[Tweeters] Nuthatch dispersal

[Steve Hampton]

oops, I meant Type 2 (Ponderosa) Red Crossbills. We've also had some Type 4
(Doug-firs).

On Sun, Sep 24, 2023 at 7:28 AM Steve Hampton <stevechampton at gmail.com>
wrote:


> Adding to this thread -- a White-br Nuthatch was photographed in the

> Sequim area yesterday.

>

> We've had some Type 4 (Ponderosa) Red Crossbills around Port Townsend.

>

> good birding,

>

>

>

> On Wed, Aug 23, 2023 at 12:57 PM Eric Heisey <magicman32 at rocketmail.com>

> wrote:

>

>> Apologies for my tardy reply, I have been out of service lately. Thank

>> you to the many who have commented and contributed to the conversation, I

>> especially want to thank Bill Tweit for his in-depth commentary on the

>> matter. I want to add in a couple more thoughts that I omitted from my

>> initial brief message.

>>

>> In Yakima Co, I have spent a ton of time at Clear Lake over the past

>> decade. Pygmy Nuthatches are typically quite rare here, I have only

>> recorded them a couple of times in the past despite the presence of

>> Ponderosa Pines, always in the second half of July. This year I have

>> encountered small groups of PYNU at Clear Lake on at least six occasions

>> between 27 Jul and 21 Aug, further evidence of their dispersal from the

>> core parts of their range, at least along the east flank of the cascades.

>> My encounter of White-breasted and Pygmy Nuthatches right along the county

>> line in Lewis Co suggest that the fringes of westside counties, such as the

>> far eastern edges of Whatcom, Skagit, Snohomish, or King Cos may be good

>> areas to search for dispersing nuthatches. I would wager that we will see

>> at least a couple of nuthatches further afield on the westside as we

>> continue to transition into fall (though, maybe I am wrong and this will

>> end up being the primary dispersal window and later in fall will furnish

>> few records).

>>

>> A White-breasted Nuthatch was photographed on the Hurricane Hill Trail in

>> Olympic NP a few days ago (Charlie & Linnea Wright, Ryan Shaw;

>> https://ebird.org/checklist/S147728940?fbclid=IwAR3BYD3oPhH4pjZ7hwnlHbRimlbzUDP1hN6AU3v-_KaPKeVNes698AiclNk),

>> while a Pygmy Nuthatch was reported recently (though not documented) by a

>> reliable observer, David Bell, at Rocky Point Bird Observatory on Vancouver

>> Island, BC. This to me suggests that there is good potential for both

>> White-breasted and Pygmy Nuthatches showing up along the coast. Tatoosh

>> Island offshore Neah Bay has a record from 1970 (Dennis Paulson), and Neah

>> Bay may be a prime locale to seek displaced nuthatches. I would postulate

>> that Leadbetter Point (Grassy Island) or Cape Disappointment SP may also

>> present ideal places to search for coastal p-nuts and WBNU, though it seems

>> that with the relative lack of concentrating geography on the Washington

>> coast away from these traps one might show up anywhere. The Olympic NP WBNU

>> may suggest that wandering birds that make it to the coast may find the

>> Olympic Mountains more to their liking, who knows. Keep an eye out wherever

>> you may be!

>>

>> I have heard of out-of-place crossbills in many places. While I have

>> observed Crossbills virtually annually at this time of the year in the

>> Columbia basin and lowland Yakima Co, it does seem that they are straying

>> more this fall than in years past. I will be curious to see the proportions

>> of type 2 crossbills recorded on the westside through the fall. This is the

>> type which is most reliant on Ponderosa Pines, and I suspect they might

>> wander widely this fall. I have alerted several of my friends out east to

>> take care in searching for type 2s this fall and winter, I will be curious

>> to see how widely they wander/irrupt.

>>

>> Good luck, this should be a very interesting fall, what with this

>> phenomenon as well as with the approaching downstream effects of the strong

>> El Niño.

>>

>> Eric Heisey

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>>

>

>

> --

> ​Steve Hampton​

> Port Townsend, WA  (qatáy)

>

>

>


-- 
​Steve Hampton​
Port Townsend, WA  (qatáy)
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