, with a cap showing a tinge of > rustiness.  It seems that it has been hanging out in a > fairly restricted area, around the end of the short trail > that heads north from Forbes Creek Dr. and dead ends at the > marsh, just east of the main portion of the park. > > Also at Juanita, Virginia Rails called from the marsh, and > once the fog lifted, I was able to see the continuing > Trumpeter and Tundra Swans on the bay. > > A quick stop at Heritage Park, a mile to the south, yielded > a male Red-breasted Merganser on the > lake, and a Slate-colored Junco. > > Good birding, > Evan Houston > Seattle, WA > > > > > > > -----Inline Attachment Follows----- > > _______________________________________________ > 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: Fill hawk again From: Connie Sidles <constancesidles AT gmail.com> Date: Mon, 8 Feb 2010 05:36:57 -0800 Hey tweets, Zsolt Farkas came honking down Clark Road yesterday, wildly waving his hand out the window. He had just spotted the Red- shouldered Hawk in a tree at the Dime Lot. I did a wheelie and went charging over, but unfortunately, the chocolate Red-tailed Hawk zoomed in right then and must have scared it off. By the time I got there (which, given my lead foot on the gas pedal, must have been mere seconds too late), it was gone. My theory is that the Fill has numerous black holes scattered all over, kind of like a tattered herringbone cape. The birds have figured out how to pop in and out of them at will. Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if a few of my husband's socks aren't in there as well. - Connie, Seattle constancesidles AT gmail.com _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Local Bat Species - Puget Sound Region From: pzfree-nature AT yahoo.com Date: Mon, 8 Feb 2010 05:33:50 -0800 (PST) Tweets, I recognize that Bats are not birds but I thought that the recent discussion on bats was interesting.  Bats are mammals, of course. Per my research, here are the bats that are local to the Puget Sound Region.  I am interested in learning more. California Myotis Myotis californicus Vespertilionidae Vespertilionid Bats California Myotis Yuma Myotis Myotis yumanensis Vespertilionidae Vespertilionid Bats Yuma Myotis Little Brown Bat Myotis lucifugus Vespertilionidae Vespertilionid Bats Little Brown Bat Long-legged Myotis Myotis volans Vespertilionidae Vespertilionid Bats Long-legged Myotis Long-eared Myotis Myotis evotis Vespertilionidae Vespertilionid Bats Long-eared Myotis Silver-haired Bat Lasionycteris noctivagans Vespertilionidae Vespertilionid Bats Silver-haired Bat Western Pipistrelle Pipistrellus hesperus Vespertilionidae Vespertilionid Bats Western Pipistrelle Big Brown Bat Eptesicus fuscus Vespertilionidae Vespertilionid Bats Big Brown Bat Hoary Bat Lasiurus cinereus Vespertilionidae Vespertilionid Bats Hoary Bat Townsend's Big-eared Bat Corynorhinus townsendii (Plecotus townsendii) Vespertilionidae Vespertilionid Bats Townsend's Big-eared Bat The link to the far right should be a hyperlink to eNature where you can see a picture and read a description of each one.  There is a bat crisis going on out on the east coast right now where the bat populations are crashing.  Frogs, honeybees and now bats... Thanks - Paul Zoba Woodinville_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Possible Rusty Blackbird photo - Yakima County From: Denny Granstrand <dgranstrand AT charter.net> Date: Sun, 07 Feb 2010 21:17:31 -0800 Hi Tweeters, Marv Breece left a message on our home phone Friday afternoon saying he had found a Rusty Blackbird in a large flock (1000+) of blackbirds along Marion Drain Road just east of Lateral C. My wife and I were in Edmonds yesterday, so I wasn't able to try to find it until this afternoon. While scanning with my scope through the many, many Red-winged and Brewer's Blackbirds, with some Brown-headed Cowbirds and many starlings mixed in, I took several photos of a bird I thought was the Rusty Blackbird. This evening I loaded my photos onto my computer and I think I did get a decent photo of it. There may also be a female Rusty Blackbird in the photo. The photo is in the new photos folder on my website. I am interested in comments on these two birds. Denny Granstrand Yakima, WA * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 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: The binocular tribe From: Bill Anderson <billandersonbic AT yahoo.com> Date: Sun, 7 Feb 2010 20:14:36 -0800 (PST) I belong to the Big Camera Lens tribe.   We generally get the same reactions as the Binocular tribe.  Bill Anderson; Edmonds, WA. _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Re: The binocular tribe From: "travelGirl" <travelgirl.fics AT gmail.com> Date: Sun, 7 Feb 2010 19:34:38 -0800 Also a bin-carrying member of said tribe. Today's field trip was marked by several encounters with those outside the tribe, and in each instance, "outsiders" pointed and asked what we had seen in a lively and friendly manner. By all means, wear your bins... 00 caren http://www.parkgallery.com George Davis Creek, North Fork From: Hans-Joachim Feddern Sent: 2010 February 07, Sunday 11:45 To: Rob Sandelin Cc: tweeters Subject: Re: [Tweeters] The binocular tribe Rob, As a "bin" carrying member of the tribe, I always enjoy meeting other tribal members. One can often tell by the money invested in optics, how deeply involved the birder is. I did want to mention though, that "The Great One" - Roger Tory Peterson- liked to refer to us as "The Field Glass Fraternity"! Good Birding Y'all! Hans Feddern Twin Lakes/Federal Way, WA. the fedderns AT gmail.com On Sun, Feb 7, 2010 at 11:26 AM, Rob Sandelin wrote: Burt mentioned some good security reasons for wearing your bins while travelling. Another very good reason is to identify yourself as part of our tribe, the binocular tribe. I can not count how times complete strangers have approached me because I am wearing binoculars and we start these conversations about birds and wildlife. I was once lost in a swamp in a boat with a busted motor in Louisiana and a young couple hailed me from the shore with our tribes greeting..."Hey, seen any good birds?" We are a big tribe and generally a very friendly one, binoculars are one of our tribal emblems. Rob Sandelin _______________________________________________ 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_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Rock Pipers at Westport From: Knut Hansen <knut-hansen AT comcast.net> Date: Sun, 7 Feb 2010 18:44:13 -0800 I tried to send this yesterday so week-end birders would be able to enjoy the info, but unfortunately I could not get my cell phone to send the email. Thanks to all who responded to my RFI the other day. (Ryan, Scott & George, Matt, Guy, & Drew.) We went to Westport first since Mike Marsh & co reported nothing of the kind at Brown's Point. Searching the breakwater near the the marina proved fruitless. We headed to the great big jetty and were prepared to hike the entire jetty if necessary. Fortunately we found shorebirds right at the base of the jetty including; ROCK SANDPIPER 12, SURFBIRD 15, BLACK TURNSTONE 40, and in the sand dunes 5 HORNED LARKS (one very yellow). And the adventure continues... Knut Hansen Renton Knut-Hansen AT Comcast.net Sent from my iPhone Please excuse terseness and typos. -- Knut Hansen knut-hansen AT comcast.net Bird Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/22333182 AT N04/ _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Prairie Appreciation Day From: "Douglas Canning" <dcanning AT igc.org> Date: Sun, 07 Feb 2010 17:03:17 -0800 Tweets -- For those of you who are equally obsessed with the South Sound prairies, and with planning ahead, you'll be pleased to know that Prairie Appreciation Day this year is on Sunday, May 8th. More information at www.prairieappreciationday.org Bird habitat on site at Glacial Heritage Preserve is primarily open prairie, plus oak savannah and some Black River riparian woodlands featuring Oregon Ash. Doug ************************* Douglas Canning Olympia, Washington dcanning AT scattercreek.com dcanning AT igc.org ************************* _______________________________________________ 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, 7 Feb 2010 14:43:34 -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, name and location of your sighting. Sunday February 07, 2010: The Sunday bird walk went to the Nanaimo River Estuary in south Nanaimo. The morning was mostly sunny and calm. Five Western Meadowlarks were singing from a small bush all morning. A Northern Shrike spent the morning on three perches close to us. A White-throated Sparrow and a Fox Sparrow put in a quick appearance near the viewing platform. A female Northern Harrier flew low over the estuary in search of prey. A Merlin and a Peregrine Falcon flew past us very fast. Seventeen birders found the following thirty-seven species of birds: Canada Goose, Trumpeter Swan, American Wigeon, Mallard, Northern Pintail, Bufflehead, Barrow's Goldeneye, Common Goldeneye, Common Merganser, Great Blue Heron, Bald Eagle, Northern Harrier, Red-tailed Hawk, Merlin, Peregrine Falcon, Northern Shrike, Glaucous-winged Gull, Northern Flicker, Northwestern Crow, Common Raven, Steller's Jay, Belted Kingfisher, American Robin, Western Meadowlark, European Starling, Bewick's Wren, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Spotted Towhee, Fox Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Golden-crowned Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Purple Finch, Red-winged Blackbird, House Finch and Pine Siskin. A juvenile Trumpeter Swan was seen swimming in Sunset Bay at Neck Point Park in Nanaimo. Tuesday February 02: The Tuesday, February 2nd Bird Walk went to Deep Bay. The morning was cloudy with fog and misty rain, but the winds were calm and the Strait of Georgia was like glass. The Black Scoters and Long-tailed Ducks were singing and diving just off shore. We spotted a Pigeon Guillemot near Denman Island. A huge raft of Greater Scaup, Harlequin Ducks, Surf Scoters, White-winged Scoters, Black Scoters, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Barrow's Goldeneye, Common Mergansers, Red-breasted Mergansers and Brant Geese were