From tweeters at u.washington.edu Mon Apr 1 14:59:47 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Nancy Morrison via Tweeters) Date: Mon Apr 1 15:00:08 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Hummingbird mama protecting her chicks from the rain Message-ID: I normally do not like to shoot in the rain, but I made an exception to go see a Hummoingbird nest that I thought was going to fledge on that day. It was pouring rain, and I was very surprised to see the mama climb on top of the very large chicks to keep them warm. I am wondering if this is an expected behavior, or something new that this mama decided to do? Attached is my YouTube video of this event. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsWtpl_yvGk Nancy Morrison -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Mon Apr 1 15:34:33 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Teresa Michelsen via Tweeters) Date: Mon Apr 1 15:34:37 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Hummingbird mama protecting her chicks from the rain In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <1997a8ac1bfa4a45b9ad1522c3a40d5a@avocetconsulting.com> That was interesting and fun to watch!! Teresa Michelsen Hoodsport From: Tweeters On Behalf Of Nancy Morrison via Tweeters Sent: Monday, April 1, 2024 3:00 PM To: tweeters@u.washington.edu Subject: [Tweeters] Hummingbird mama protecting her chicks from the rain I normally do not like to shoot in the rain, but I made an exception to go see a Hummoingbird nest that I thought was going to fledge on that day. It was pouring rain, and I was very surprised to see the mama climb on top of the very large chicks to keep them warm. I am wondering if this is an expected behavior, or something new that this mama decided to do? Attached is my YouTube video of this event. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsWtpl_yvGk Nancy Morrison -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Mon Apr 1 15:56:10 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Patricia Quyle Grainger via Tweeters) Date: Mon Apr 1 15:56:29 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Hummingbird mama protecting her chicks from the rain In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <41473C9A-9B1D-484D-B859-2A88A92EF55F@olypen.com> I can?t answer if this is expected behavior, but it was a wonderful video to watch! Pat Grainger Port Townsend > On Apr 1, 2024, at 3:01?PM, Nancy Morrison via Tweeters wrote: > > ? > I normally do not like to shoot in the rain, but I made an exception to go see a Hummoingbird nest that I thought was going to fledge on that day. It was pouring rain, and I was very surprised to see the mama climb on top of the very large chicks to keep them warm. I am wondering if this is an expected behavior, or something new that this mama decided to do? Attached is my YouTube video of this event. > > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsWtpl_yvGk > > Nancy Morrison > _______________________________________________ > Tweeters mailing list > Tweeters@u.washington.edu > http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Mon Apr 1 22:45:31 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Joe Buchanan via Tweeters) Date: Mon Apr 1 22:45:35 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Found car key at Bottle Beach Message-ID: <1388964109.1682476.1712036731397@connect.xfinity.com> Tweets - I visited Bottle Beach today and noted a car key placed atop the sign at the restroom at the parking area. Thought I'd share that in case one of you lost a key. Highlights included 8,300 Dunlins (my highest tally there this winter), 40 Greater Yellowlegs (highest tally since the fall), and 31 Semipalmated Plovers (first sighting there since fall migration). Joe Buchanan Olympia, WA jlrj@comcast.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Tue Apr 2 09:05:35 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (David B. Williams via Tweeters) Date: Tue Apr 2 09:07:01 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] bald eagle nests In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <75587576-FF2B-4E4F-BEE1-1D82D29EA881@seanet.com> Greetings. Does anyone have an estimate for the number of bald eagle nests in King County? I know that WDFW no longer tracks this information. Any help would be appreciated. Sincerely, David Williams ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ David B. Williams www.geologywriter.com Free newsletter: https://streetsmartnaturalist.substack.com/ I live and work on the land of the Coast Salish peoples and am trying to honor with gratitude the land and those who have inhabited it since time immemorial. I know that I have much more to learn and hope to continue that journey. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Tue Apr 2 11:08:54 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Ronda Stark via Tweeters) Date: Tue Apr 2 11:09:09 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] bald eagle nests In-Reply-To: <75587576-FF2B-4E4F-BEE1-1D82D29EA881@seanet.com> References: <75587576-FF2B-4E4F-BEE1-1D82D29EA881@seanet.com> Message-ID: Hi David, I would recommend you look for the numbers posted in the January 2024 Audubon count for King County. As best I recall, there were 45 active nests identified in that survey or 45 mating pairs. Ronda On Tue, Apr 2, 2024 at 9:08?AM David B. Williams via Tweeters < tweeters@u.washington.edu> wrote: > Greetings. Does anyone have an estimate for the number of bald eagle nests > in King County? I know that WDFW no longer tracks this information. > > Any help would be appreciated. > > Sincerely, > David Williams > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > *David B. Williams* > www.geologywriter.com > *Free newsletter: *https://streetsmartnaturalist.substack.com/ > I live and work on the land of the Coast Salish peoples and am trying to > honor with gratitude the land and those who have inhabited it since time > immemorial. I know that I have much more to learn and hope to continue that > journey. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Tweeters mailing list > Tweeters@u.washington.edu > http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Wed Apr 3 08:06:34 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Dan Reiff via Tweeters) Date: Wed Apr 3 08:06:42 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] After 10 years of work, landmark study reveals new 'tree of life' for all birds living today Message-ID: <240EC287-1F54-42BF-A8ED-0047C26418E1@gmail.com> https://phys.org/news/2024-04-years-landmark-reveals-tree-life.html Sent from my iPhone From tweeters at u.washington.edu Wed Apr 3 08:08:40 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Dan Reiff via Tweeters) Date: Wed Apr 3 08:08:45 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Eleonora's falcon: The raptor that imprisons birds live by stripping their feathers and stuffing them in rocks | Live Science Message-ID: https://www.livescience.com/animals/birds/eleonoras-falcon-the-raptor-that-imprisons-birds-live-by-stripping-their-feathers-and-stuffing-them-in-rocks Sent from my iPhone From tweeters at u.washington.edu Wed Apr 3 10:12:55 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Kevin Lucas via Tweeters) Date: Wed Apr 3 10:13:27 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Magic man fowls it up again Message-ID: Over the winter Merlin has repeatedly mistaken vocalizations by starlings as being from Western Wood-Pewees. There are several places where a starling does a GREAT imitation, e.g. Eschbach Nature Area, the Eagle Path at the southern end of the Yakima Greenway Path in Union Gap, and at two places where we lived. At the Eagle Path and Eschbach, when I've read out-of-season Western Wood-Pewee heard-only reports, I've thought it likely to be one of the talented Starlings I'd heard there. In our back yard last week Merlin was fooled that a starling was a robin. I was watching and listening to the starling atop the utility pole calling like a robin. It sounded good enough I decided to give Merlin a go. Merlin failed, said American Robin. Most times with Starlings Merlin correctly indicates Starling. During a winter raptor survey this year in the White Swan area I heard an unusual vocalization. I was next to running water, so I could not hear all of the quality of the song. I tried Merlin. It said Wood Thrush. I didn't know what Wood Thrushes sounded like. Once home, I listened to Wood Thrush vocalizations. It had not been a Wood Thrush. I worked on the Merlin recorded audio using Audacity -- noise reduction, frequency notch filters, and amplification. I then played back the cleaned-up audio on my computer, and used Merlin on my phone to try again. This time Merlin nailed it -- Song Sparrow. Yesterday I went to one of my favorite spots to look for Greater White-fronted Geese. About 10 minutes after I arrived I heard a flock of them heading my way. As they got closer I took some photos. Some landed with the Cackling and Canada Geese, others flew over. I wondered whether Merlin was good at distinguishing between Cackling and Canada Geese, but wouldn't be able to test since they were mixed together there. When I heard some more Greater White-fronted Geese calling as they flew toward me, I pulled out my phone and gave the magic man a go. They flew low, calling, right over me. Merlin fowled it up, identifying them as Cackling Geese. Perhaps Merlin can distinguish between Cackling and Canada Geese, but I'd trust him even less after his latest foul up with fowl up. I'm looking forward to hearing my first Western Wood-Pewee of the year while I'm watching it. I'm not annoyed by Merlin. I'm amazed, and sometimes I find him incredible. Good Birding, https://www.aba.org/aba-code-of-birding-ethics/ Kevin Lucas Yakima County, WA *Qui tacet consentire videtur* -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Wed Apr 3 13:33:41 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Dennis Paulson via Tweeters) Date: Wed Apr 3 13:34:08 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Magic man fowls it up again In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Thanks for the itemized list, Kevin. The offshoot of this is that people are sending in list after list to eBird with sound identifications based on Merlin, which we know are by no means always correct. When Merlin tells you you have heard a very unlikely bird, please be skeptical and if you list it on eBird, make sure you add that the ID was based on AI, not AK (actual knowledge). Dennis Paulson Seattle > On Apr 3, 2024, at 10:12 AM, Kevin Lucas via Tweeters wrote: > > Over the winter Merlin has repeatedly mistaken vocalizations by starlings as being from Western Wood-Pewees. There are several places where a starling does a GREAT imitation, e.g. Eschbach Nature Area, the Eagle Path at the southern end of the Yakima Greenway Path in Union Gap, and at two places where we lived. At the Eagle Path and Eschbach, when I've read out-of-season Western Wood-Pewee heard-only reports, I've thought it likely to be one of the talented Starlings I'd heard there. > > In our back yard last week Merlin was fooled that a starling was a robin. I was watching and listening to the starling atop the utility pole calling like a robin. It sounded good enough I decided to give Merlin a go. Merlin failed, said American Robin. Most times with Starlings Merlin correctly indicates Starling. > > During a winter raptor survey this year in the White Swan area I heard an unusual vocalization. I was next to running water, so I could not hear all of the quality of the song. I tried Merlin. It said Wood Thrush. I didn't know what Wood Thrushes sounded like. Once home, I listened to Wood Thrush vocalizations. It had not been a Wood Thrush. I worked on the Merlin recorded audio using Audacity -- noise reduction, frequency notch filters, and amplification. I then played back the cleaned-up audio on my computer, and used Merlin on my phone to try again. This time Merlin nailed it -- Song Sparrow. > > Yesterday I went to one of my favorite spots to look for Greater White-fronted Geese. About 10 minutes after I arrived I heard a flock of them heading my way. As they got closer I took some photos. Some landed with the Cackling and Canada Geese, others flew over. I wondered whether Merlin was good at distinguishing between Cackling and Canada Geese, but wouldn't be able to test since they were mixed together there. When I heard some more Greater White-fronted Geese calling as they flew toward me, I pulled out my phone and gave the magic man a go. They flew low, calling, right over me. Merlin fowled it up, identifying them as Cackling Geese. > > Perhaps Merlin can distinguish between Cackling and Canada Geese, but I'd trust him even less after his latest foul up with fowl up. > > I'm looking forward to hearing my first Western Wood-Pewee of the year while I'm watching it. I'm not annoyed by Merlin. I'm amazed, and sometimes I find him incredible. > > Good Birding, > https://www.aba.org/aba-code-of-birding-ethics/ > Kevin Lucas > Yakima County, WA > > Qui tacet consentire videtur > _______________________________________________ > Tweeters mailing list > Tweeters@u.washington.edu > http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Wed Apr 3 15:18:34 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (PENNY & DAVID KOYAMA via Tweeters) Date: Wed Apr 3 15:19:00 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Magic man fowls it up again In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <185752124.1816372.1712182714367@connect.xfinity.com> Ha, ha. I still laugh about the time Merlin "recorded" a Yellowhammer (Eurpean bird) when birding in New Mexico, and another time last spring when Barb Webster and I were at Stillwater near Carnation, WA and Merlin claimed American Robin rather than the Bullock's Oriole we watched calling. I do admire your persistence as a Merlin detective! Penny Koyama, Bothell > On 04/03/2024 10:12 AM PDT Kevin Lucas via Tweeters wrote: > > > Over the winter Merlin has repeatedly mistaken vocalizations by starlings as being from Western Wood-Pewees. There are several places where a starling does a GREAT imitation, e.g. Eschbach Nature Area, the Eagle Path at the southern end of the Yakima Greenway Path in Union Gap, and at two places where we lived. At the Eagle Path and Eschbach, when I've read out-of-season Western Wood-Pewee heard-only reports, I've thought it likely to be one of the talented Starlings I'd heard there. > > In our back yard last week Merlin was fooled that a starling was a robin. I was watching and listening to the starling atop the utility pole calling like a robin. It sounded good enough I decided to give Merlin a go. Merlin failed, said American Robin. Most times with Starlings Merlin correctly indicates Starling. > > During a winter raptor survey this year in the White Swan area I heard an unusual vocalization. I was next to running water, so I could not hear all of the quality of the song. I tried Merlin. It said Wood Thrush. I didn't know what Wood Thrushes sounded like. Once home, I listened to Wood Thrush vocalizations. It had not been a Wood Thrush. I worked on the Merlin recorded audio using Audacity -- noise reduction, frequency notch filters, and amplification. I then played back the cleaned-up audio on my computer, and used Merlin on my phone to try again. This time Merlin nailed it -- Song Sparrow. > > Yesterday I went to one of my favorite spots to look for Greater White-fronted Geese. About 10 minutes after I arrived I heard a flock of them heading my way. As they got closer I took some photos. Some landed with the Cackling and Canada Geese, others flew over. I wondered whether Merlin was good at distinguishing between Cackling and Canada Geese, but wouldn't be able to test since they were mixed together there. When I heard some more Greater White-fronted Geese calling as they flew toward me, I pulled out my phone and gave the magic man a go. They flew low, calling, right over me. Merlin fowled it up, identifying them as Cackling Geese. > > Perhaps Merlin can distinguish between Cackling and Canada Geese, but I'd trust him even less after his latest foul up with fowl up. > > I'm looking forward to hearing my first Western Wood-Pewee of the year while I'm watching it. I'm not annoyed by Merlin. I'm amazed, and sometimes I find him incredible. > > Good Birding, > https://www.aba.org/aba-code-of-birding-ethics/ > Kevin Lucas > Yakima County, WA > > Qui tacet consentire videtur > _______________________________________________ > Tweeters mailing list > Tweeters@u.washington.edu > http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Wed Apr 3 16:25:48 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (ck park via Tweeters) Date: Wed Apr 3 16:26:30 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Magic man fowls it up again In-Reply-To: <185752124.1816372.1712182714367@connect.xfinity.com> References: <185752124.1816372.1712182714367@connect.xfinity.com> Message-ID: i'm surprised merlin's database is populated by junk data. did they accept any/all recordings just to get something to market, or have they at least vetted the audio with experts in bird calls / songs? one would think, where confusing audio is possible, it would take nothing for them to post that you MIGHT be hearing X, Y, or Z, depending, and to verify visually if possible... On Wed, Apr 3, 2024 at 3:19?PM PENNY & DAVID KOYAMA via Tweeters < tweeters@u.washington.edu> wrote: > Ha, ha. I still laugh about the time Merlin "recorded" a Yellowhammer > (Eurpean bird) when birding in New Mexico, and another time last spring > when Barb Webster and I were at Stillwater near Carnation, WA and Merlin > claimed American Robin rather than the Bullock's Oriole we watched > calling. > > I do admire your persistence as a Merlin detective! > Penny Koyama, Bothell > > On 04/03/2024 10:12 AM PDT Kevin Lucas via Tweeters < > tweeters@u.washington.edu> wrote: > > > Over the winter Merlin has repeatedly mistaken vocalizations by starlings > as being from Western Wood-Pewees. There are several places where a > starling does a GREAT imitation, e.g. Eschbach Nature Area, the Eagle Path > at the southern end of the Yakima Greenway Path in Union Gap, and at two > places where we lived. At the Eagle Path and Eschbach, when I've read > out-of-season Western Wood-Pewee heard-only reports, I've thought it likely > to be one of the talented Starlings I'd heard there. > > In our back yard last week Merlin was fooled that a starling was a robin. > I was watching and listening to the starling atop the utility pole calling > like a robin. It sounded good enough I decided to give Merlin a go. Merlin > failed, said American Robin. Most times with Starlings Merlin correctly > indicates Starling. > > During a winter raptor survey this year in the White Swan area I heard an > unusual vocalization. I was next to running water, so I could not hear all > of the quality of the song. I tried Merlin. It said Wood Thrush. I didn't > know what Wood Thrushes sounded like. Once home, I listened to Wood Thrush > vocalizations. It had not been a Wood Thrush. I worked on the Merlin > recorded audio using Audacity -- noise reduction, frequency notch filters, > and amplification. I then played back the cleaned-up audio on my computer, > and used Merlin on my phone to try again. This time Merlin nailed it -- > Song Sparrow. > > Yesterday I went to one of my favorite spots to look for Greater > White-fronted Geese. About 10 minutes after I arrived I heard a flock of > them heading my way. As they got closer I took some photos. Some landed > with the Cackling and Canada Geese, others flew over. I wondered whether > Merlin was good at distinguishing between Cackling and Canada Geese, but > wouldn't be able to test since they were mixed together there. When I heard > some more Greater White-fronted Geese calling as they flew toward me, I > pulled out my phone and gave the magic man a go. They flew low, calling, > right over me. Merlin fowled it up, identifying them as Cackling Geese. > > Perhaps Merlin can distinguish between Cackling and Canada Geese, but I'd > trust him even less after his latest foul up with fowl up. > > I'm looking forward to hearing my first Western Wood-Pewee of the year > while I'm watching it. I'm not annoyed by Merlin. I'm amazed, and sometimes > I find him incredible. > > Good Birding, > https://www.aba.org/aba-code-of-birding-ethics/ > Kevin Lucas > Yakima County, WA > > *Qui tacet consentire videtur* > _______________________________________________ > Tweeters mailing list > Tweeters@u.washington.edu > http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters > > _______________________________________________ > Tweeters mailing list > Tweeters@u.washington.edu > http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Wed Apr 3 16:34:39 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Preston Mui via Tweeters) Date: Wed Apr 3 16:34:54 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Magic man fowls it up again In-Reply-To: References: <185752124.1816372.1712182714367@connect.xfinity.com> Message-ID: Here's the Cornell Lab's article on how they built Merlin bird ID. They didn't accept recordings willy-nilly, they had a team of experts go through and manually tag hours of audio recordings. Preston Mui prestonmui@gmail.com http://prestonmui.github.io/ (425) 223-8450 On Wed, Apr 3, 2024 at 4:26?PM ck park via Tweeters < tweeters@u.washington.edu> wrote: > i'm surprised merlin's database is populated by junk data. did they > accept any/all recordings just to get something to market, or have they at > least vetted the audio with experts in bird calls / songs? one would > think, where confusing audio is possible, it would take nothing for them to > post that you MIGHT be hearing X, Y, or Z, depending, and to verify > visually if possible... > > On Wed, Apr 3, 2024 at 3:19?PM PENNY & DAVID KOYAMA via Tweeters < > tweeters@u.washington.edu> wrote: > >> Ha, ha. I still laugh about the time Merlin "recorded" a Yellowhammer >> (Eurpean bird) when birding in New Mexico, and another time last spring >> when Barb Webster and I were at Stillwater near Carnation, WA and Merlin >> claimed American Robin rather than the Bullock's Oriole we watched >> calling. >> >> I do admire your persistence as a Merlin detective! >> Penny Koyama, Bothell >> >> On 04/03/2024 10:12 AM PDT Kevin Lucas via Tweeters < >> tweeters@u.washington.edu> wrote: >> >> >> Over the winter Merlin has repeatedly mistaken vocalizations by starlings >> as being from Western Wood-Pewees. There are several places where a >> starling does a GREAT imitation, e.g. Eschbach Nature Area, the Eagle Path >> at the southern end of the Yakima Greenway Path in Union Gap, and at two >> places where we lived. At the Eagle Path and Eschbach, when I've read >> out-of-season Western Wood-Pewee heard-only reports, I've thought it likely >> to be one of the talented Starlings I'd heard there. >> >> In our back yard last week Merlin was fooled that a starling was a robin. >> I was watching and listening to the starling atop the utility pole calling >> like a robin. It sounded good enough I decided to give Merlin a go. Merlin >> failed, said American Robin. Most times with Starlings Merlin correctly >> indicates Starling. >> >> During a winter raptor survey this year in the White Swan area I heard an >> unusual vocalization. I was next to running water, so I could not hear all >> of the quality of the song. I tried Merlin. It said Wood Thrush. I didn't >> know what Wood Thrushes sounded like. Once home, I listened to Wood Thrush >> vocalizations. It had not been a Wood Thrush. I worked on the Merlin >> recorded audio using Audacity -- noise reduction, frequency notch filters, >> and amplification. I then played back the cleaned-up audio on my computer, >> and used Merlin on my phone to try again. This time Merlin nailed it -- >> Song Sparrow. >> >> Yesterday I went to one of my favorite spots to look for Greater >> White-fronted Geese. About 10 minutes after I arrived I heard a flock of >> them heading my way. As they got closer I took some photos. Some landed >> with the Cackling and Canada Geese, others flew over. I wondered whether >> Merlin was good at distinguishing between Cackling and Canada Geese, but >> wouldn't be able to test since they were mixed together there. When I heard >> some more Greater White-fronted Geese calling as they flew toward me, I >> pulled out my phone and gave the magic man a go. They flew low, calling, >> right over me. Merlin fowled it up, identifying them as Cackling Geese. >> >> Perhaps Merlin can distinguish between Cackling and Canada Geese, but I'd >> trust him even less after his latest foul up with fowl up. >> >> I'm looking forward to hearing my first Western Wood-Pewee of the year >> while I'm watching it. I'm not annoyed by Merlin. I'm amazed, and sometimes >> I find him incredible. >> >> Good Birding, >> https://www.aba.org/aba-code-of-birding-ethics/ >> Kevin Lucas >> Yakima County, WA >> >> *Qui tacet consentire videtur* >> _______________________________________________ >> Tweeters mailing list >> Tweeters@u.washington.edu >> http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Tweeters mailing list >> Tweeters@u.washington.edu >> http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters >> > _______________________________________________ > Tweeters mailing list > Tweeters@u.washington.edu > http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Wed Apr 3 17:33:29 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Kevin Lucas via Tweeters) Date: Wed Apr 3 17:33:33 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Magic man fowls it up again In-Reply-To: References: <185752124.1816372.1712182714367@connect.xfinity.com> Message-ID: <18ea68663a8.28de.72de57011b8194b7f6cd87b3d7546c36@gmail.com> Preston, Thank you for the link to that article. It was an easy read, and it's neat to learn so.e about how Merlin was built. I'll keep having fun testing it. Good Birding, https://www.aba.org/aba-code-of-birding-ethics/ Kevin Lucas Yakima County, WA Sent with AquaMail for Android http://www.aqua-mail.com On April 3, 2024 4:34:59 PM Preston Mui via Tweeters wrote: > Here's the Cornell Lab's > > article on how they built Merlin bird ID. They didn't accept recordings > willy-nilly, they had a team of experts go through and manually tag hours > of audio recordings. > > Preston Mui > prestonmui@gmail.com > http://prestonmui.github.io/ > (425) 223-8450 > > > On Wed, Apr 3, 2024 at 4:26?PM ck park via Tweeters < > tweeters@u.washington.edu> wrote: > >> i'm surprised merlin's database is populated by junk data. did they >> accept any/all recordings just to get something to market, or have they at >> least vetted the audio with experts in bird calls / songs? one would >> think, where confusing audio is possible, it would take nothing for them to >> post that you MIGHT be hearing X, Y, or Z, depending, and to verify >> visually if possible... >> >> On Wed, Apr 3, 2024 at 3:19?PM PENNY & DAVID KOYAMA via Tweeters < >> tweeters@u.washington.edu> wrote: >> >>> Ha, ha. I still laugh about the time Merlin "recorded" a Yellowhammer >>> (Eurpean bird) when birding in New Mexico, and another time last spring >>> when Barb Webster and I were at Stillwater near Carnation, WA and Merlin >>> claimed American Robin rather than the Bullock's Oriole we watched >>> calling. >>> >>> I do admire your persistence as a Merlin detective! >>> Penny Koyama, Bothell >>> >>> On 04/03/2024 10:12 AM PDT Kevin Lucas via Tweeters < >>> tweeters@u.washington.edu> wrote: >>> >>> >>> Over the winter Merlin has repeatedly mistaken vocalizations by starlings >>> as being from Western Wood-Pewees. There are several places where a >>> starling does a GREAT imitation, e.g. Eschbach Nature Area, the Eagle Path >>> at the southern end of the Yakima Greenway Path in Union Gap, and at two >>> places where we lived. At the Eagle Path and Eschbach, when I've read >>> out-of-season Western Wood-Pewee heard-only reports, I've thought it likely >>> to be one of the talented Starlings I'd heard there. >>> >>> In our back yard last week Merlin was fooled that a starling was a robin. >>> I was watching and listening to the starling atop the utility pole calling >>> like a robin. It sounded good enough I decided to give Merlin a go. Merlin >>> failed, said American Robin. Most times with Starlings Merlin correctly >>> indicates Starling. >>> >>> During a winter raptor survey this year in the White Swan area I heard an >>> unusual vocalization. I was next to running water, so I could not hear all >>> of the quality of the song. I tried Merlin. It said Wood Thrush. I didn't >>> know what Wood Thrushes sounded like. Once home, I listened to Wood Thrush >>> vocalizations. It had not been a Wood Thrush. I worked on the Merlin >>> recorded audio using Audacity -- noise reduction, frequency notch filters, >>> and amplification. I then played back the cleaned-up audio on my computer, >>> and used Merlin on my phone to try again. This time Merlin nailed it -- >>> Song Sparrow. >>> >>> Yesterday I went to one of my favorite spots to look for Greater >>> White-fronted Geese. About 10 minutes after I arrived I heard a flock of >>> them heading my way. As they got closer I took some photos. Some landed >>> with the Cackling and Canada Geese, others flew over. I wondered whether >>> Merlin was good at distinguishing between Cackling and Canada Geese, but >>> wouldn't be able to test since they were mixed together there. When I heard >>> some more Greater White-fronted Geese calling as they flew toward me, I >>> pulled out my phone and gave the magic man a go. They flew low, calling, >>> right over me. Merlin fowled it up, identifying them as Cackling Geese. >>> >>> Perhaps Merlin can distinguish between Cackling and Canada Geese, but I'd >>> trust him even less after his latest foul up with fowl up. >>> >>> I'm looking forward to hearing my first Western Wood-Pewee of the year >>> while I'm watching it. I'm not annoyed by Merlin. I'm amazed, and sometimes >>> I find him incredible. >>> >>> Good Birding, >>> https://www.aba.org/aba-code-of-birding-ethics/ >>> Kevin Lucas >>> Yakima County, WA >>> >>> *Qui tacet consentire videtur* >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Tweeters mailing list >>> Tweeters@u.washington.edu >>> http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Tweeters mailing list >>> Tweeters@u.washington.edu >>> http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters >>> >> _______________________________________________ >> Tweeters mailing list >> Tweeters@u.washington.edu >> http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters >> > > > > ---------- > _______________________________________________ > Tweeters mailing list > Tweeters@u.washington.edu > http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Wed Apr 3 19:19:50 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Nagi Aboulenein via Tweeters) Date: Wed Apr 3 19:20:01 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Magic man fowls it up again In-Reply-To: <185752124.1816372.1712182714367@connect.xfinity.com> References: <185752124.1816372.1712182714367@connect.xfinity.com> Message-ID: The totally bonkers out-of-range recording misidentifications can sometimes occur when you have multiple bird packs downloaded and all are enabled (enabling specific regional bird packs is done via the ?Explore? page, and carries over to the Sound ID). For example if you happen to have the Palearctic bird pack downloaded and ?all? bird packs enabled, Merlin Sound ID can get confused and do crazy things like identifying a Yellowhammer in New Mexico. To eliminate these kinds of mis-identifications, it helps to narrow down the enabled bird packs to the one specific to the actual region you?re in. Then at least out-of-range birds won?t be considered by the Sound ID AI in trying to find a match. Having said that, Merlin Bird ID is still easily confused - we had Nathan Pieplow give a keynote talk at one of the Oregon Birding Association membership meetings a few years back, and he explained back then that for every 10,000 photos that Merlin?s Photo AI gets trained on, there is a single sound recording available for training the Sound ID AI. As more and more correctly identified sound recordings get uploaded and verified by local experts the AI will improve. But I don?t think it will ever be fool-proof against excellent mimics such as the Starling and the Mockingbird. Cornell Labs has at various times hired folks in Costa Rica, Panama and Colombia to both do recordings, as well as to go over other folks? recording to verify correctness. All best, Nagi On Apr 3, 2024 at 15:19 -0700, PENNY & DAVID KOYAMA via Tweeters , wrote: > Ha, ha.? I still laugh about the time Merlin "recorded" a Yellowhammer (Eurpean bird) when birding in New Mexico, and another time last spring when Barb Webster and? I were at Stillwater near Carnation, WA and Merlin claimed American Robin rather than the Bullock's Oriole we? watched calling. > > I do admire your persistence as a Merlin detective! > Penny Koyama, Bothell > > On 04/03/2024 10:12 AM PDT Kevin Lucas via Tweeters wrote: > > > > > > Over the winter Merlin has repeatedly mistaken vocalizations by starlings as being from Western Wood-Pewees. There are several places where a starling does a GREAT imitation, e.g. Eschbach Nature Area, the Eagle Path at the southern end of the Yakima Greenway Path in Union Gap, and at two places where we lived. At the Eagle Path and Eschbach, when I've read out-of-season Western Wood-Pewee heard-only reports, I've thought it likely to be one of the talented Starlings I'd heard there. > > > > In our back yard last week Merlin was fooled that a starling was a robin. I was watching and listening to the starling atop the utility pole calling like a robin. It sounded good enough I decided to give Merlin a go. Merlin failed, said American Robin. Most times with Starlings Merlin correctly indicates Starling. > > > > During a winter raptor survey this year in the White Swan area I heard an unusual vocalization. I was next to running water, so I could not hear all of the quality of the song. I tried Merlin. It said Wood Thrush. I didn't know what Wood Thrushes sounded like. Once home, I listened to Wood Thrush vocalizations. It had not been a Wood Thrush. I worked on the Merlin recorded audio using Audacity -- noise reduction, frequency notch filters, and amplification. I then played back the cleaned-up audio on my computer, and used Merlin on my phone to try again. This time Merlin nailed it -- Song Sparrow. > > > > Yesterday I went to one of my favorite spots to look for Greater White-fronted Geese. About 10 minutes after I arrived I heard a flock of them heading my way. As they got closer I took some photos. Some landed with the Cackling and Canada Geese, others flew over. I wondered whether Merlin was good at distinguishing between Cackling and Canada Geese, but wouldn't be able to test since they were mixed together there. When I heard some more Greater White-fronted Geese calling as they flew toward me, I pulled out my phone and gave the magic man a go. They flew low, calling, right over me. Merlin fowled it up, identifying them as Cackling Geese. > > > > Perhaps Merlin can distinguish between Cackling and Canada Geese, but I'd trust him even less after his latest foul up with fowl up. > > > > I'm looking forward to hearing my first Western Wood-Pewee of the year while I'm watching it. I'm not annoyed by Merlin. I'm amazed, and sometimes I find him incredible. > > > > Good Birding, > > https://www.aba.org/aba-code-of-birding-ethics/ > > Kevin Lucas > > Yakima County, WA > > > > Qui tacet consentire?videtur > > _______________________________________________ > > Tweeters mailing list > > Tweeters@u.washington.edu > > http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters > _______________________________________________ > Tweeters mailing list > Tweeters@u.washington.edu > http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Wed Apr 3 20:49:42 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Steve Hampton via Tweeters) Date: Wed Apr 3 20:49:58 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Magic man fowls it up again In-Reply-To: References: <185752124.1816372.1712182714367@connect.xfinity.com> Message-ID: Some other common Merlin sound mistakes around here to be alert for: 1) junco vs Chipping Sparrow; sometimes Merlin will call out both from one song! 2) Townsend's vs Hermit vs Black-thr Gray Warblers; it often calls these Hermit, though Hermit x Townsend's hybrid is far more common. 3) Red Crossbill vs House Finch; there's one call note that House Finches do that sounds like a crossbill, and I've seen Merlin get fooled as well as me. If you're back East, Merlin often mistakes Red-eyed Vireo for the much less common Philadelphia Vireo. That said, I'm overjoyed that my son is now learning bird songs via Merlin! It's a game changer. good birding, On Wed, Apr 3, 2024 at 7:20?PM Nagi Aboulenein via Tweeters < tweeters@u.washington.edu> wrote: > The totally bonkers out-of-range recording misidentifications can > sometimes occur when you have multiple bird packs downloaded and all are > enabled (enabling specific regional bird packs is done via the ?Explore? > page, and carries over to the Sound ID). For example if you happen to have > the Palearctic bird pack downloaded and ?all? bird packs enabled, Merlin > Sound ID can get confused and do crazy things like identifying a > Yellowhammer in New Mexico. To eliminate these kinds of > mis-identifications, it helps to narrow down the enabled bird packs to the > one specific to the actual region you?re in. Then at least out-of-range > birds won?t be considered by the Sound ID AI in trying to find a match. > > Having said that, Merlin Bird ID is still easily confused - we had Nathan > Pieplow give a keynote talk at one of the Oregon Birding Association > membership meetings a few years back, and he explained back then that for > every 10,000 photos that Merlin?s Photo AI gets trained on, there is a > single sound recording available for training the Sound ID AI. As more and > more correctly identified sound recordings get uploaded and verified by > local experts the AI will improve. But I don?t think it will ever be > fool-proof against excellent mimics such as the Starling and the > Mockingbird. Cornell Labs has at various times hired folks in Costa Rica, > Panama and Colombia to both do recordings, as well as to go over other > folks? recording to verify correctness. > > All best, > > Nagi > On Apr 3, 2024 at 15:19 -0700, PENNY & DAVID KOYAMA via Tweeters < > tweeters@u.washington.edu>, wrote: > > Ha, ha. I still laugh about the time Merlin "recorded" a Yellowhammer > (Eurpean bird) when birding in New Mexico, and another time last spring > when Barb Webster and I were at Stillwater near Carnation, WA and Merlin > claimed American Robin rather than the Bullock's Oriole we watched calling. > > I do admire your persistence as a Merlin detective! > Penny Koyama, Bothell > > On 04/03/2024 10:12 AM PDT Kevin Lucas via Tweeters < > tweeters@u.washington.edu> wrote: > > > Over the winter Merlin has repeatedly mistaken vocalizations by starlings > as being from Western Wood-Pewees. There are several places where a > starling does a GREAT imitation, e.g. Eschbach Nature Area, the Eagle Path > at the southern end of the Yakima Greenway Path in Union Gap, and at two > places where we lived. At the Eagle Path and Eschbach, when I've read > out-of-season Western Wood-Pewee heard-only reports, I've thought it likely > to be one of the talented Starlings I'd heard there. > > In our back yard last week Merlin was fooled that a starling was a robin. > I was watching and listening to the starling atop the utility pole calling > like a robin. It sounded good enough I decided to give Merlin a go. Merlin > failed, said American Robin. Most times with Starlings Merlin correctly > indicates Starling. > > During a winter raptor survey this year in the White Swan area I heard an > unusual vocalization. I was next to running water, so I could not hear all > of the quality of the song. I tried Merlin. It said Wood Thrush. I didn't > know what Wood Thrushes sounded like. Once home, I listened to Wood Thrush > vocalizations. It had not been a Wood Thrush. I worked on the Merlin > recorded audio using Audacity -- noise reduction, frequency notch filters, > and amplification. I then played back the cleaned-up audio on my computer, > and used Merlin on my phone to try again. This time Merlin nailed it -- > Song Sparrow. > > Yesterday I went to one of my favorite spots to look for Greater > White-fronted Geese. About 10 minutes after I arrived I heard a flock of > them heading my way. As they got closer I took some photos. Some landed > with the Cackling and Canada Geese, others flew over. I wondered whether > Merlin was good at distinguishing between Cackling and Canada Geese, but > wouldn't be able to test since they were mixed together there. When I heard > some more Greater White-fronted Geese calling as they flew toward me, I > pulled out my phone and gave the magic man a go. They flew low, calling, > right over me. Merlin fowled it up, identifying them as Cackling Geese. > > Perhaps Merlin can distinguish between Cackling and Canada Geese, but I'd > trust him even less after his latest foul up with fowl up. > > I'm looking forward to hearing my first Western Wood-Pewee of the year > while I'm watching it. I'm not annoyed by Merlin. I'm amazed, and sometimes > I find him incredible. > > Good Birding, > https://www.aba.org/aba-code-of-birding-ethics/ > Kevin Lucas > Yakima County, WA > > *Qui tacet consentire videtur* > _______________________________________________ > Tweeters mailing list > Tweeters@u.washington.edu > http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters > > _______________________________________________ > Tweeters mailing list > Tweeters@u.washington.edu > http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters > > _______________________________________________ > Tweeters mailing list > Tweeters@u.washington.edu > http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters > -- ?Steve Hampton? Port Townsend, WA (qat?y) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Wed Apr 3 21:12:41 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Kevin Lucas via Tweeters) Date: Wed Apr 3 21:13:11 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Magic man fowls it up again In-Reply-To: References: <185752124.1816372.1712182714367@connect.xfinity.com> Message-ID: Nagi, Thank you for expanding my perspective. In my case the bird packs weren't obviously the issue. Once I got home from the Merlin Wood Thrush "identification", after finding Wood Thrush vocalizations on websites, I downloaded a pack having a Wood Thrush, to see Cornell's information about the species. It would be helpful to have lots more species "loaded" if needed to have Merlin recognize them if they're indeed present though quite wayward, and detrimental if "loading" more bird packs does reduce Merlin's accuracy. I'd love to hear more from the designers and developers and contributors to Merlin. I truly am amazed and fascinated with how it works and how well it works so much of the time. It will peg a bird whose song or call I know well but have not noticed in the din, alerting me to listen for and to it. It makes me realize how often I have notch and noise filters active in my ears/brain. And it's doing this with the cruddy miniscule microphone in my cellphone, not with my 32-bit recorder with a low-noise, highly sensitive, highly directional microphone handled well. The best part -- Playing with Merlin hasn't lessened my love for listening and seeing with open ears and mind, it has added more wonder. Good Birding, https://www.aba.org/aba-code-of-birding-ethics/ https://www.audubon.org/get-outside/audubons-guide-ethical-bird-photography Kevin Lucas Yakima County, Washington *Qui tacet consentire videtur* On Wed, Apr 3, 2024 at 7:20?PM Nagi Aboulenein via Tweeters < tweeters@u.washington.edu> wrote: > The totally bonkers out-of-range recording misidentifications can > sometimes occur when you have multiple bird packs downloaded and all are > enabled (enabling specific regional bird packs is done via the ?Explore? > page, and carries over to the Sound ID). For example if you happen to have > the Palearctic bird pack downloaded and ?all? bird packs enabled, Merlin > Sound ID can get confused and do crazy things like identifying a > Yellowhammer in New Mexico. To eliminate these kinds of > mis-identifications, it helps to narrow down the enabled bird packs to the > one specific to the actual region you?re in. Then at least out-of-range > birds won?t be considered by the Sound ID AI in trying to find a match. > > Having said that, Merlin Bird ID is still easily confused - we had Nathan > Pieplow give a keynote talk at one of the Oregon Birding Association > membership meetings a few years back, and he explained back then that for > every 10,000 photos that Merlin?s Photo AI gets trained on, there is a > single sound recording available for training the Sound ID AI. As more and > more correctly identified sound recordings get uploaded and verified by > local experts the AI will improve. But I don?t think it will ever be > fool-proof against excellent mimics such as the Starling and the > Mockingbird. Cornell Labs has at various times hired folks in Costa Rica, > Panama and Colombia to both do recordings, as well as to go over other > folks? recording to verify correctness. > > All best, > > Nagi > On Apr 3, 2024 at 15:19 -0700, PENNY & DAVID KOYAMA via Tweeters < > tweeters@u.washington.edu>, wrote: > > Ha, ha. I still laugh about the time Merlin "recorded" a Yellowhammer > (Eurpean bird) when birding in New Mexico, and another time last spring > when Barb Webster and I were at Stillwater near Carnation, WA and Merlin > claimed American Robin rather than the Bullock's Oriole we watched calling. > > I do admire your persistence as a Merlin detective! > Penny Koyama, Bothell > > On 04/03/2024 10:12 AM PDT Kevin Lucas via Tweeters < > tweeters@u.washington.edu> wrote: > > > Over the winter Merlin has repeatedly mistaken vocalizations by starlings > as being from Western Wood-Pewees. There are several places where a > starling does a GREAT imitation, e.g. Eschbach Nature Area, the Eagle Path > at the southern end of the Yakima Greenway Path in Union Gap, and at two > places where we lived. At the Eagle Path and Eschbach, when I've read > out-of-season Western Wood-Pewee heard-only reports, I've thought it likely > to be one of the talented Starlings I'd heard there. > > In our back yard last week Merlin was fooled that a starling was a robin. > I was watching and listening to the starling atop the utility pole calling > like a robin. It sounded good enough I decided to give Merlin a go. Merlin > failed, said American Robin. Most times with Starlings Merlin correctly > indicates Starling. > > During a winter raptor survey this year in the White Swan area I heard an > unusual vocalization. I was next to running water, so I could not hear all > of the quality of the song. I tried Merlin. It said Wood Thrush. I didn't > know what Wood Thrushes sounded like. Once home, I listened to Wood Thrush > vocalizations. It had not been a Wood Thrush. I worked on the Merlin > recorded audio using Audacity -- noise reduction, frequency notch filters, > and amplification. I then played back the cleaned-up audio on my computer, > and used Merlin on my phone to try again. This time Merlin nailed it -- > Song Sparrow. > > Yesterday I went to one of my favorite spots to look for Greater > White-fronted Geese. About 10 minutes after I arrived I heard a flock of > them heading my way. As they got closer I took some photos. Some landed > with the Cackling and Canada Geese, others flew over. I wondered whether > Merlin was good at distinguishing between Cackling and Canada Geese, but > wouldn't be able to test since they were mixed together there. When I heard > some more Greater White-fronted Geese calling as they flew toward me, I > pulled out my phone and gave the magic man a go. They flew low, calling, > right over me. Merlin fowled it up, identifying them as Cackling Geese. > > Perhaps Merlin can distinguish between Cackling and Canada Geese, but I'd > trust him even less after his latest foul up with fowl up. > > I'm looking forward to hearing my first Western Wood-Pewee of the year > while I'm watching it. I'm not annoyed by Merlin. I'm amazed, and sometimes > I find him incredible. > > Good Birding, > https://www.aba.org/aba-code-of-birding-ethics/ > Kevin Lucas > Yakima County, WA > > *Qui tacet consentire videtur* > _______________________________________________ > Tweeters mailing list > Tweeters@u.washington.edu > http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters > > _______________________________________________ > Tweeters mailing list > Tweeters@u.washington.edu > http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters > > _______________________________________________ > Tweeters mailing list > Tweeters@u.washington.edu > http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Thu Apr 4 08:27:13 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Ellen Cohen via Tweeters) Date: Thu Apr 4 08:27:25 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Linnean Society of NY free presentation References: <655755935.5766006.1712244433579.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <655755935.5766006.1712244433579@mail.yahoo.com> Dr. Ben Winger ? April 2024 - The Linnaean Society of New York | | | | | | | | | | | Dr. Ben Winger ? April 2024 - The Linnaean Society of New York Tuesday, April 9, 2024 ? 7:00 pm ? The Evolution of Seasonal Migration in Birds ? Dr. Ben Winger | | | -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Thu Apr 4 08:37:17 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Rob Faucett via Tweeters) Date: Thu Apr 4 08:37:33 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Linnean Society of NY free presentation In-Reply-To: <655755935.5766006.1712244433579@mail.yahoo.com> References: <655755935.5766006.1712244433579@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Thu Apr 4 09:09:45 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Gary Bletsch via Tweeters) Date: Thu Apr 4 09:10:51 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Merlin App fallibility References: <271103935.3244534.1712246985523.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <271103935.3244534.1712246985523@mail.yahoo.com> Dear Tweeters, Kudos to Kevin Lucas for bringing this up again. Unfortunately, Tweeters is probably no longer reaches as big a part of the birding community as formerly, so this discussion may not reach as many birders as it ought to. Here in Western New York, I was amazed to hear a Rufous-sided Towhee the other day. I searched and searched for it, but could not see it, although the "chewink" call was reaching my ears loud and clear from somewhere across the street. It's rather early for towhees here right now; they desert the area when winter sets in, and it's still quite wintery here. I pulled out the mobile phone and tried the Merlin App's "Sound ID" function, which immediately ID'd the bird as an Eastern Towhee. "Nice to have some corroboration," I thought. Imagine my surprise when the calling bird popped out of a bush and called one more time, before flying off--it was a Common Grackle! I don't remember hearing mimicry from a grackle before, so it was probably just an individual with an oddball call note. Just for fun, I tried the Merlin App a bunch of times in Namibia recently. The "Sound ID" function was remarkably unsound, identifying zero point zero percent of the bird vocalizations correctly. After about 20 tries, I gave up. I had had hopes that it might be of use with some of the tricky vocalizatons, such as those of the cisticolas. At one point, the app suggested both Pileated Woodpecker and Chiguanco Thrush for one call. Hmm, a North American Woodpecker and a South American Thrush calling away in southwestern Africa! Yours truly, Gary Bletsch -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Thu Apr 4 12:01:47 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Shep Thorp via Tweeters) Date: Thu Apr 4 12:02:05 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Wednesday Walk at Billy Frank Jr Nisqually NWR 4/3/2024 Message-ID: Hi Tweets, We had a mixed weather day with partly cloudy skies and nice sunbreaks, but around noon we had a short rain and hail squall which split up the day and sent some of our birders home. We started with approximately 25 birders and ended the day with 7, some of them joining us in the afternoon after the squall blew through. Temperatures were in the 40's to 50's degrees Fahrenheit and there was a high Low 8'2" Tide at 8:51am and a low High 10'5" Toide at 12:21pm. Highlights included First of Year CLIFF SWALLOW, SNOW GOOSE, BONAPARTE'S GULL, CALIFORNIA GULL, and CINNAMON TEAL. We also enjoyed the nice looks of three BUSHTIT nests, and an unidentified hummingbird species (ANHU or RUHU) nest. There were nice sightings of RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD, YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER, WILSON'S SNIPE, COMMON YELLOWTHROAT, COMMON LOON and SAVANNAH SPARROW. Bushtit nests (3) were observed in the Orchard, off the Maintenance Building Road just northeast of the Entrance Road, and on the outside of the north section of the Twin Barns Loop Trail across from the Canada Goose nest in the old owl nest tree. There were BROWN CREEPERS building a nest in an Alder Tree with bark shingles across the parking lot from the Education Center. We had Wilson Snipe in the flooded field south of the Twin Barns and the Visitor Center Pond. A pair of RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER are likely nesting in the large Maple Trees around the Twin Barns. Both Common Yellowthroat Warbler and Savannah Sparrow were singing on territory on either side of the Nisqually Estuary Trail dike. Both male and female Cinnamon Teal were seen in the freshwater marsh. We had great looks of perhaps three breeding plumage Common Loons foraging in McAllister Creek. A hummingbird sp. nest, either ANHU or RUHU, was observed 4 railing planks north of the Riparian Forest cut-off on the inside of the trail in an Alder on the right hand side, 8 branches up, and 6 feet out on the right, approximately 20 feet high. For the day we observed 84 species, with FOY CLSW, SNGO, BOGU, CAGU, and CITE, we have seen 117 species this year. See eBird report copied below with details and embedded photos. Until next week when we meet again at 8am at the Visitor Center Pond Overlook, happy birding. Shep -- Shep Thorp Browns Point 253-370-3742 Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually NWR, Thurston, Washington, US Apr 3, 2024 7:15 AM - 5:04 PM Protocol: Traveling 7.376 mile(s) Checklist Comments: Wednesday Walk. Mostly cloudy skies with sun breaks, breezy conditions, and short period of rain and hail. Temperatures in the 40?s to 50?s degrees Fahrenheit. A high Low 8?2? Tide at 8:51am and a low High 10?5? Tide at 12:21pm. Mammals seen Townsend?s Chipmunk, Eastern Cotton-tailed Rabbit, Columbian Black-tailed Deer, Eastern Gray Squirrel, and Harbor Seal. Other reports of Pacific Tree Frog, Red-legged Frog, Bullfrog, and NW Salamander Egg clusters. 84 species (+10 other taxa) Snow Goose 1 Continuing. With migrating flock of minima Cackling Geese. Freshwater marsh in the afternoon. Brant (Black) 50 Nisqually Reach. Cackling Goose (minima) 400 Cackling Goose (Taverner's) 30 Canada Goose (moffitti/maxima) 30 Nest in Visitor Center Pond and old owl tree nest on inside of north section of Twin Barns Loop Trail. Wood Duck 4 Cinnamon Teal 2 Northern Shoveler 125 Gadwall 20 Eurasian Wigeon 2 American Wigeon 250 Eurasian x American Wigeon (hybrid) 1 Mallard 100 Northern Pintail 75 Green-winged Teal 600 Ring-necked Duck 10 Greater Scaup 1 Freshwater Marsh Greater/Lesser Scaup 100 Off Luhr Beach. Surf Scoter 40 Bufflehead 200 Common Goldeneye 30 Hooded Merganser 4 Visitor Center Pond. Common Merganser 6 Nisqually River. Red-breasted Merganser 20 McAllister Creek. One observed in Nisqually River. duck sp. 400 Pied-billed Grebe 2 Freshwater marsh. Horned Grebe 4 Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 25 Band-tailed Pigeon 2 Orchard. Mourning Dove 4 Orchard. Anna's Hummingbird 2 Rufous Hummingbird 3 hummingbird sp. 1 Nest. Could not determine species. Photos. Four railing planks north of Riparian Forest cut-off on the inside of the trail. Alder farthest to the right, 8 branches up on the right side, 6 feet out on the right side from the trunk on a small horizontal branch below the main branch. Tall cup. Possibly it could be ANHU or RUHU. American Coot 100 Black-bellied Plover 1 Heard from McAllister Creek viewing platform. Wilson's Snipe 3 Twin Barns Loop Trail Visitor Center Pond. Along access road in flooded field south of Twin Barns, flooded field adjacent to Twin Barns. Spotted Sandpiper 1 West Bank of McAllister Creek Greater Yellowlegs 20 Dunlin 200 Mudflats around McAllister Creek Viewing Platform. Least Sandpiper 25 Mudflats along Nisqually Estuary Boardwalk Trail between McAllister Creek Viewing Platform and Puget Sound Viewing Platform. Western Sandpiper 3 Three observed in flock of 100 plus Dunlin. Previously reported. Observed at 300-500 feet with 60x spotting scope foraging on mudflats for 1 minute. Smaller and shorter billed then area Dunlin, white throat in contrast to other non breeding small shorebirds in the area. Lighter gray back than Dunlin. Bonaparte's Gull 1 Roosting briefly with SBGU on mudflats along north Nisqually Estuary Boardwalk Trail. Short-billed Gull 100 Ring-billed Gull 25 California Gull 1 Glaucous-winged Gull 1 Western x Glaucous-winged Gull (hybrid) 15 Western/Glaucous-winged Gull 100 Larus sp. 100 Common Loon 3 Brandt's Cormorant 7 Double-crested Cormorant 10 Great Blue Heron 15 Northern Harrier 1 Bald Eagle 12 Two occupied nests. One in tall Cottonwood West Bank of Nisqually River north of dike. The other west and across the McAllister Creek from Puget Sound Viewing Platform. Did not see bird this week on nest across creek and south of McAllister Creek Viewing Platform. Red-tailed Hawk 1 Belted Kingfisher 2 Burrows in bank on west side of McAllister Creek. Red-breasted Sapsucker 3 Maples around Twin Barns. Downy Woodpecker (Pacific) 4 Northern Flicker 2 Steller's Jay 1 American Crow 30 Common Raven 2 Black-capped Chickadee 6 Chestnut-backed Chickadee 3 Tree Swallow 50 Nest boxes by Twin Barns. Violet-green Swallow 75 Barn Swallow 3 Cliff Swallow 1 Spotted by Heather over flooded field south of Twin Barns. Bushtit (Pacific) 6 Three occupied nests: 1) Orchard; 2) east side of Maintenance Building Road just north of entrance road and 50 off road at eye level in Douglas Fir Tree; 3) outside of Twin Barns Loop Trail across from old owl nest tree with Ca?ada Goose at eye level in mixed small Cottonwood and Himalayan BlackBerry. Ruby-crowned Kinglet 8 Golden-crowned Kinglet 1 Brown Creeper 6 Across parking lot from Entrance to Education Center in Alder with bark shingles. Pacific Wren 1 Marsh Wren 8 Bewick's Wren 6 European Starling 30 Varied Thrush 1 Orchard. American Robin 30 Purple Finch 2 Pine Siskin 2 American Goldfinch 4 Fox Sparrow (Sooty) 2 Golden-crowned Sparrow 6 Savannah Sparrow 3 Song Sparrow (rufina Group) 24 Lincoln's Sparrow 1 Spotted Towhee 3 Red-winged Blackbird 50 Orange-crowned Warbler 3 Common Yellowthroat 3 Yellow-rumped Warbler 20 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 5 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's) 20 View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S167160542 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Thu Apr 4 12:37:55 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Carol Riddell via Tweeters) Date: Thu Apr 4 12:38:09 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Merlin Sound ID Message-ID: From Dennis Paulson: "When Merlin tells you you have heard a very unlikely bird, please be skeptical and if you list it on eBird, make sure you add that the ID was based on AI, not AK (actual knowledge).? I strongly endorse Dennis's urge for skepticism. It does appear that many (perhaps newer?) birders are entering eBird checklists based on whatever Sound ID lists. This results in many erroneous additions to hotspot lists. Cornell describes Sound ID as a tool. (It?s a good tool.) It should be used as a tool, not as the Ten Commandments etched in stone. If you know your local birds, you should have a good idea when Sound ID lists a species that is unlikely, either due to location or season. It is then time to do two things. First, save the recording and then click on that special bird. It will take you to the place in the recording where Sound ID detected the possible species. You can listen and compare what you hear to the multiple recordings below that species. Frequently I don?t even have to do that because Sound ID has offered a possible species based on artifact sounds such as the swish of my movement or the clink of my binocular lens cover as I move about. Second, if the recording seems valid, then look around to see if you can find this special species. If you can?t, don?t put it in a public data base. Just remember that Sound ID is offering the best possible matches based on its data. A best possible match is not a conclusive match. It is a flag for the birder to start birding, to corroborate or discount the possible match. If you add an unlikely bird to an eBird checklist that you have not corroborated, please note Sound ID in the details box for that species. This is very helpful to other birders who might want to try to see your possible bird. Carol Riddell Edmonds, WA -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Thu Apr 4 14:59:17 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Michael Hobbs via Tweeters) Date: Thu Apr 4 14:59:34 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Marymoor Park (Redmond, King Co.) 2024-04-04 Message-ID: Tweets - It was a special day today at Marymoor, though the weather was NOT the special part. It was especially dark all morning, and quite chilly. Many birds were singing, but good looks were scarce. We started off with donuts and bagels to celebrate the 30th birthday of the Marymoor surveys. That's about 1500 surveys, and I've made nearly that many additional visits to the park over the last 30 years. Some might ask if I might be getting tired of going to the same place over and over and over and over. Well, it may be the same place, but there's always something new to see. In fact, today we had A NEW BIRD FOR MARYMOOR PARK, the 245th species! Just north of Fields 7-8-9 was a male WESTERN BLUEBIRD! The survey needs to continue at least until that number is up to 250! Other highlights: Canada Goose - Appear to be attempting to nest on two Osprey nests and on the eagle nest visible from the Lake Platform Northern Pintail??? - Flock of about 20 ducks that were almost certainly NOPI but could have been wigeon Lesser Scaup - One female seen from the Lake Platform - First of Year (FOY) Bushtit - Three nests observed, but no activity noted at any of them Purple Finch - Singing constantly heard, several birds, two seen White-throated Sparrow - Continuing, this time near the Dog Area portapotties Western Meadowlark - 3-5 seen, including 3 near the Western Bluebird Orange-crowned Warbler - Two singing near the east end of the boardwalk (FOY) Common Yellowthroat - At least one singing, heard from the Viewing Mound. Two seen on Monday (FOY) Yellow-rumped Warbler - Widespread and numerous, both Myrtle and Audubon's, some singing On my brief visit Monday afternoon, I had several birds not seen today: BAND-TAILED PIGEON, TURKEY VULTURE (FOY), SHARP-SHINNED HAWK, RED-TAILED HAWK (a pair doing a courtship flight), and BELTED KINGFISHER. Missed both days: Wilson's Snipe, Osprey (should arrive any day now), Red-breasted Sapsucker, Red-breasted Nuthatch, American Goldfinch, and Lincoln's Sparrow. For the day, 59 species plus the mystery flying ducks. Adding Lesser Scaup, Turkey Vulture, Western Bluebird, Orange-crowned Warbler, and Common Yellowthroat, we're at 91 species for the year. = Michael Hobbs = BirdMarymoor@gmail.com = www.marymoor.org/birding.htm -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Thu Apr 4 15:11:55 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Michael Price via Tweeters) Date: Thu Apr 4 15:12:11 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Housing Swiftlets - NYtimes Message-ID: Hi Tweets Interesting article on the housing of swiftlets and the bird's-nest trade. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/02/world/asia/indonesia-borneo-birdnest-soup.html best, m Michael Price Vancouver BC Canada loblollyboy@gmail.com Every answer deepens the mystery. -- E.O. Wilson -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Thu Apr 4 15:17:43 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (MARVIN BREECE via Tweeters) Date: Thu Apr 4 15:17:46 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] 204th St, Kent 4.4.24 Message-ID: TODAY AT 204TH ST IN KENT Merlin - Black male Greater Yellowlegs - 2 Black Phoebe - 1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet - singing MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD - 5 (2 males & 3 females) Northern Shrike - 1 Savannah Sparrow - 1 Lincoln's Sparrow - 1 Western Meadowlark - 1 Today I did not see the adult Eastern Red-tailed Hawk, present since 1.25.24. Marv Breece Tukwila, WA marvbreece@q.com . -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Thu Apr 4 17:16:20 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (BRAD Liljequist via Tweeters) Date: Thu Apr 4 17:16:25 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Lots o Marbled Godwits at Iron Springs Resort, Moclips area Message-ID: Hi all, Enjoying a little family time on the coast and was treated to 300 Marbled Godwits (counted up close) on the beach just north of Boone Creek. Feeding like crazy. About 20 Dunlin mixed in. Fun!!! Also, one tenacious Orange Crowned Warbler singing up a storm - could hear all the way down on the beach even with the wind. You go! Brad Liljequist Phinney Ridge, Seattle, WA, USA -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Fri Apr 5 00:33:18 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Dan Reiff via Tweeters) Date: Fri Apr 5 00:38:26 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] After 10 years of work, landmark study reveals new 'tree of life' for all birds living today Message-ID: <2870EBD8-7F0C-46B6-93DD-A38D597A7A24@gmail.com> https://phys.org/news/2024-04-years-landmark-reveals-tree-life.html Sent from my iPhone From tweeters at u.washington.edu Fri Apr 5 00:35:32 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Dan Reiff via Tweeters) Date: Fri Apr 5 00:38:27 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] =?utf-8?q?No_laughing_matter=3A_=E2=80=9CSmall_birds_s?= =?utf-8?q?pice_up_the_already_diverse_diet_of_spotted_hyenas_in_Namibia?= =?utf-8?b?4oCd?= Message-ID: <7BF8722D-5473-4776-B709-17F9533D35CD@gmail.com> https://phys.org/news/2024-03-small-birds-spice-diverse-diet.html Sent from my iPhone From tweeters at u.washington.edu Thu Apr 4 23:37:38 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Dan Reiff via Tweeters) Date: Fri Apr 5 00:38:28 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] THE WASHINGTON POST: Birds, bees, and even plants might act weird during the solar eclipse Message-ID: <80CBE559-0FDE-4DF7-AEF2-3CAB8DD6DCA1@gmail.com> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Fri Apr 5 08:42:17 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Jerry Neufeld-Kaiser via Tweeters) Date: Fri Apr 5 08:42:30 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Seeking Tikal guide recommendation Message-ID: Tweets. The missus and I are looking for a local birding guide for Tikal and Yaxha in Guatemala this summer. Pls recommend based on your experience. Thanks. Jerry N-K (Whitney's driver) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Fri Apr 5 10:04:56 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Tom and Carol Stoner via Tweeters) Date: Fri Apr 5 10:05:28 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] FOS Osprey pair Message-ID: On my way south on I-5 yesterday, I spotted a pair of Osprey at a nest on a cell phone tower, west of the freeway between the 320 and 348 exits to Federal Way. I haven't seen any at the nest platform along the Duwamish River near the power substation in South Park yet this season. Carol Stoner West Seattle -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Fri Apr 5 10:08:02 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Vicki via Tweeters) Date: Fri Apr 5 10:08:17 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Band Tail and Varied Thrush this morning Message-ID: Hello, Just looked out and saw one Band-Tailed Pigeon in the stream of my pond, and a varied thrush poking around under my sunflower chip feeder. A bit late for me to have the thrush, and a bit early for the pigeon. I?m hoping I don?t have a large flock of pigeons this year. I think they?re the reason I?ve not had my larger flocks of Evening Grosbeaks this past spring. Vicki Biltz Vickibiltz@gmail.com Buckley, WA. vickibiltz@gmail.com http://www.flickr.com/photos/saw-whets_new/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Fri Apr 5 10:35:31 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (David Kreft via Tweeters) Date: Fri Apr 5 10:35:49 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Colville Waste Water Ponds access Message-ID: Greetings on a wet Friday in April. Several folks have worked with the City of Colville to regain access to the wastewater treatment ponds for birding. Two of us have keys and can access Monday-Friday, 7:00am to 3:00pm. Access for spring migration is now into the first week of May. We will have access again last week of July to early September for fall shorebird migration. I am planning on being available the next couple of Fridays to escort birders (by our agreement with the City). You need to let me know ahead of time if you?ll be coming. I?ll have waiver forms for each person to sign. No pets. No one under age 18. Meet up is at the waste water plant office located at 353 S Louis Perras Rd, Colville, WA 99114. We walk in , about 100-300 yds to view the ponds. During spring be ready for a little mud (not much really) on the first part of the walk in. If you want to try a different day M-Th, let me know and I will see if the other person with a key is available. Today?s list. No shorebirds yet, not much exposed mud. One late Trumpeter Swan (unusual). https://ebird.org/checklist/S167261120 Good Birding, Dave Kreft Email: newabirders@gmail.com 509-675-9375 Call or text -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Fri Apr 5 14:01:58 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Matt Bartels via Tweeters) Date: Fri Apr 5 14:02:23 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] County Year List Project update for Jan/Feb 2024, up at WA Birder Message-ID: Hi all - Here?s the first [and a bit belated] bi-monthly update of the 2024 county year lit project. We?re received updates from all county compilers to get a snapshot of the birds seen in WA in the first two months of the year. The state total [264] was 15 higher than our total at this point last year and the year before. We?re off to a good start. The Western WA total [230] came in eight higher than last year, and 14 lower than 2021 The Eastern WA total [200] was nine higher than last year?s total and seven higher than 2022 at this point.. Highlights for the start of the year would include the Clallam Co apparent state-first Song Thrush, the Snohomish Co White Wagtail, and the Skagit Whooper Swan among others. About 15 species had already been found in all 39 counties by the end of February. It will be fun to see how this year stacks up as we move into Spring migration and new surprises across the state. If you'd like to take a look at where things stand, the list and many other interesting files are at the Washington Birder website: http://www.wabirder.com/ A direct link to the 2024 county yearlist & the list of county compilers: http://wabirder.com/county_yearlist.html Thanks to all the compilers and all those pitching in to begin to sketch a picture of another year's birds in WA. Matt Bartels Seattle, WA -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sat Apr 6 01:17:01 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Dan Reiff via Tweeters) Date: Sat Apr 6 01:17:16 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Gregg Thompson Memorial Today, Saturday Message-ID: <3630C97B-8CC5-4FB0-9CB9-45F16FA36E62@gmail.com> Hello Tweeters community, A reminder that my friend Gregg Thompson?s memorial is this afternoon. Dan Reiff ? Date, time and place for Gregg Thompson memorial: Saturday, April 6, between 2:00 and 5:00 PM, the Swedish Club (1920 Dexter Ave. N.) Seattle. Hope to see you there.? Sent from my iPhone From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sat Apr 6 08:20:25 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Kersti Muul via Tweeters) Date: Sat Apr 6 08:20:38 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] RE osprey Message-ID: FYI Osprey on gravel loading tower on duwamish this morning (4/6) 8 AM Kersti E. Muul SALISH WILDLIFE WATCH Urban Conservation & Wildlife Biologist/Specialist - Response and Rescue WASART, MMSN and BCS referral Wildlife Field Biologist IV Marbled murrelet forest certified and USFWS marine certified Birds Connect Neighborhood Bird Project Site Leader Climate Watch Coordinator Animal Care Specialist/Animal & Off the Grid First Aid Certified -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sat Apr 6 09:38:21 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (B B via Tweeters) Date: Sat Apr 6 09:38:30 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Galapagos Info References: <235231387.3708689.1712421501896.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <235231387.3708689.1712421501896@mail.yahoo.com> Cindy and I are looking at a trip/cruise to the Galapagos.? Does not have to be bird-centric.? We would welcome recommendations from folks in Tweeterdom who have visited these islands - especially about ships/tour companies.? Email to me or share with tweeters - thank you? Blair Bernson -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sat Apr 6 10:07:32 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Dennis Paulson via Tweeters) Date: Sat Apr 6 10:07:58 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Galapagos Info In-Reply-To: <235231387.3708689.1712421501896@mail.yahoo.com> References: <235231387.3708689.1712421501896.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <235231387.3708689.1712421501896@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <26606E92-444B-4CAD-9711-95650CBAE4AC@comcast.net> Blair, we had a great tour there with Wings in 2007, led by Rich Hoyer. Great because they visited all the islands necessary to give a broad picture of the birds and other features. Some of the general tour companies don?t visit Genovesa, far up in the northeast corner, and I think that?s one of the best islands to visit. Sadly, their upcoming trip in November is already full, with a waitlist. But any tour company that visits Genovesa as part of their itinerary is probably fine, as you don?t really need a specialized bird guide. Dennis Paulson Seattle > On Apr 6, 2024, at 9:38 AM, B B via Tweeters wrote: > > Cindy and I are looking at a trip/cruise to the Galapagos. Does not have to be bird-centric. We would welcome recommendations from folks in Tweeterdom who have visited these islands - especially about ships/tour companies. Email to me or share with tweeters - thank you > > Blair Bernson > _______________________________________________ > Tweeters mailing list > Tweeters@u.washington.edu > http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sat Apr 6 11:02:00 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (PENNY & DAVID KOYAMA via Tweeters) Date: Sat Apr 6 11:02:24 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Galapagos Info In-Reply-To: <26606E92-444B-4CAD-9711-95650CBAE4AC@comcast.net> References: <235231387.3708689.1712421501896.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <235231387.3708689.1712421501896@mail.yahoo.com> <26606E92-444B-4CAD-9711-95650CBAE4AC@comcast.net> Message-ID: <332343894.1860496.1712426520446@connect.xfinity.com> Blair, Way back in the day (2004) David and I went to the Galapagos with a local company, ecoventura. I checked and they are still going strong. Their ships were built for cruising in the islands, so you are not on a converted fishing boat, or a big cruise ship. Each of their ships holds 20 people and about 11 staff. They stayed on mainland time, so they were at each stop an hour before any other boat. You don't need a guide, as all of the boats are required to have National Park Guides on board and they know everything, including birds. We had 2 guides, and always broke into 2 groups going in opposite directions. Their food was great and they had an upper deck with both exposed and shaded lounge chairs. And they supplied wetsuits, so we shorkeled every day. Good time to go is after the Waved Albatross are in--we went in July. You won't see them until they come in from Anarctica to nest. Contact me if you want to look at/borrow our stuff--they give you a nice cruise guide, which I still have. Really, it's the trip of a lifetime, and in July we were stepping around fluffy baby boobies. Penny Koyama, Bothell On 04/06/2024 10:07 AM PDT Dennis Paulson via Tweeters wrote: > > > Blair, we had a great tour there with Wings in 2007, led by Rich Hoyer. Great because they visited all the islands necessary to give a broad picture of the birds and other features. Some of the general tour companies don?t visit Genovesa, far up in the northeast corner, and I think that?s one of the best islands to visit. > > Sadly, their upcoming trip in November is already full, with a waitlist. But any tour company that visits Genovesa as part of their itinerary is probably fine, as you don?t really need a specialized bird guide. > > Dennis Paulson > Seattle > > > > On Apr 6, 2024, at 9:38 AM, B B via Tweeters wrote: > > > > Cindy and I are looking at a trip/cruise to the Galapagos. Does not have to be bird-centric. We would welcome recommendations from folks in Tweeterdom who have visited these islands - especially about ships/tour companies. Email to me or share with tweeters - thank you > > > > Blair Bernson > > _______________________________________________ > > Tweeters mailing list > > Tweeters@u.washington.edu mailto:Tweeters@u.washington.edu > > http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters > > > _______________________________________________ > Tweeters mailing list > Tweeters@u.washington.edu > http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sat Apr 6 11:02:00 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (PENNY & DAVID KOYAMA via Tweeters) Date: Sat Apr 6 11:02:25 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Galapagos Info In-Reply-To: <26606E92-444B-4CAD-9711-95650CBAE4AC@comcast.net> References: <235231387.3708689.1712421501896.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <235231387.3708689.1712421501896@mail.yahoo.com> <26606E92-444B-4CAD-9711-95650CBAE4AC@comcast.net> Message-ID: <332343894.1860496.1712426520446@connect.xfinity.com> Blair, Way back in the day (2004) David and I went to the Galapagos with a local company, ecoventura. I checked and they are still going strong. Their ships were built for cruising in the islands, so you are not on a converted fishing boat, or a big cruise ship. Each of their ships holds 20 people and about 11 staff. They stayed on mainland time, so they were at each stop an hour before any other boat. You don't need a guide, as all of the boats are required to have National Park Guides on board and they know everything, including birds. We had 2 guides, and always broke into 2 groups going in opposite directions. Their food was great and they had an upper deck with both exposed and shaded lounge chairs. And they supplied wetsuits, so we shorkeled every day. Good time to go is after the Waved Albatross are in--we went in July. You won't see them until they come in from Anarctica to nest. Contact me if you want to look at/borrow our stuff--they give you a nice cruise guide, which I still have. Really, it's the trip of a lifetime, and in July we were stepping around fluffy baby boobies. Penny Koyama, Bothell On 04/06/2024 10:07 AM PDT Dennis Paulson via Tweeters wrote: > > > Blair, we had a great tour there with Wings in 2007, led by Rich Hoyer. Great because they visited all the islands necessary to give a broad picture of the birds and other features. Some of the general tour companies don?t visit Genovesa, far up in the northeast corner, and I think that?s one of the best islands to visit. > > Sadly, their upcoming trip in November is already full, with a waitlist. But any tour company that visits Genovesa as part of their itinerary is probably fine, as you don?t really need a specialized bird guide. > > Dennis Paulson > Seattle > > > > On Apr 6, 2024, at 9:38 AM, B B via Tweeters wrote: > > > > Cindy and I are looking at a trip/cruise to the Galapagos. Does not have to be bird-centric. We would welcome recommendations from folks in Tweeterdom who have visited these islands - especially about ships/tour companies. Email to me or share with tweeters - thank you > > > > Blair Bernson > > _______________________________________________ > > Tweeters mailing list > > Tweeters@u.washington.edu mailto:Tweeters@u.washington.edu > > http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters > > > _______________________________________________ > Tweeters mailing list > Tweeters@u.washington.edu > http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sat Apr 6 11:18:10 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (B B via Tweeters) Date: Sat Apr 6 11:18:17 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Galapagos Info In-Reply-To: <332343894.1860496.1712426520446@connect.xfinity.com> References: <235231387.3708689.1712421501896.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <235231387.3708689.1712421501896@mail.yahoo.com> <26606E92-444B-4CAD-9711-95650CBAE4AC@comcast.net> <332343894.1860496.1712426520446@connect.xfinity.com> Message-ID: <294773623.3728216.1712427490866@mail.yahoo.com> Thanks Penny, we will look into that company.? This is a trip with kids (old non-birding kids) so some creature comforts may be needed.? Comparing size of ships and length of stay are factors.? Definitely don't want or need a giant ship but how small is too small.? Everyone who has gone raves... Blair On Saturday, April 6, 2024 at 11:02:38 AM PDT, PENNY & DAVID KOYAMA via Tweeters wrote: Blair, Way back in the day (2004) David and I went to the Galapagos with a local company, ecoventura.? I checked and they are still going strong.? Their ships were built for cruising in the islands, so you are not on a converted fishing boat, or a big cruise ship.? Each of their ships holds 20 people and about 11 staff.? They stayed on mainland time, so they were at each stop an hour before any other boat.? You don't need a guide, as all of the boats are required to have National Park Guides on board and they know everything, including birds.? We had 2 guides, and always broke into 2 groups going in opposite directions.? Their food was great and they had an upper deck with both exposed and shaded lounge chairs.? And they supplied wetsuits, so we shorkeled every day. ? Good time to go is after the Waved Albatross are in--we went in July. You won't see them until they come in from Anarctica to nest.? Contact me if you want to look at/borrow our stuff--they give you a nice cruise guide, which I still have.? Really, it's the trip of a lifetime, and in July we were stepping around fluffy baby boobies. Penny Koyama, Bothell ? On 04/06/2024 10:07 AM PDT Dennis Paulson via Tweeters wrote: ? ? Blair, we had a great tour there with Wings in 2007, led by Rich Hoyer. Great because they visited all the islands necessary to give a broad picture of the birds and other features. Some of the general tour companies don?t visit Genovesa, far up in the northeast corner, and I think that?s one of the best islands to visit. ? Sadly, their upcoming trip in November is already full, with a waitlist. But any tour company that visits Genovesa as part of their itinerary is probably fine, as you don?t really need a specialized bird guide. ? Dennis Paulson Seattle On Apr 6, 2024, at 9:38 AM, B B via Tweeters wrote: Cindy and I are looking at a trip/cruise to the Galapagos.? Does not have to be bird-centric.? We would welcome recommendations from folks in Tweeterdom who have visited these islands - especially about ships/tour companies.? Email to me or share with tweeters - thank you? ? Blair Bernson _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters@u.washington.edu http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters@u.washington.edu http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters@u.washington.edu http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sat Apr 6 11:18:10 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (B B via Tweeters) Date: Sat Apr 6 11:18:17 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Galapagos Info In-Reply-To: <332343894.1860496.1712426520446@connect.xfinity.com> References: <235231387.3708689.1712421501896.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <235231387.3708689.1712421501896@mail.yahoo.com> <26606E92-444B-4CAD-9711-95650CBAE4AC@comcast.net> <332343894.1860496.1712426520446@connect.xfinity.com> Message-ID: <294773623.3728216.1712427490866@mail.yahoo.com> Thanks Penny, we will look into that company.? This is a trip with kids (old non-birding kids) so some creature comforts may be needed.? Comparing size of ships and length of stay are factors.? Definitely don't want or need a giant ship but how small is too small.? Everyone who has gone raves... Blair On Saturday, April 6, 2024 at 11:02:38 AM PDT, PENNY & DAVID KOYAMA via Tweeters wrote: Blair, Way back in the day (2004) David and I went to the Galapagos with a local company, ecoventura.? I checked and they are still going strong.? Their ships were built for cruising in the islands, so you are not on a converted fishing boat, or a big cruise ship.? Each of their ships holds 20 people and about 11 staff.? They stayed on mainland time, so they were at each stop an hour before any other boat.? You don't need a guide, as all of the boats are required to have National Park Guides on board and they know everything, including birds.? We had 2 guides, and always broke into 2 groups going in opposite directions.? Their food was great and they had an upper deck with both exposed and shaded lounge chairs.? And they supplied wetsuits, so we shorkeled every day. ? Good time to go is after the Waved Albatross are in--we went in July. You won't see them until they come in from Anarctica to nest.? Contact me if you want to look at/borrow our stuff--they give you a nice cruise guide, which I still have.? Really, it's the trip of a lifetime, and in July we were stepping around fluffy baby boobies. Penny Koyama, Bothell ? On 04/06/2024 10:07 AM PDT Dennis Paulson via Tweeters wrote: ? ? Blair, we had a great tour there with Wings in 2007, led by Rich Hoyer. Great because they visited all the islands necessary to give a broad picture of the birds and other features. Some of the general tour companies don?t visit Genovesa, far up in the northeast corner, and I think that?s one of the best islands to visit. ? Sadly, their upcoming trip in November is already full, with a waitlist. But any tour company that visits Genovesa as part of their itinerary is probably fine, as you don?t really need a specialized bird guide. ? Dennis Paulson Seattle On Apr 6, 2024, at 9:38 AM, B B via Tweeters wrote: Cindy and I are looking at a trip/cruise to the Galapagos.? Does not have to be bird-centric.? We would welcome recommendations from folks in Tweeterdom who have visited these islands - especially about ships/tour companies.? Email to me or share with tweeters - thank you? ? Blair Bernson _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters@u.washington.edu http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters@u.washington.edu http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters@u.washington.edu http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sat Apr 6 13:20:22 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (HAL MICHAEL via Tweeters) Date: Sat Apr 6 13:20:46 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Galapagos Info In-Reply-To: <235231387.3708689.1712421501896@mail.yahoo.com> References: <235231387.3708689.1712421501896.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <235231387.3708689.1712421501896@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <1994838894.1810777.1712434823036@connect.xfinity.com> My wife and I went on the MV Grace, run by Quasar. Small ship with about a dozen guests and ample crew. Excellent guides. Very rarely were we in the same place at the same time as other tours. Saw a pretty good number and diversity of birds in addition to the iguanas (marine and terrestrial), herds of Green Turtles, and lots of sharks and rays. A highlight of them was the Hammerheads. Excellent food; in all fine time.. They do two loops. The first covers the more northern islands and the second is the southern islands. There is some overlap but the northern loop seems most popular and covers "most" of the highlights. Hal Michael Board of Directors, Ecologists Without Borders http://ecowb.org/ Olympia WA 360-459-4005 360-791-7702 (C) ucd880@comcast.net > On 04/06/2024 9:38 AM PDT B B via Tweeters wrote: > > > Cindy and I are looking at a trip/cruise to the Galapagos. Does not have to be bird-centric. We would welcome recommendations from folks in Tweeterdom who have visited these islands - especially about ships/tour companies. Email to me or share with tweeters - thank you > > Blair Bernson > _______________________________________________ > Tweeters mailing list > Tweeters@u.washington.edu > http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sat Apr 6 13:20:22 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (HAL MICHAEL via Tweeters) Date: Sat Apr 6 13:20:47 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Galapagos Info In-Reply-To: <235231387.3708689.1712421501896@mail.yahoo.com> References: <235231387.3708689.1712421501896.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <235231387.3708689.1712421501896@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <1994838894.1810777.1712434823036@connect.xfinity.com> My wife and I went on the MV Grace, run by Quasar. Small ship with about a dozen guests and ample crew. Excellent guides. Very rarely were we in the same place at the same time as other tours. Saw a pretty good number and diversity of birds in addition to the iguanas (marine and terrestrial), herds of Green Turtles, and lots of sharks and rays. A highlight of them was the Hammerheads. Excellent food; in all fine time.. They do two loops. The first covers the more northern islands and the second is the southern islands. There is some overlap but the northern loop seems most popular and covers "most" of the highlights. Hal Michael Board of Directors, Ecologists Without Borders http://ecowb.org/ Olympia WA 360-459-4005 360-791-7702 (C) ucd880@comcast.net > On 04/06/2024 9:38 AM PDT B B via Tweeters wrote: > > > Cindy and I are looking at a trip/cruise to the Galapagos. Does not have to be bird-centric. We would welcome recommendations from folks in Tweeterdom who have visited these islands - especially about ships/tour companies. Email to me or share with tweeters - thank you > > Blair Bernson > _______________________________________________ > Tweeters mailing list > Tweeters@u.washington.edu > http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sat Apr 6 13:23:03 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Trileigh Tucker via Tweeters) Date: Sat Apr 6 13:23:25 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Galapagos Info Message-ID: Blair, we have always had fantastic experiences with Cheesemans?. Here?s the link to their Gal?pagos expedition, which we took in 2017. Their itinerary is extensive and in-depth, with visits to 15 islands. The trip leader, Juan Manuel Salcedo, is known throughout the islands and in high demand abroad as a top trip leader. He?s a Gal?page?o with deep knowledge of the whole ecosystem, and a real leader in environmental awareness in the islands and is particularly focused on helping young Gal?page?os treasure their natural heritage. We learned so much and saw so much and had an absolutely wonderful time doing it. I cannot recommend them highly enough. In every trip we?ve taken with them?we?re heading out soon on our fourth adventure with them, this time to Costa Rica?we have had a deeply immersive experience, with long field days that often last from predawn to dusk, with optional nightwalks where appropriate. (Lunch typically in the field, dinner at the lodging.) They prioritize time with wildlife instead of relaxing by the pool, though of course anyone is welcome to sit out a morning?s or day?s excursion at will. I come home every time both exhausted and unremittingly grateful for every moment. I?d be happy to share any additional thoughts if you like. Cheers, Trileigh From: B B via Tweeters Date: Saturday, April 6, 2024 at 9:38?AM To: Tweeters Subject: [Tweeters] Galapagos Info Cindy and I are looking at a trip/cruise to the Galapagos. Does not have to be bird-centric. We would welcome recommendations from folks in Tweeterdom who have visited these islands - especially about ships/tour companies. Email to me or share with tweeters - thank you Blair Bernson -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sat Apr 6 13:23:03 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Trileigh Tucker via Tweeters) Date: Sat Apr 6 13:23:25 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Galapagos Info Message-ID: Blair, we have always had fantastic experiences with Cheesemans?. Here?s the link to their Gal?pagos expedition, which we took in 2017. Their itinerary is extensive and in-depth, with visits to 15 islands. The trip leader, Juan Manuel Salcedo, is known throughout the islands and in high demand abroad as a top trip leader. He?s a Gal?page?o with deep knowledge of the whole ecosystem, and a real leader in environmental awareness in the islands and is particularly focused on helping young Gal?page?os treasure their natural heritage. We learned so much and saw so much and had an absolutely wonderful time doing it. I cannot recommend them highly enough. In every trip we?ve taken with them?we?re heading out soon on our fourth adventure with them, this time to Costa Rica?we have had a deeply immersive experience, with long field days that often last from predawn to dusk, with optional nightwalks where appropriate. (Lunch typically in the field, dinner at the lodging.) They prioritize time with wildlife instead of relaxing by the pool, though of course anyone is welcome to sit out a morning?s or day?s excursion at will. I come home every time both exhausted and unremittingly grateful for every moment. I?d be happy to share any additional thoughts if you like. Cheers, Trileigh From: B B via Tweeters Date: Saturday, April 6, 2024 at 9:38?AM To: Tweeters Subject: [Tweeters] Galapagos Info Cindy and I are looking at a trip/cruise to the Galapagos. Does not have to be bird-centric. We would welcome recommendations from folks in Tweeterdom who have visited these islands - especially about ships/tour companies. Email to me or share with tweeters - thank you Blair Bernson -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sat Apr 6 14:43:48 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (via Tweeters) Date: Sat Apr 6 14:44:12 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Galapagos Info In-Reply-To: <235231387.3708689.1712421501896@mail.yahoo.com> References: <235231387.3708689.1712421501896.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <235231387.3708689.1712421501896@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <00b801da886b$8349a1d0$89dce570$@comcast.net> My wife and I visited the Galapagos in April 2018 through the tour company, Adventure Life. A friend of mine used this company in January. Both he and us were very pleased with the arrangements. We toured with a small group of 18 passengers and 7 crew on a small yacht. We were often by ourselves on island or snorkeling tours. They did provide wet suits for a modest charge. The tours were great and so was the food. Due to our time constraints, we had a short tour of 4-5 days, but we saw many of the main islands and didn?t feel rushed. I would go again and book a longer tour and therefore allow travel to some of the outlying islands. To anyone visiting the Galapagos, I would highly recommend a cruise versus staying on the islands themselves. My preference is a smaller ship as you receive more personal attention and get to know your fellow passengers well. Best wishes, Don Aupperlee, DVM From: Tweeters On Behalf Of B B via Tweeters Sent: Saturday, April 6, 2024 9:38 AM To: Tweeters Subject: [Tweeters] Galapagos Info Cindy and I are looking at a trip/cruise to the Galapagos. Does not have to be bird-centric. We would welcome recommendations from folks in Tweeterdom who have visited these islands - especially about ships/tour companies. Email to me or share with tweeters - thank you Blair Bernson -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sat Apr 6 16:08:16 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Dallas DiLeo via Tweeters) Date: Sat Apr 6 16:08:47 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Galapagos trips Message-ID: I haven't gone personally, as yet, but heard a trip report presentation from this company that is who I'd call first if I could go.. https://wildsidenaturetours.com/trip-report/trip-report-2023-july-galapagos-islands/ Dallas DiLeo Pittsburgh PA -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sat Apr 6 21:27:51 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Kersti Muul via Tweeters) Date: Sat Apr 6 21:28:02 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] CATE have arrived locally Message-ID: Caspien terns arrived today 4/6 Kersti E. Muul SALISH WILDLIFE WATCH Urban Conservation & Wildlife Biologist/Specialist - Response and Rescue WASART referral Wildlife Field Biologist IV Marbled murrelet forest certified and USFWS marine certified Birds Connect Neighborhood Bird Project Site Leader Climate Watch Coordinator Animal Care Specialist/Animal & Off the Grid First Aid Certified -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sun Apr 7 14:19:50 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Dan Reiff via Tweeters) Date: Sun Apr 7 14:19:55 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Ask Kenn: What's the Secret to Identifying Flycatchers? | Audubon Message-ID: https://www.audubon.org/news/ask-kenn-whats-secret-identifying-flycatchers Sent from my iPhone From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sun Apr 7 16:12:29 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (GENE BULLOCK via Tweeters) Date: Sun Apr 7 16:12:33 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Eagle kills adult osprey Message-ID: <432700586.1929853.1712531549446@connect.xfinity.com> Eagle kills adult Osprey Many years ago a Bainbrdige Island member of Kitsap Audubon emailed me that he had witnessed an eagle killing an Osprey in Manzanita Bay. The Osprey had a very large fish in its talons and was struggling to get airborne. The eagle landed on top of the osprey and held it under until it drowned. The eagle then ?swam? the Osprey and fish to shore to finish eating them. I don?t remember the name of the observer. Gene Bullock Kitsap Audubon Society -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Mon Apr 8 06:42:51 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Kathleen Snyder via Tweeters) Date: Mon Apr 8 06:43:05 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] =?utf-8?q?Bird_Song_=E2=80=93_Thursday=2C_Apr_11=2C_7_?= =?utf-8?q?pm_via_Zoom_or_in_person?= Message-ID: Naturalist, guide, and author David Lukas will introduce us to the joyful world of bird song. We will explore how and why birds sing and how to understand what birds are saying to each other. This free program from Black Hills Audubon can be accessed from Zoom (registration link below) or you can join us at Temple Beth Hatfiloh at 201 8th Ave SE in Olympia to view the presentation on a big screen. Social time begins at 6:30 pm at the Temple. https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAoc-mhrDMvHNakWWdIDqZbCkqRgVJS3OPb -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Mon Apr 8 08:26:56 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Carol Riddell via Tweeters) Date: Mon Apr 8 08:27:11 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Edmonds Roundup - March 2024 Message-ID: <4F903F3F-B54F-4B56-ADCA-BA73BE3BC36E@gmail.com> Hi Tweeters, With March additions we have reach 120 species for our 2024 year list. In taxonomic order, the new species are: Long-tailed Duck (code 3), 1 at Water Street (ID photos), 3-31-24 California Quail (code 3), 1 at private yard in Edmonds Bowl, 3-16-24 Western Gull (code 4), 1 at Water Street (ID photos), 3-11-24 Caspian Tern (code 2), 1 at waterfront, 3-31-24 Turkey Vulture (code 3), 1 in flight over a Pine Ridge Park neighborhood (ID photo), 3-17-24 Say?s Phoebe (code 4), 1 at Edmonds marsh (ID photos), 3-10-24 Violet-green Swallow (code 1), 2 in a Pine Ridge Park neighborhood, 3-16-24 Purple Finch (code 3), 1 singing in Southwest County Park, 3-19-24 Chipping Sparrow (code 4), 1 at a Puget Drive yard (ID photo), 3-23-24 Savannah Sparrow (code 2), 1 at waterfront, 3-22-24 There were several code 3 or rarer species reported in eBird with no or inadequate documentation. We will wait to review any subsequent reports that are evidence based. These include Ring-billed Gull, Lincoln?s Sparrow, and Red Crossbill. As always, I appreciate it when birders get in touch with me to share sightings, photos, or recordings. It helps us build our collective year list. If you would like a copy of our 2024 city checklist, with 281 species, please request it from checklistedmonds at gmail dot com. The 2024 checklist, with sightings through March, is in the bird information box at the Olympic Beach Visitor Station at the base of the public pier. Good birding, Carol Riddell Edmonds, WA Abundance codes: (1) Common, (2) Uncommon, (3) Harder to find, usually seen annually, (4) Rare, 5+ records, (5) Fewer than 5 records Good birding, -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Tue Apr 9 07:02:36 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (bill shelmerdine via Tweeters) Date: Tue Apr 9 07:02:43 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] WOS Pelagic Saturday April 27 Message-ID: Greetings Tweeters, My brother Tim asked me to post this note to Tweeters. There are spaces available for the pelagic trip out of Ilwaco during the WOS Conference on Saturday April 27 and run by Oregon Pelagic Tours. Friday?s trip is full and Saturday?s trip has been opened up to the general public in addition to WOS members. If the boat does not fill up soon the Saturday trip will be cancelled, so if you are thinking about it don?t wait. Please see Tim?s note below and contact him directly if interested. "If you have been wanting to see pelagic birds in Pacific County, you have a great opportunity this month?. There are spaces available on the Saturday, April 27 pelagic out of Ilwaco. This 8-hour trip is offered in conjunction with the Washington Ornithological Society conference. Your guides will be Bill Shelmerdine and Jim Danzenbaker. Cost is $257 for non-WOS Conference attendees, or $200 if you have signed up for the WOS conference. If you are interested, please contact Tim Shelmerdine at tim.oregonpelagictours@gmail.com or visit the Oregon Pelagic Tours website (www.oregonpelagictours.com). Bill Shelmerdine Olympia -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Tue Apr 9 12:40:43 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (jimullrich via Tweeters) Date: Tue Apr 9 12:40:59 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Sequim Spring Bird Fest Message-ID: Howdy Tweets: Hope to see everyone this weekend at the Olympic Peninsula Audubon Society OPAS ?Olympic Birdfest? 4/12-14. Special Optiks presentation from 1-3 at the Dungeness River Nature Center this Friday 4/12. Visit: https://OlympicBirdFest.org Yours for the Birds n? the Bees Jim Sent from my iPhone From tweeters at u.washington.edu Tue Apr 9 13:24:55 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (tina cohen via Tweeters) Date: Tue Apr 9 14:59:29 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] RFI South Padre Island TX Message-ID: Hi Tweets, I?m starting to research South Padre Island for next February. Can anyone recommend the best birding areas for that time of year? Guides? Any other tips? My plan is to stay two weeks. Please respond to me directly, not to the list. Thanks for your help! Tina treesyes@gmail.com From tweeters at u.washington.edu Wed Apr 10 09:07:01 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Douglas Brown via Tweeters) Date: Wed Apr 10 09:07:05 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Off Topic - Panama Trip Message-ID: Chirp, Marion and I visited Panama for two weeks in March. It was a guided trip through Panama Birding. We were picked up at the airport. From that moment until we were dropped off at the airport two weeks later, all accommodations, transportation, and meals were provided. Our guide was outstanding and every aspect of the trip was Excellent ! I have created an album of photos from the trip. