[Tweeters] Nuthatch dispersal-Eastern Washington observations
David Kreft
dkreft052 at gmail.com
Sat Aug 19 20:50:49 PDT 2023
My nuthatch observation in NE WA would be “normal”. Lots of Pygmy’s where I
expect them. Red-breasted snd White-breasted also seem average in Kettle
Falls.
Dave Kreft
Kettle Falls
On Sat, Aug 19, 2023 at 8:40 PM Kim Thorburn <KThorburn at msn.com> wrote:
> Bill's observations about the poor conifer cone crop are interesting.
> Ponderosa pines around my area of Spokane County are practically absent of
> cones after several years of huge cone production, including one that
> blanketed the forest floors with sprouting seedlings. Pollen production,
> however, seemed heavy last spring so I suspect it has something to do with
> reproductive cycling by these trees that also show considerable stress from
> our periods of extreme drought. My observations some years have been that
> cones were smaller and often fell before maturity.
>
> The most prominent bird species observation that I've related to conifer
> cone production is red crossbills. For several years, they've been
> everywhere in our area. After 2 nesting cycles this year in my yard,
> they're completely gone as of several weeks ago. I've not seen any in all
> my local Ponderosa pine forest haunts. Certainly, this irruptive finch
> cycles in our area but its prominent presence of the past few years seemed
> remarkably prolonged and its recent disappearance quite precipitous. I'm
> observing the same about Cassin's finches that tend to be more sporadic
> around here anyway. I've also been cognizant of an absence of Clark's
> nutcrackers during hikes in the Selkirks.
>
> Pygmy nuthatches are another story. I count this as a remarkably abundant
> year, both in my yard as well as a number of my breeding bird surveys. They
> don't seem dependent on cone production for forage, and I wonder if our
> stressed trees might be better habitat. Could high production success be
> pushing nuthatches yonder?
>
> Kim
>
>
>
> Kim Marie Thorburn, MD, MPH
>
> Spokane, WA
>
> (509) 465-3025
>
>
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