not far from shore. A flock of Brandt's Cormorants, Double-crested Cormorants and Pelagic Cormorants flew over the water, heading toward Denman Island. Fifteen birders saw and heard the following forty-five species of birds. Canada Goose, Brant, Mute Swan, Trumpeter Swan, American Wigeon, Mallard, Greater Scaup, Harlequin Duck, Surf Scoter, White-winged Scoter, Black Scoter, Long-tailed Duck, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Barrow's Goldeneye, Common Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser, California Quail, Pacific Loon, Common Loon, Horned Grebe, Red-necked Grebe, Brandt's Cormorant, Double-crested Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Bald Eagle, Black Oystercatcher, Black Turnstone, Dunlin, Mew Gull, Thayer's Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Pigeon Guillemot, Rock Pigeon, Belted Kingfisher, Northern Flicker, Northwestern Crow, European Starling, Spotted Towhee, Song Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Golden-crowned Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco and House Finch. Sunday January 31: Two Barred Owls were calling near the lower lake at Colliery Dam Park 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 ********************************** The Nanoose Naturalists Guest Speaker, Carolyn Masson. Her topic is The Status Of The Garry Oak Ecosystems. Thursday February 11, 2010 AT 7:00 pm Nanoose Library, Nanoose Bay ********************************** Arrowsmith Naturalists Guest Speaker Guy Monty Monday February 15, 2010 AT 7:30 pm. Springwood School Parksville ********************************** 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 February 09, 2010 will be going to Rathtrevor Provincial Park in Parksville. We meet the Parksville Beach Community Park at the parking area near the Lions playground at 9 A.M. or at the main parking lot in Rathtrevor Provincial Park at about 9:15 A.M. Please note there is a parking fee at the Park. ***************************************************** The Sunday Bird Walk on February 14, 2010, will be going to Neck Point Park in Nanaimo. Meet at the Birdstore at 9:00 A.M. or at the parking area in Neck Point off 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: Fooled yet again From: "Melissa Willoughby" <mawilloughby1 AT comcast.net> Date: Sun, 7 Feb 2010 12:30:04 -0800 This is the kind of thing that keeps us all going - you can literally never know everything there is to know about birds! :) Melissa Willoughby Seattle, WA Biobirder At comcast Message: 3 Date: Sat, 6 Feb 2010 12:55:46 -0800 From: "Rob Sandelin" Subject: [Tweeters] Fooled yet again To: "'Tweeters'" Message-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" It seems just about every February I hear a bird call that I think is a new bird, or a species I haven't learned yet. Once again this morning, tracking down an odd call revealed....A Berwick's wren. You would think by now I would know better..... Rob Sandelin Naturalist, Writer, Teacher Snohomish County _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Hutton's Vireo-Renton From: "Amy Schillinger" <schillingera AT hotmail.com> Date: Sun, 7 Feb 2010 12:01:06 -0800 Tweeters, Had a couple of Hutton's Vireo's calling in the Maplewood Heights area yesterday. Amy Schillinger Renton, WA schillingera AT hotmail.co _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Re: The binocular tribe From: Hans-Joachim Feddern <thefedderns AT gmail.com> Date: Sun, 7 Feb 2010 11:45:56 -0800 Rob, As a "bin" carrying member of the tribe, I always enjoy meeting other tribal members. One can often tell by the money invested in optics, how deeply involved the birder is. I did want to mention though, that "The Great One" - Roger Tory Peterson- liked to refer to us as "The Field Glass Fraternity"! Good Birding Y'all! Hans Feddern Twin Lakes/Federal Way, WA. the fedderns AT gmail.com On Sun, Feb 7, 2010 at 11:26 AM, Rob Sandelin wrote: > Burt mentioned some good security reasons for wearing your bins while > travelling. Another very good reason is to identify yourself as part of our > tribe, the binocular tribe. I can not count how times complete strangers > have approached me because I am wearing binoculars and we start these > conversations about birds and wildlife. I was once lost in a swamp in a > boat with a busted motor in Louisiana and a young couple hailed me from the > shore with our tribes greeting..."Hey, seen any good birds?" We are a big > tribe and generally a very friendly one, binoculars are one of our tribal > emblems. > > Rob Sandelin > > > > _______________________________________________ > 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: The binocular tribe From: "Rob Sandelin" <floriferous AT msn.com> Date: Sun, 7 Feb 2010 11:26:07 -0800 Burt mentioned some good security reasons for wearing your bins while travelling. Another very good reason is to identify yourself as part of our tribe, the binocular tribe. I can not count how times complete strangers have approached me because I am wearing binoculars and we start these conversations about birds and wildlife. I was once lost in a swamp in a boat with a busted motor in Louisiana and a young couple hailed me from the shore with our tribes greeting..."Hey, seen any good birds?" We are a big tribe and generally a very friendly one, binoculars are one of our tribal emblems. Rob Sandelin _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: RE: Is it early for bats? From: "Rob Sandelin" <floriferous AT msn.com> Date: Sun, 7 Feb 2010 11:14:49 -0800 Its hard to quantify this but Silver haired bats fly slower than say, Big Brown or other bats. They have a distinctive sort grizzled silver fur on their back (sort of like my beard I guess) and they are noticeably paler underside than topside. However its not very common to be able to see any of this in a swirling dipping bat unless you happen to magically get one in your bins for the brief second before it right turns out of your view. I have found them in the winter under Cedar bark before so they are around and if I were a bat I'd be active these days, lots of tasty bugs up and at em with this warmth. I had a very handsome Noctuid moth at my window last night, big one....good bat food. Rob Sandelin Naturalist, Writer, Teacher Snohomish County WA _____ From: tweeters-bounces AT mailman2.u.washington.edu [mailto:tweeters-bounces AT mailman2.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Ed Swan Sent: Saturday, February 06, 2010 5:02 PM To: tweeters Subject: [Tweeters] Is it early for bats? Just now I looked up in our clearing in the woods and saw a bat with a 5-6" wing span and 3-4" long and fairly chunky. Is it early for them to be back and is that enough of a description to tell which species? Ed Swan Vashon Island _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Re: Is it early for bats? From: vogelfreund AT comcast.net Date: Sun, 7 Feb 2010 19:04:09 +0000 (UTC) Many years ago, while walking along the local Connelly Creek trail in Bellingham at dusk, we were surprised by a chunky bat that flew between us (we were playing a cassette recorder of owl calls). It acted annoyed, but maybe it was just out hunting for a bug or two. Anyway, I think it was in March, and quite chilly for bats, I thought at the time. I eventually concluded it was a Silver-haired Bat, after reading about bats. Phil Hotlen Bellingham, WA ------------------------------------- ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kelly McAllister" To: "Ed Swan" , "tweeters" Sent: Saturday, February 6, 2010 5:34:37 PM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Is it early for bats? Greg Falxa has done research on foraging bats during winter in western Washington and found that Silver-haired bats and California Myotis are both present in our area during the winter. California Bats are small, smaller than your description, I think. Silver-haired bat matches your size description fairly well. Big Brown Bats are about the right size but I forget whatever I may have heard about their status in winter here.   Kelly McAllister         ----- Original Message ----- From: Ed Swan To: tweeters Sent: Saturday, February 06, 2010 5:02 PM Subject: [Tweeters] Is it early for bats? Just now I looked up in our clearing in the woods and saw a bat with a 5-6" wing span and 3-4" long and fairly chunky.  Is it early for them to be back and is that enough of a description to tell which species?   Ed Swan Vashon Island _______________________________________________ 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 _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Re: arizona bird trip From: vogelfreund AT comcast.net Date: Sun, 7 Feb 2010 18:49:11 +0000 (UTC) Here's the Huachuca Audubon Society that I had bookmarked (but haven't checked in ages): http://www.huachuca-audubon.org/index.php Check the links. PH, Bellingham, WA ------------------------------------- ----- Original Message ----- From: vogelfreund AT comcast.net To: "willie peters" Cc: tweeters AT u.washington.edu Sent: Friday, February 5, 2010 3:01:09 AM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific Subject: Re: [Tweeters] arizona bird trip Don't forget to visit the Desert Museum: http://www.desertmuseum.org/ You'll be glad you did! Phil Hotlen Bellingham, WA ----------------------------------- ----- Original Message ----- From: "willie peters" To: tweeters AT u.washington.edu Sent: Thursday, February 4, 2010 6:52:47 PM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific Subject: [Tweeters] arizona bird trip Thanks for all the very helpful suggestions on AZ sites, leaning towards day trips now as a result, though the hike to the canyons still a possibility. Now if only i can get rid of this damn cold!! _______________________________________________ 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 _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: FW: RE: Good reasons to travel in search of birds From: "Eric Kowalczyk" <aceros AT mindspring.com> Date: Sun, 7 Feb 2010 09:24:06 -0800 I have already replied privately to my friend Rachel but thought it might be worthwhile to reply to the list: One specific point with regards selecting and supporting eco-tourism is to find out where your money is actually going. Case in point: many who travel to Sabah (Borneo) and visit the Kinabatangan river near Sukau frequently stay at the more luxurious and comfortable (and expensive) Rainforest Lodge. I think it is owned by outsiders and they employ some of the locals (staff, food source, etc.) but I think most of the profits go outside the community. In the same area is a community based tour company called Red Ape Encounters. Guests stay in homestays or local B&B's. More of your dollars go into the community and have a direct effect on the local environment. Here is their website to check out (BTW, I have no financial interest in plugging this company): http://www.redapeencounters.com/ For those of you more interested, check out Tourism at the Grassroots: Villages and Visitors in the Asia-Pacific. 2008 ed. John Connell and Barbara Rugendyke. In particular, chapter 13: Ecotourism and Indigenous Communities: The lower Kinabatangan Experience by Rajaratnam, Pang, and Lackman-Ancrenaz. If anybody is interested, contact me off list and I can send you a PDF of chapter 13 (since the book is $162 on Amazon.com) Eric Kowalczyk Seattle From: Guttman,Burt To: Rachel;tweeters Sent: 2/6/2010 1:53:04 PM Subject: RE: [Tweeters] Good reasons to travel in search of birds Just to say that Rachel makes a very good point in promoting eco-tourism; the interest of the local people in employment is probably a very important factor in promoting the preservation of natural areas. And to add a point to Adam's note about wearing binoculars: This is a good practice for the reasons he states, but consider, also, that your binoculars are probably the most valuable thing you're carrying on your birding trip and the item most difficult to replace in case of loss, and that if you were to lose them, much of your pleasure in birding would go with them. So wearing binoculars is a way of keeping them safe. I say this primarily because of my experience in Spain where one of the cars of our birding group was broken into within hours of our arrival and a lot of stuff was stolen. I lost my spotting scope, and some other people lost their binocs; luckily, the tour leader was able to get some binoculars for them pretty quickly from his home base, but it was a ve! ry sad situation. Burt Guttman The Evergreen State College Olympia, WA 98505 guttmanb AT evergreen.edu Home: 7334 Holmes Island Road S. E., Olympia, 98503_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: "Yellow-shafted" Flicker in Tenino yard From: "Paul Hicks" <phicks AT accessgrace.org> Date: Sat, 6 Feb 2010 20:39:03 -0800 Tweets, Today a female "Yellow-shafted" Flicker visited my yard in Tenino. Good birding! -- Paul Hicks / Tenino, s. Thurston Co / phicks AT accessgrace.org _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Mallard X Wigeon hybrid From: Gary Bletsch <garybletsch AT yahoo.com> Date: Sat, 6 Feb 2010 20:34:33 -0800 (PST) Dear Tweeters, Today (2-06-2010) was a lovely day to bird DeBay Slough (between Mt. Vernon and Clear Lake, Skagit County). Among the watefowl was a hybrid MALLARD X AMERICAN WIGEON. This drake had an all-green head, except for a small pale patch on the crown. The body was pretty much like that of a drake American Wigeon. I saw this bird in a flock of hundreds of Mallard, American Wigeon, and Northern Pintail. I might add that the green heads of the drake Mallards were simply stunning in the midday light, beyond any emerald in their brilliancy. Today began the first weekend of the year for a safe and worthwhile walk from the hunters' parking area northwards along the slough, toward the blind--since the waterfowl hunt is over. The hybrid was visible from the blind. It was a shy bird, staying hidden in the vegetation more than the Mallards and other ducks out there. Interestingly, there were almost no waterfowl to the south of the causeway. All during the seemingly interminable hunting season, that section of slough had teemed with birds, with only a few doomed individuals turning up in the part north of the causeway. Now that the hunt is over, the distribution of ducks has reversed. There were lots of sparrows, mainly Oregon Juncos and Song Sparrows, plus at least a dozen if not twenty Lincoln's Sparrows, and a very few Fox Sparrows. Oddly, I could find no Zonotrichias, even though this place usually has lots of them, including the occasional White-throated. Also of note was one of the largest flocks of MOURNING DOVES I have ever seen in Skagit County, at least 70 of them feeding among sapling alders beyond the blind. Flocks of Trumpeter Swans were flying right over my head the whole time, their calls so blaringly loud that it was almost painful at times. I heartily recommend a walk here! Yours truly, Gary Bletsch   Near Lyman, Washington (Skagit County), USA   garybletsch AT yahoo.com     __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Sie sind Spam leid? Yahoo! Mail verfügt über einen herausragenden Schutz gegen Massenmails. http://mail.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Skagit - and Samish Flats- Feb. 3rd, 2010 - Long! From: Hans-Joachim Feddern <thefedderns AT gmail.com> Date: Sat, 6 Feb 2010 20:32:11 -0800 The wonderful weather on Tuesday, prompted me to plan my annual pilgrimage to the Skagit - and Samish Flats on Wednesday, February 3rd. The weather forecast called for light rain reaching the North of Seattle by late afternoon, early evening. Wrong again Steve, Jeff and Walt - it started dripping by 1:00 pm! I started in Stanwood with several smaller formations of SNOW GEESE heading south. The sewage ponds had a lot of NORTHERN SHOVELERS, LESSER SCAUP and a few RUDDY DUCKS, also DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS and a RED-TAILED HAWK flying over. A pair of HAIRY WOODPECKERS were chasing each other in the alders along the road. Next stop: Big Ditch. I was greeted by a PEREGRINE FALCON perching on the leaning, tall, dead pine just before you turn across the railroad tracks. I stopped on the other side of the tracks and got out for a look at the falcon. Across the highway a large adult COOPER'S HAWK was keeping an eye on the faster competition. While I was stopped, a pick-up truck passed me, but stopped a ways down the dirt road and let two dogs out of the back. They promptly got a number of MALLARDS to take off out of the ditch. A word of caution: I would not recommend to go down the access road in a regular car! The potholes are miserable and it is always very muddy to walk at the end of the road. Best bird found was an adult NORTHERN SHRIKE on top of a bush across the ditch from the parking lot. It seemed to keep down the sparrows, since I only found one SONG SPARROW and a couple of SPOTTED TOWHEES. Two BALD EAGLES flew over and three more were perched on driftwood out in the marsh and two NORTHERN HARRIERS were also patrolling the area. On the way out, several WESTERN MEADOWLARKS were in the last bushes on the right. >From there I headed for the game range and the new and improved Wiley Slough. Great new habitat with clean restrooms and one pair of MALLARDS! The GREAT HORNED OWL nest in the alders down by the boat ramp was not occupied yet (?), however I managed to locate one owl in the left pine tree, on the second branch on the left side, away from the trunk. It was enjoyed by several birders. A flock of PINE SISKINS was feeding in the alders, joined by several YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS, also BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEES and DARK-EYED JUNCOS were in the same area. Along the access road was a mixed flock of GOLDEN-CROWNED - and WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS. Onward to the Hayton Reserve were 7 to 8 BALD EAGLES were in the trees along the entrance road. A large group of AMERICAN WIGEONS was in a field to the left and a single, apparently crippled SNOW GOOSE was behind the fence along the road. The tide was out and a lot of waterfowl, gulls, a few GREAT BLUE HERONS and a large flock of shorebirds, likely DUNLIN were out on the flats. The marsh held more eagles, harriers and RED-TAILED HAWKS. From there I drove around to Rawlins Road and had a nice close-up look at a male NORTHERN HARRIER.. I headed on to Bayview State park for lunch. I stopped on the way to pick out a few TUNDRA SWANS among the mass of TRUMPETER SWANS n the fields. Stopping at the bridge across the slough, just north of Route 20 on Bayview-Edison Road, I located a "COMMON" (Eurasian) male GREEN-WINGED TEAL with a horizontal "racing" stripe amongst the 50 or so regular teals. Around the next bend was a pair of COMMON RAVENS in a field. At Bayview SP, I observed a male BALD EAGLE hovering low over the water several times, almost like an Osprey. It caused large numbers of ducks, mainly NORTHERN PINTAIL and AMERICAN WIGEON, but also MALLARD, BUFFLEHEAD and COMMON GOLDENEYES, to take to the air. I checked D'Arcy road for American Kestrels without success. A gorgeous black-phase ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK was perched on a telephone pole just before the Bayview-Edison - and Samish Island roads. At the West 90 were more ROUGH=LEGGED HAWK (light phase), BALD EAGLES and NORTHERN HARRIER. A PEREGRINE FALCON was seen flying and a large flock of DUNLINS flew over, coming from the bay. I did find a single LINCOLN'S SPARROW in the brush to the left of the parking lot. I dipped on Short-Eared Owls at the 90 and also on Long-Tailed Duck on Samish Island, however I did find two EURASIAN COLLARED DOVES on the Island. Stopping again at the West 90, I still did not find any Short-Ears. I decided to try my luck at the end of Rawlins Road at dusk. It had been raining lightly most afternoon, but just as I approached the North Fork of the Skagit River, the Sun broke out from under the clouds over Whidbey Island. It created the most beautiful rainbow with a faint double bow, i have seen in a long time. When I got to the end of Rawlins Road, a large combination of "V's" and lines of 4000 to 5000 SNOW GEESE flew over high. They were heading out towards Whidbey Island into the setting Sun and landed in Skagit Bay, likely to rest for the night. This is one of the more moving wildlife spectacles in North America, just like something viewed on the Nature Channel! Once the busy chatter of thousands geese faded away, it was replaced by the haunting calls of swans, now also moving out to the bay in small groups. What a sight with the background of the rainbow towards the mountains and sunset over the Bay and Whidbey Island! Much to my surprise, within ten minutes a second mass of possibly more than the first, group of SNOW GEESE passed over and joined the others. At about 5:30 pm it was getting dark. To my amazement a third, even larger flock of SNOW GEESE came over, when I thought I had already seen the whole population! After seeing only a few straggles and maybe cripples most of the day, with the exception of Stanwood in the morning, the numbers seen in the evening were most impressive. It would appear that they had been feeding east of I-5 and north of Burlington during the day and were going to spend the night out on the Bay. What a fitting end to a great day birding, even though it was a little wet! Needless to say, I also dipped on Short-Eared Owl at Rawlins Road! Good Birding! Hans Feddern Twin Lakes/Federal Way, WA. thefedderns AT gmail.com_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Pictures from Gaston, OR and Ridgefield NWR From: "Dave Hayden" <dtvhm AT nwrain.com> Date: Sat, 6 Feb 2010 20:11:46 -0800 I put just a few pictures up from our trip last Saturday, 1/30/10 to Gaston, OR and Ridgefield NWR. The 75% pictures look a bit grainy but the zoom in, full size look ok, at least on my computer. The link is . http://s79.photobucket.com/albums/j148/dtvhm/ Dave Hayden dtvmh AT nwrain.com Centralia, WA_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Edmonds birds From: Bill Anderson <billandersonbic AT yahoo.com> Date: Sat, 6 Feb 2010 17:56:58 -0800 (PST) Today I gave the eagles a break and stalked some other birds.  At the end of the walkway on Point Edwards is a tall lightstand where the resident red-tailed hawk likes to perch before starting its patrol around the Point. Naturally it was not there when my son and I were there, but we saw it there after we arrived at the marsh.   Hoping it would follow its previous flight path, we decided to leave the marsh and relocate to the west end of Point Edwards by the marina.   As we approached the pickup, we saw a flock of cedar waxwings in the trees in the parking lot.  Ironically, a few minutes earlier I had told Dave,  another regular Edmonds bird watcher,  that I had never photographed waxwings.   I got several good photos before leaving to stalk the hawk.   The hawk did not disappoint us.  After a few minutes, it made a swoop below the condos and headed south along the bluffs over Puget Sound.   I got several good shots as it passed by. Bill Anderson; Edmonds, WA. _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Re: Is it early for bats? From: "Kelly McAllister" <mcallisters4 AT comcast.net> Date: Sat, 6 Feb 2010 17:34:37 -0800 Greg Falxa has done research on foraging bats during winter in western Washington and found that Silver-haired bats and California Myotis are both present in our area during the winter. California Bats are small, smaller than your description, I think. Silver-haired bat matches your size description fairly well. Big Brown Bats are about the right size but I forget whatever I may have heard about their status in winter here. Kelly McAllister ----- Original Message ----- From: Ed Swan To: tweeters Sent: Saturday, February 06, 2010 5:02 PM Subject: [Tweeters] Is it early for bats? Just now I looked up in our clearing in the woods and saw a bat with a 5-6" wing span and 3-4" long and fairly chunky. Is it early for them to be back and is that enough of a description to tell which species? Ed Swan Vashon Island ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ _______________________________________________ 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: Is it early for bats? From: "Ed Swan" <edswan AT centurytel.net> Date: Sat, 6 Feb 2010 17:02:04 -0800 Just now I looked up in our clearing in the woods and saw a bat with a 5-6" wing span and 3-4" long and fairly chunky. Is it early for them to be back and is that enough of a description to tell which species? Ed Swan Vashon Island_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: re: peregrine at alki From: dave templeton <crazydave65 AT gmail.com> Date: Sat, 6 Feb 2010 16:57:34 -0800 i got a brief glimpse of a peregrine around 2 this afternoon whilst driving around alki, too. too brief to determine subspecies, but that silhouette and wing beat are hard to miss. regards, t -- dave templeton fall city, wa crazydave65atgmaildaughtcom "Don't worry about the world coming to an end today; it's already tomorrow in Australia." Charles Schultz_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: RE: Good reasons to travel in search of birds From: "Guttman,Burt" <GuttmanB AT evergreen.edu> Date: Sat, 6 Feb 2010 13:49:40 -0800 Just to say that Rachel makes a very good point in promoting eco-tourism; the interest of the local people in employment is probably a very important factor in promoting the preservation of natural areas. And to add a point to Adam's note about wearing binoculars: This is a good practice for the reasons he states, but consider, also, that your binoculars are probably the most valuable thing you're carrying on your birding trip and the item most difficult to replace in case of loss, and that if you were to lose them, much of your pleasure in birding would go with them. So wearing binoculars is a way of keeping them safe. I say this primarily because of my experience in Spain where one of the cars of our birding group was broken into within hours of our arrival and a lot of stuff was stolen. I lost my spotting scope, and some other people lost their binocs; luckily, the tour leader was able to get some binoculars for them pretty quickly from his home base, but it was a very sad situation. Burt Guttman The Evergreen State College Olympia, WA 98505 guttmanb AT evergreen.edu Home: 7334 Holmes Island Road S. E., Olympia, 98503 _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Peregrine at Alki today From: "Gary Smith" <gsmith AT smithandstark.com> Date: Sat, 6 Feb 2010 13:46:14 -0800 Tweeters, This morning I observed an adult Peregrine (of the Tundra variety, I would say), first perched in a big tree often used by the local Bald Eagles located on Alki Avenue at 63rd, then flying off in the direction of the Lighthouse. By no means unheard of around this neck of the woods, but definitely uncommon to rare. I hope some of you see it, too. --g Gary T. Smith Alki Point _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: re: Peregrine question From: dave templeton <crazydave65 AT gmail.com> Date: Sat, 6 Feb 2010 08:02:12 -0800 hi amy: the short answer to your question is this: who knows? the falcons have nested at three different sites over the past five years. one scrape is fairly close to the falls, the second is about two-thirds of the way to the opposite end of the rock face, and the third, which won't be used again because the chicks tore it up, an old raptor platform nest tucked in a crevice about half-way between the ends and the top and base of the rock face. reports are the pair has spent a fair amount of time on the near side of the pool in spots best seen from the (now closed) viewing platform. some have speculated this year's nest might be on the near side. i doubt that, but the birds do not consult me about anything. things should heat up considerably over the next two weeks or so, and we'll likely have an answer to your question before the end of the month. regards, t -- dave templeton fall city, wa crazydave65atgmaildaughtcom "Don't worry about the world coming to an end today; it's already tomorrow in Australia." Charles Schultz_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Fooled yet again From: "Rob Sandelin" <floriferous AT msn.com> Date: Sat, 6 Feb 2010 12:55:46 -0800 It seems just about every February I hear a bird call that I think is a new bird, or a species I haven't learned yet. Once again this morning, tracking down an odd call revealed....A Berwick's wren. You would think by now I would know better..... Rob Sandelin Naturalist, Writer, Teacher Snohomish County _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Birding on tv From: Rick Wright <birdaz AT gmail.com> Date: Sat, 6 Feb 2010 13:32:38 -0700 I don't think it's available in Canada, but Birding Adventures is a very enjoyable tv show that highlights a different destination around the world each week. You can find out more and watch episodes at http://www.birdingadventures.com/ . -- Rick Wright Tucson and Vancouver Editor and Senior Leader, WINGS http://wingsbirds.com, http://birdaz.com/blog_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: BirdNote, last week, and the week of February 7, 2010 From: Ellen Blackstone <ellen AT 123imagine.net> Date: Sat, 06 Feb 2010 12:05:38 -0800 Hello, Tweeters! You're invited to celebrate BirdNote's Fifth Anniversary with KPLU -- Sunday, February 21 at MOHAI. More info here: http://bit.ly/cDKGvP Last week, BirdNote aired: * A Swirl of Snow Geese, a reflection by Barry Lopez http://www.birdnote.org/birdnote.cfm?id=539 * Birders and Hunters - and duck stamps http://www.birdnote.org/birdnote.cfm?id=1016 * Sizing Up Sharp-shinned Hawks http://www.birdnote.org/birdnote.cfm?id=1710 * Interview with Gerrit Vyn, sound recordist http://www.birdnote.org/birdnote.cfm?id=1430 * Myth of the Thunderbird - Teratornis merriami? http://www.birdnote.org/birdnote.cfm?id=580 * Consider the Ostrich - with a poem by Ogden Nash http://www.birdnote.org/birdnote.cfm?id=582 * Bird of Two Colors, the Northern Fulmar http://www.birdnote.org/birdnote.cfm?id=1025 -------------------------------------------- Check out the photos accompanying next week's shows: http://bit.ly/b30fT5 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. Shows may vary by station. Ellen Blackstone http://www.birdnote.org Seattle, Washington _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Edmonds: Hutton's Vireo Highlight From: Carol Riddell <cariddell AT earthlink.net> Date: Sat, 6 Feb 2010 11:59:53 -0800 Hi Tweets, It looks like all of Pugetopolis has awakened to a balmy February day. Birding in the Edmonds Bowl was very pleasant this morning although not a lot of activity. The Hatchery/Point Edwards area was notable for a Hutton's Vireo on the Woodway side of the street and for the absence of finches. With no rain the water level in the Marsh is getting lower by the day. There is lots of exposed mud that would please shorebirds in migration but is not conducive to wintering ducks. The waterfront is darned near summery. We did not see Brant this morning but there were a couple of Canada Geese on the marina breakwater. All three cormorants were seen. The only alcids around were Pigeon Guillemots, many now having molted to alternate plumage. One Common Loon was north of the ferry dock. Waterfront Canada Goose Red-breasted Merganser Surf Scoter Black Scoter Bufflehead Barrow's Goldeneye Common Goldeneye Bald Eagle (2) Common Loon (1) Pigeon Guillemot Killdeer (3 flying) Double-crested Cormorant Pelagic Cormorant Brandt's Cormorant Mew Gull Glaucous-winged Gull Crow Rock Pigeon House Sparrow Marsh Green-winged Teal Anna's Hummingbird Red-winged Blackbird Spotted Towhee Oregon Junco Bushtit Black-capped Chickadee Hatchery/Point Edwards Gadwall Bufflehead Mallard Northern Shoveler American Wigeon Great Blue Heron (1 in a tree) Northern Flicker (4) Spotted Towhee Song Sparrow Fox Sparrow (heard) Ruby-crowned Kinglet Hutton's Vireo Good birding, Carol Riddell Edmonds _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Re: Crow horde, Lincoln's sparrow, Barrow's goldeneye, Discovery Park From: "Buddha's Ghost" <buddhasghost AT comcast.net> Date: Sat, 6 Feb 2010 09:55:16 -0800 Crows live loosely in large groups and come together frequently throughout the day to chase and harass predators or for food sources that the other crows may notify them about. Even though you may only see a couple together, you can be assured that there are usually many more within earshot busy doing their own foraging and will appear at a moment's notice. When the day is drawing to a close they will come together in large gatherings, seemingly to socialize, before heading off to roost for the night. I watch them grouping by the thousands in the late twilight to "chit chat" . J Lemons zen AT buddhasghostgraphics.com_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Re: Birding & Energy Consumption (was: "Life List" / Caryn - Wedgwood) From: Michael Price <loblollyboy AT gmail.com> Date: Sat, 6 Feb 2010 01:50:59 -0800 Hi Tweets Several correspondents have expressed an impatience with others taking what may seem at first a critically moral approach in commenting on listing, travel and energy consumption. Perhaps understandable. But there is a much broader discussion to be had here on the *quantifiable* size of bird-listing's carbon footprint (no reason why bird-listing should be exempt from such analysis), the productive and consumptive economics of birding, its social and cultural effects, optical/software technologies and several other aspects I thought of earlier but forgot and it's too late to think of right now. Damn these late shifts. And there's my perennial favorite: with so many people birding and spending so much money to do it since the 1970's, why is birding *still* virtually invisible to the North American mainstream culture? No birding or birders in movies (except for 'Rare Bird'---lovely, wryly funny movie, BTW---which was, naturally, more about picaresque village life in the ridiculously beautiful location of Newfoundland---hint: though it's politically part of Canadian federation, I wouldn't suggest calling Newfoundland a 'Canadian' province; feelings are still a bit sensitive though 1949 seems a long time ago---than birding itself), none on TV, none in comics---oh, wait, birders were mentioned (cue Sally Field: "you like me, you really like me.") in Stephen Pastis's irascibly funny strip 'Pearls Before Swine'*, *but in a way recalling the stereotyping of the 1940's and 1950's; more memorable was Garry Trudeau's 'Doonesbury' where he portrayed birding to equal comic effect, and more sympathetically, through the character of Dick Davenport. There's a handful of fictional characters*, and so on.... *and who could forget that classical mystery novel, 'Beware the Tufted Duck' and its equally successor, 'Beware the Laughing Gull', two examples of what editors call the 'cookie-cutter plot' (as in 'Beware the Fill-in-the-Blank'). I submit myself as one of the five people in the world who have read at least one of these two pieces of, um, journeyman plot and prose to the last page, and I don't know the other four. Why, for example, when I go to my big-box stores I see large sections devoted to the resurgent nature-consumptive areas of huntin' 'n fishin', and trail biking, etc., and nothing at all to birding? Why are there hunting and fishing cable networks all over the place and nothing, absolutely nothing on birding to be seen on TV other than Sir Dave's avuncularly brilliant docs such as 'Life of Birds'? Why is birding so culturally invisible in North America? In Britain and mainland Europe, birding is not culturally invisible, and organised birders wield a political influence on conservation issues there inconceivable to the average North American. And, boy howdy, do their listers ever know their stuff. Best wishes 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: RFI: Rock Sandpiper From: Knut Hansen <knut-hansen AT comcast.net> Date: Fri, 5 Feb 2010 23:08:15 -0800 I am trying to show my friend, who travelled 20 hours by plane to get here, a Rock Sandpiper.  Anyone know of a recent sighting anywhere is Western Washington?  Please contact me on or off list as you see fit. Thanks. -- Knut Hansen Renton knut-hansen AT comcast.net Bird Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/22333182 AT N04/ _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Okanogan Birding Trip From: Knut Hansen <knut-hansen AT comcast.net> Date: Fri, 5 Feb 2010 22:46:28 -0800 Hi fellow Tweeters, Just returned from three days touring the Okanogan area with my friend Tommy visiting from the Arabian peninsula for a week. Wednesday we started our journey with a quick early morning stop in Me-Kwa Mooks Park in West Seattle where we found the resident WESTERN SCREECH-OWL. Heading east across the pass we made the first stop in the fields about three miles east of Mansfield along Hwy 172. There we got good views of an adult grey GYRFALCON. Nothing much in Mansfield other than 20 or so EURASIAN COLLARED DOVES and a couple of hundred CALIFORNIA QAILS. Unbenownst to us there was a goshawk stalking the quails as reported by Mike Marsh and his party of California birders. Just as darkness fell, we arrived in the Okanogan Highlands about 2 miles east of the entrance to the Highland Sno Park we found a GREAT GRAY OWL along the road, perched on a telephone pole. We spent the night in the Omak Best Western - a very high quality accommodation for a reasonable price. Thursday we were out a dawn looking for the great grey again, but without luck. At the Sno Park we found the resident AMERICAN THREE-TOED WOODPECKER and one or two NORTHERN PYGMY OWLS. Later we went to the Highland Meadows aka the Neely Feeders on Neely Road. Here we dipped on 10 or so rosy finches reported by other, but just past the area towards Chesaw, we bumped into another photogenic NORTHERN PYGMY OWL. A couple of GRAY JAYS and CLARCK'S NUTCRACKERS were also around. From there we headed to Chesaw and further along Bolster Road where we eventually found a flock of COMMON REDPOLLS. In the flock we picked out one HOARY REDPOLL *exilipes*. Heading back to the Neely feeders we bumped into two RUFFED GROUSES at the Chesaw Rd/Neely Rd intersection. Still no rosy finches... Eventually we ended up back near the Sno Park to try for the great gray owl again for a possible photo, but this time all we saw was a GREAT HORNED OWL. Friday morning we were present at the Neely feeders at 0745, right when the ROSY FINCHES were supposed to be there. This time two birds were indeed on the feeder and there was much joy! (Tommy has been wanting to see this bird for over 20 years.) From there we headed up along the Mary Ann Creek Rd looking for pine grosbeak unsuccesfully. Further west on Chesaw Rd towards Oroville we found a TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE, Tommy's fifth lifer. Feeling that we were done with the eastern part of the Okanogan highlands, we headed across the Riverside Cutoff towards Conconully. We tried hard for sharp-tailed grouses here and later on Bridgeport and Dyer Rd, but we did not find this bird. On Conconully we found another SOLITAIRE, RED-BRESTED & WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCHES - no pine grossbeak here either for us. We ended the the days searching the Waterville plateau searching for snowy owls, but no luck on this species either. In conclusion, both agree we had a great time in the Okanogan area. For some very accurate position for the birds reported see our Flickr web-sites where all our photos are geo-tagged. Knut's photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/22333182 AT N04/ Tommy's photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sandmanindubai/ -- Knut Hansen Renton knut-hansen AT comcast.net_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Bohemian Waxwings Ellensburg From: Lynne Mason <lynnemason108 AT yahoo.com> Date: Fri, 5 Feb 2010 20:15:47 -0800 (PST) I have never seen Bohemian waxwings. Has anyone seen them in Ellensburg recently? could you give me pointers please? thank-you so much Lynne Mason 425-223-0157 _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Peregrine question From: "Amy Schillinger" <schillingera AT hotmail.com> Date: Fri, 5 Feb 2010 19:01:36 -0800 Tweets, I observed one of the Peregrines at Snoqualmie Falls today. It called as it flew through and then landed on a section of the ledge. Question- I can't remember where the nest is located. The upper observation deck is closed right now so I walked to the lower lookout but couldn't find it. Almost straight across I saw one are of whitewash below a branch. Another heads up; They are closing the trail down to the falls in April and they say it may be closed for up to four years so that PSE can improve the trail. Amy Schillinger Renton, WA schillingera AT hotmail.com _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: nature photo contests: recommendations? From: Bill Anderson <billandersonbic AT yahoo.com> Date: Fri, 5 Feb 2010 18:23:27 -0800 (PST) I have been stalking our local love birds, the Edmonds eagles, all week.  Today I got some photographs of them that I would like to enter in a nature photography contest.  Having never done so before, I am asking for recommendations as to some of the better nature photography contests (local or national) out there. Bill Anderson; Edmonds, WA. _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Re: Re: "Life List" From: "Sherry Hagen" <littlebirder AT pacifier.com> Date: Fri, 5 Feb 2010 17:08:02 -0800 I just had to jump in and respond to issue at hand. My husband, Arden and I have been birding basically since September 1, 1979 when we received our first Golden Guide to Birds of North American from my mother for an Anniversary gift. We took vacations with our children as they grew up and added bird spieces to our life list as we saw them. As time went by, and the kids outgrew the the interest in our vacations, we eventually started taking birding vacations around the country with "touristy things" as a sideline. I don't see where this is any different then taking vacations for the sake of taking a vacation which many people do. We fortunately live in an area (the Pacific NW) where many rarites occur within a few hours of our home. We do not fly cross country for the sake of chasing a rare bird per say. We have many rare birds in parts of the country that were included in our vacation for that year. We were so close to getting 700 ABA species and decided to make an effort to reach that goal by September 1, 2009 which was for us 30 years of birding. We did so last spring when we took a vacation to Colorado in April to see the Gunnison Sage-Grouse and the Lesser Prairie-Chicken. Our birding vacations have taken us to parts of the country and world that we may never have gone on our own. We've seen some pretty spectacular sites. We would have taken vacations anyway had we not been into birding. The birding has made us aware of the environmental duty each of us have to this earth. I would say that we contribute more to save our environment by being birders than your every day vacationer. We are greatly involved in our local Audubon chapter by teaching classes, taking on board duties, producing the newsletter & website, doing programs for the club, leading field trips, fund raising, etc. We are also supporters of the Nature Conservancy, fully believing in their cause to purchase land to save wildlife. We've tried to give back rather than just be "takers". Having reached 700 species, people ask us if we are going after 800. We tell them we really doubt it, we do not have the resources to "chase" the now hard to get species. We will definitely add to our list as the situation presents itself but we won't be flying off every time a rarity occurs across the country just to do so. We may reach 750 but it will be a challenge and birding in the rest of the world is fun too and much more "bang for the buck". People say we should write a book about our experiences. We have some wild stories to tell over 30 years of birding. Sherry Hagen Vancouver, WA littlebirder AT pacifier.com _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: ALERT: Red-shouldered Hawk at Fill From: Connie Sidles <constancesidles AT gmail.com> Date: Fri, 5 Feb 2010 16:59:35 -0800 Hey tweets, a Red-shouldered Hawk showed up at the Fill today (Feb. 5), much to my amazement. I first saw it while I was sitting at East Point, looking west toward Canoe Island in full sun. I saw a smallish hawk perched in the reddish, bare tree slightly to the southwest of the big blackberry bush on the island. The bird had reddish barring all down its front, and a pale head with a dark eye and a little smudging around the eye. No eyebrow. It flew to another perch, a stick sticking out of the bramble bush, and sat there for a while. Then it flew out over the slough, banked (so I could see its fan-shaped tail with many narrow white bars on it), and plunged into the cattails on Canoe Island. It stayed down long enough to eat a meal (a rat perhaps?). Then it flew north. I relocated it a bit later perched in the tall cottonwoods at East Point. I was standing behind the little hawthorne tree just north of Southeast Pond, so I was pretty close. I got good looks at its back (dark with some white mottling, though not as much white as is shown in National Geo), and its head (fine streaking on top, no cap of any sort). It started to get agitated at my steady gazing, so I backed off. When I turned to look again, it was gone. I tried to relocate it this afternoon but had no luck at all. If you go looking for this bird, be aware that there are two Cooper's Hawk adults who pay frequent visits, and a gorgeous,creamy juvenile. Merlins come by now and then too, and of course the ever-present Red- tails. I haven't seen any Sharp-shinned Hawks yet this year, though the neighbors on Surber say there is one who comes to the feeders now and then. So you'll need more than just a fleeting look to be sure. Also on view: Redheads still out on the lake; Western Meadowlarks singing; two Ruddy Ducks in the slough area; Brown Creepers in Surber Grove (and other places, too) - I mention this for the sake of photographers who want to get a shot of a Brown Creeper out in the open in good sunlight. Morning light on Surber Grove was great today, and the little creeper just a few yards away. By the way, the white board is up and running! I have been posting this week and will continue to do so. Please let me know if you like what is covered. If you want to post your sightings, ask for 2 keys at the CUH facility office (near the receptionist's desk). You need two keys to unlock to cabinet. Pens are in there now. I'll try to remember to bring pushpins for the corkboard. Photographers: if you'd like to supply paper copies of your wonderful photos, you can leave them with the receptionist (and let her know they're for me). I'll arrange to get them into the cabinet. I'd like to start building up a photo library over the next year or two so we can show non-birders what our regulars look like. If you do leave photos, please put your name on them somewhere - I'd like to make sure the world knows your work. - Connie, Seattle constancesidles AT gmail.com _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Re: Good reasons to travel in search of birds From: annmariewood AT comcast.net Date: Fri, 5 Feb 2010 23:23:42 +0000 (UTC) Dear Rachel and other traveling Tweeters: Thanks for bring this balanced perspective to the discussion!  I am mindful of the impact, for better or worse, that birders can have on the environment and the creatures we encounter as we explore nature.  Hopefully, those who enjoy other outdoor activities, hobbies and sports will be as aware and responsible as the majority of birders seem to be, including lister s and twitchers . Ann Marie Wood Mountlake Terrace ----- "Rachel" wrote: > No one has mentioned the social and environmental benefits of birding travel. In the last few years, I have started to travel abroad on birding tours.  Some of these tours have been to very poor countries.  I have asked my local guides whether they think eco-tourists do any actual good, and they all agree that money spent on food and lodging, local guides and park employees, handicrafts, etc., directly benefits the local people.  For example, in Madagascar, one of the poorest countries in the world, a maid at a lodge catering to eco-tourists can support her entire family on what she earns.  A job like this  may seem menial to us, but can be crucial for an uneducated woman with very few other options.   A village in Madagascar lives off of the income from carvings the villagers make from sustainably-harvested wood and sell to tourists on the way to a nearby nature preserve.  In turn, these people depend on there being a nature reserve or other intact habitat to attract the tourists, and this develops a constituency for preserving these natural areas.  When eco-tourism is an important source of revenue, people see a direct benefit to themselves in protecting the environment.  We see this happening in the US as well.  Sometimes it seems like every town along the Texas border has its own birding festival.  A friend told me he overheard a conversation in a cafe in Forks, a place not generally known for progressive views on the environment, in which one local chided another for complaining about birders.  He told him that birders bring money into the community.  Obviously, eco-tourism alone isn't going to save the world, but the self-interest of people that benefit from it can be a force for good.  It makes me feel a little less guilty for all that jet fuel.  Rachel Lawson Seattle rachelwl AT msn.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: yellow-shafted flicker From: Patricia Loesche <loes AT uw.edu> Date: Fri, 5 Feb 2010 15:06:40 -0800 In bird news, I have observed a yellow-shafted flicker at my suet feeder almost daily since the middle of December. Patti Loesche Fremont Seattle _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Re: New Electronic Rat Zapper From: Patricia Loesche <loes AT uw.edu> Date: Fri, 5 Feb 2010 15:01:26 -0800 For those considering non-poisonous solutions to rat invaders, I must add my two cents about the Rat Zapper: works great, but keep those batteries fresh. I had a rat problem several winters ago until I was able to seal up my fortress (and learned to bring my feeders in at night). In addition to snap traps, I bought a Zapper and used it successfully a couple of times. One cold night, the cat brought in a vigorous rat (a byproduct of having rats coming and going along a predictable route was an increase in ratting behavior; yes, it was a miserable winter). The cat cornered the rat in the bathroom. It being 4:00 a.m., the rat was at its best and I was not, so I baited the Zapper, turned it on, and checked the external light that confirmed this. I set the trap next to the floor heating vent, left the light on, closed the door, and went back to bed. I reasoned that the rat would retreat from the light and into the warm darkness of the Zapper (which looks like a smallish quart milk carton with one open end). When I checked at daylight, I found the rat prone and still inside the Zapper. Feeling very clever, I picked up my trap with its dead weight and took it straight outside out to the garbage (it was even garbage day). I tipped the open end of the trap to dump the rat into a garbage bag. Instead, a very alive rat shot out of the opening and leapt out of the trap -- not down, but right over my head and off into the weeds. Caveat emptor. Patti Loesche Seattle On Feb 5, 2010, at 12:56 PM, Jim Ullrich wrote: > Hello Tweets: > There is a new product out there to get rid of your Rats with No > Poison, No snap traps and the ensuing bloody mess. > It is called the "Rat Zapper". The Ultra takes 4 D Cell batteries, > the original takes 4 AA batteries. The rat ventures in, proceeds to > the peanut butter bait and steps on the metal electrical contact and > is instantly electrocuted. > You then dispose of the rat in a bag and drop into your garbage. A > local farmer puts the recently deceased rat onto fence post pilings > for his Hawks and Owls to snag, for a Mid-Day snack. Again no-mess, > no-fuss, no-poison.. > Jim Ullrich > > -- > 3120 1/2 Harborview Dr > Gig Harbor, WA 98335 > 253-851-2575 or 800-851-2575 > http://www.wbu.com/gigharbor > > > > -- > 3120 1/2 Harborview Dr > Gig Harbor, WA 98335 > 253-851-2575 or 800-851-2575 > http://www.wbu.com/gigharbor > _______________________________________________ > 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: Kenmore Herons From: LINDA PHILLIPS <linda_phillips1252 AT msn.com> Date: Fri, 5 Feb 2010 14:27:29 -0800 Herons are in the trees at the Kenmore Heronry. On January 29th I pulled into the park-n-ride lot for a look and saw nothing. Then on February 1st I looked again and counted 27 birds in the trees. Feb. 3rd- 41. Feb 4th none. Linda Phillips Kenmore 98028-2616 _________________________________________________________________ Hotmail: Trusted email with Microsoft’s powerful SPAM protection. http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/201469226/direct/01/_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: my backyard today From: LINDA PHILLIPS <linda_phillips1252 AT msn.com> Date: Fri, 5 Feb 2010 14:06:40 -0800 Greetings- This afternoon while I sat on the porch enjoying a cup of tea and the mild weather. I watched a flock of Juncos fed on the edge of my property; one of them was a Slate-backed. Three or more towhees foraged with them. Robins and Starlings were scattered throughout the trees in the greenbelt behind my home. The longer I sat the more birds I saw. BC & chestnut-backed Chickadees were in my fir trees, they were joined by at least one GC Kinglet. I could hear House Finch in full song but at first they were out of sight. Peeking through a tangle of branches I saw bright red feathers and thought I had found a house finch, while trying to confirm my hunch it flew off. No, that was WAY too big to be a finch. It turned out to be a flicker,as it flew off I'm sure I saw a flash of yellow. I relocated the bird and while it was a better view it still wasn’t good. But I could see the red crescent on his nape. I never did get a look at his face. I think I had my first Yellow-shafted flicker but it may have been an intergrade. Steller’s Jays squawked in the woods and occasionally showed themselves. Crows flew over from time to time. A single Bewick’s Wren and Red-breasted Nuthatch made brief appearances. Spring is surly here now:). Linda Phillips Kenmore 98028-2616 lindaunderscorephillipstwelvefiftytwoat msndotcom _________________________________________________________________ Hotmail: Trusted email with powerful SPAM protection. http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/201469227/direct/01/_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: titlow From: Bryan Owens <obryan214 AT yahoo.com> Date: Fri, 5 Feb 2010 13:52:01 -0800 (PST) Hello, While watching the Wigeons, Mallards and others today one of the eagles flew over causing all the birds in the lawn by the swimming pools to fly into the lagoon. The eagle landed in the trees where I heard breaking branch sounds. It then flew off towards the nest with a large branch. Adding on or repaing for this years chicks looks like. Bryan O. Tacoma Wa. obryan214 AT yahoo.com _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Mourning Doves From: "Darlene Sybert" <drsybert AT northtown.org> Date: Fri, 05 Feb 2010 21:06:31 +0000 Thanks for sharing your east Lewis County trek to the hatcheries, etc, with us, Dave. I have been trying to discover places in the area for hikes, etc., so this will help. As I walked through my own acres there yesterday, I started a half dozen doves. First ones I have seen this Spring. Darlene Cinebar _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: New Electronic Rat Zapper From: Jim Ullrich <jim AT wbugigharbor.com> Date: Fri, 5 Feb 2010 12:56:42 -0800 Hello Tweets: There is a new product out there to get rid of your Rats with No Poison, No snap traps and the ensuing bloody mess. It is called the "Rat Zapper". The Ultra takes 4 D Cell batteries, the original takes 4 AA batteries. The rat ventures in, proceeds to the peanut butter bait and steps on the metal electrical contact and is instantly electrocuted. You then dispose of the rat in a bag and drop into your garbage. A local farmer puts the recently deceased rat onto fence post pilings for his Hawks and Owls to snag, for a Mid-Day snack. Again no-mess, no-fuss, no-poison.. Jim Ullrich -- 3120 1/2 Harborview Dr Gig Harbor, WA 98335 253-851-2575 or 800-851-2575 http://www.wbu.com/gigharbor -- 3120 1/2 Harborview Dr Gig Harbor, WA 98335 253-851-2575 or 800-851-2575 http://www.wbu.com/gigharbor_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: 13th Annual "Backyard Bird Count" February 12th-15th From: Jim Ullrich <jim AT wbugigharbor.com> Date: Fri, 5 Feb 2010 12:42:54 -0800 Hello Tweets: Cornell University's 13th Annual "Great Backyard Bird Count" is coming up February 12th-15th. Lots and Lots of Fun and easy to do for the entire family. Just visit www.birdcount.org and register today. Jim Ullrich -- 3120 1/2 Harborview Dr Gig Harbor, WA 98335 253-851-2575 or 800-851-2575 http://www.wbu.com/gigharbor_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: banded Copper's Hawk From: "tony m" <amoares AT msn.com> Date: Fri, 5 Feb 2010 12:30:14 -0800 About the banded Cooper's. What color were the bands? I band hawks from time to time when they get into my racing pigeon loft so I know if the same ones are coming back. I've never seen one of the ones I've banded back at my loft so I wonder where they go. _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Re: Good reasons to travel in search of birds From: Adam Sedgley <sedge.thrasher AT gmail.com> Date: Fri, 5 Feb 2010 12:12:38 -0800 Hi Tweets, Rachel's comments about the overheard conversation in Forks reminded me of something I try to do whenever I travel to bird both locally and abroad: *wear my binoculars*. Specifically, I don't leave them in my bag or in the car when I go into any establishment (e.g. restaurant, rest stop, gift store, etc). My binoculars will periodically serve as a conversation-starter but most importantly, the people whose livelihood depends on whatever establishment I am in will link that sale with bird/nature tourism. We can never have too many advocates. I would recommend that others do the same ... well, unless you have a poor attitude and would therefore taint the rest of us. :) -- Adam Sedgley S e a t t l e, WA sedge.thrasher [at] gmail [dot] com On Fri, Feb 5, 2010 at 11:52 AM, Rachel wrote: > No one has mentioned the social and environmental benefits of birding > travel. > > In the last few years, I have started to travel abroad on birding tours. > Some of these tours have been to very poor countries. I have asked my local > guides whether they think eco-tourists do any actual good, and they all > agree that money spent on food and lodging, local guides and park employees, > handicrafts, etc., directly benefits the local people. For example, in > Madagascar, one of the poorest countries in the world, a maid at a lodge > catering to eco-tourists can support her entire family on what she earns. A > job like this may seem menial to us, but can be crucial for an uneducated > woman with very few other options. A village in Madagascar lives off of > the income from carvings the villagers make from sustainably-harvested wood > and sell to tourists on the way to a nearby nature preserve. In turn, > these people depend on there being a nature reserve or other intact > habitat to attract the tourists, and this develops a constituency for > preserving these natural areas. When eco-tourism is an important source of > revenue, people see a direct benefit to themselves in protecting the > environment. We see this happening in the US as well. Sometimes it seems > like every town along the Texas border has its own birding > festival. A friend told me he overheard a conversation in a cafe in Forks, > a place not generally known for progressive views on the environment, in > which one local chided another for complaining about birders. He told > him that birders bring money into the community. Obviously, eco-tourism > alone isn't going to save the world, but the self-interest of people that > benefit from it can be a force for good. It makes me feel a little less > guilty for all that jet fuel. > > Rachel Lawson > Seattle > rachelwl AT msn.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: Good reasons to travel in search of birds From: "Rachel" <RachelWL AT msn.com> Date: Fri, 5 Feb 2010 11:52:30 -0800 No one has mentioned the social and environmental benefits of birding travel. In the last few years, I have started to travel abroad on birding tours. Some of these tours have been to very poor countries. I have asked my local guides whether they think eco-tourists do any actual good, and they all agree that money spent on food and lodging, local guides and park employees, handicrafts, etc., directly benefits the local people. For example, in Madagascar, one of the poorest countries in the world, a maid at a lodge catering to eco-tourists can support her entire family on what she earns. A job like this may seem menial to us, but can be crucial for an uneducated woman with very few other options. A village in Madagascar lives off of the income from carvings the villagers make from sustainably-harvested wood and sell to tourists on the way to a nearby nature preserve. In turn, these people depend on there being a nature reserve or other intact habitat to attract the tourists, and this develops a constituency for preserving these natural areas. When eco-tourism is an important source of revenue, people see a direct benefit to themselves in protecting the environment. We see this happening in the US as well. Sometimes it seems like every town along the Texas border has its own birding festival. A friend told me he overheard a conversation in a cafe in Forks, a place not generally known for progressive views on the environment, in which one local chided another for complaining about birders. He told him that birders bring money into the community. Obviously, eco-tourism alone isn't going to save the world, but the self-interest of people that benefit from it can be a force for good. It makes me feel a little less guilty for all that jet fuel. Rachel Lawson Seattle rachelwl AT msn.com _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Crow horde, Lincoln's sparrow, Barrow's goldeneye, Discovery Park From: Fiona Cohen <fiona_cohen AT yahoo.com> Date: Fri, 5 Feb 2010 11:26:18 -0800 (PST) On a stroll through Discovery Park, I ran into a gathering of 100 crows, but couldn't figure out what brought them together. Here's a blog entry. http://naturegeeknw.blogspot.com/2010/02/crows-in-crowd.html Also spotted some other nice birds: http://naturegeeknw.blogspot.com/2010/02/pretty-birds-discovery-park.html Fiona Cohen Seattle fiona_cohen AT yahoo.com _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Danzenbaker Tour Journal on BirdFellow.com From: David Irons <davidirons20 AT yahoo.com> Date: Fri, 5 Feb 2010 11:31:01 -0800 (PST) Greetings All, After a couple technical glitches, including a crash of Jim Danzenbaker's hard drive, the final installments of his tour journal from South America/Antarctica are finally up at BirdFellow.com. It has been a lot of fun sharing these writings and the accompanying images and it  has definitely sparked my own interest in someday visiting this amazing corner of the world. In a way, it feels like I've been there already. The journal may be a bit quiet in the coming days, as we are feverishly working behind the scenes to get images loaded and soon to be released features and content fine-tuned for launch. Dave Irons Content Editor BirdFellow.com _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: RE: Sharp Shinned Hawk vs. Cooper's Hawk From: Bill Anderson <billandersonbic AT yahoo.com> Date: Fri, 5 Feb 2010 09:41:39 -0800 (PST) Thanks for all of your responses.  I'll revisit yesterday's photos later today and compare them with some I took last year, including those of a young hawk bathing in Willow Creek.   Bill Anderson; Edmonds, WA. _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Sharp Shinned Hawk vs. Cooper's Hawk From: Bill Anderson <billandersonbic AT yahoo.com> Date: Fri, 5 Feb 2010 07:52:47 -0800 (PST) I reported yesterday that I had photographed a banded sharp shinned hawk by Willow Creek below the fish hatchery in Edmonds.  Looking at my photos, I wonder if it might be a Cooper's hawk instead.   The two have very similar appearances.   I know the text book answer is, "the Cooper's hawk is larger",  but that does not do much good without seeing the two side by side for comparison.    Are there any other identifying characteristics to tell the two apart? On a side note, who would band a hawk and why?  Looking at my photos, I could not see any identifying marks on the band. Bill Anderson; Edmonds, WA.   _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Owls and their prey From: birdmandea AT aol.com Date: Fri, 05 Feb 2010 10:19:30 -0500 Greetings, Here is article about the size of prey that owls are able to take on. http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8486000/8486128.stm Thank you to all who related their owl experiences. Several years ago I saw my first Snowy Owl out on the coast North of Tokeland WA, I had an Olympus camera with 35mm film at the time. As I started to take pictures the owl rose up from the grass clutching an Opossum. I will try to scan the photos and post them later. Take care Dea Just _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Re: lunch truck effect (?) From: Pterodroma AT aol.com Date: Fri, 5 Feb 2010 08:18:44 EST Well, aren't we being 'politically correct' or maybe just polite :-)) In San Diego (La Jolla), my official NOAA home duty station, but which most fortunately I need only frequent infrequently, THAT vehicle is commonly called "The Roach Coach". It pulls up at like clockwork at 10am, does an instantly recognizable little horn like musical 'doodle-ee-doot-do-dooo' that everyone is accustomed too, and folks swarm out of their offices..., well..., like Brewer's Blackbirds, to partake in the offerings. That in itself, once you've actually seen it is pretty bizarre, but what really cracks me up is when I am here at home (Bellevue) and just by chance on the phone at that appointed time with someone down there and can, over the phone, hear that familiar tune come blasting into my ears, and everything just plain stops until the incident has passed. Nothing screams "So Cal" any louder than that! Richard Rowlett Bellevue (Eastgate), WA >> Subject: lunch truck effect (?) From: amk17 AT earthlink.net Date: Thu, 4 Feb 2010 19:23:27 -0500 (EST) While on a trip, picking up my rental car, a lunch truck (dining vehicle) pulled up in front of me. As it rang its bell, about 50 brewer's blackbirds began calling and flying in from all around the airport parking lots. Within seconds, the truck was surrounded by brewer's blackbirds looking for a free meal from the lunch truck. I was awestruck that these birds have learned to "follow" the lunch truck for handouts and recognized the "bell". I didn't see any people similarly flock to the truck ;-) Any one else notice such behavior? Happy birding, A. Kopitov Seattle, WA >> _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Re: arizona bird trip From: vogelfreund AT comcast.net Date: Fri, 5 Feb 2010 11:01:09 +0000 (UTC) Don't forget to visit the Desert Museum: http://www.desertmuseum.org/ You'll be glad you did! Phil Hotlen Bellingham, WA ----------------------------------- ----- Original Message ----- From: "willie peters" To: tweeters AT u.washington.edu Sent: Thursday, February 4, 2010 6:52:47 PM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific Subject: [Tweeters] arizona bird trip Thanks for all the very helpful suggestions on AZ sites, leaning towards day trips now as a result, though the hike to the canyons still a possibility. Now if only i can get rid of this damn cold!! _______________________________________________ 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: Re: re: rat poison and birds (wildlife) From: vogelfreund AT comcast.net Date: Fri, 5 Feb 2010 09:51:04 +0000 (UTC) Yeah, one of my jobs as Preventive Medicine Specialist in the army was a sanitary inspector, especially mess halls, clubs, pest problems, et al. I went to an occasional Sanitarians meeting in Tucson, Arizona with my NCOIC at Fort Huachuca. I was assigned, for some unknown reason, to the Post Engineers at Taegu, Korea in the early 1960's, as supervisor of the Insect and Rodent Control shop. The crew were all Koreans who had their set ways, and didn't pay a whole lot of attention to my presence. We threw out gallons of DDT, Lindane, Chlordane, Malathion, rat poisons of various kinds; and I'm sure we killed lots of tweety birds and who knows what all else. One thing was pointed out to me was that Korean rats were not like American rats, in that they liked dried fish better than cheese.  But they also liked peanut butter. The local rats there were a variety of the smaller Black rat; expert climbers. The Koreans considered it a sign of good luck when those rats inhabited their attics. In Vietnam it was something else, with huge Brown rats. Phil Hotlen Bellingham, WA --------------------------------------- ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bill Anderson" To: tweeters AT u.washington.edu Sent: Thursday, February 4, 2010 3:36:51 PM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific Subject: [Tweeters] re: rat poison and birds (wildlife) My first career was a health inspector (Registered Sanitarian is the professional title, but no one has ever heard of it ) in Sacramento County for nearly ten years.   It is my opinion that merely laying down poison to address a rat problem is a convient cop-out and only serves to provide income for the exterminator.   Rat control is a total program involving several steps. 1) If rats are getting into a home, the first step is to identify their points of entry and repair/seal them. 2) For rats that are inside a structure, poisoning will only cause them to die in some place inaccessible where  they will smell like the proverbial "dead rat".  Snap rat traps should be used to catch and kill the rats.  Peanut butter is good bait.   The traps should be nailed down so the rat does not crawl off and die some place inaccessible, creating the dead rat odor problem once more. 3) Like all living things, rats require food and water.  These sources must be identified and eliminated.   Examples of food sources are uneaten pet food left out on a patio, unpicked garden fruit and vegetables left to rot on the ground, overflowing garbage cans, etc. 4) Outside habitat must also be eliminated. Examples of this includes overgrown shrubbery, ivy, blackberry brambles, etc. Steps #3 & 4 must be done neighborhood wide or the rats will merely "jump ship" and move to another house. Further details and information can be obtained by calling your county health department. Bill Anderson; Edmonds, WA.    _______________________________________________ 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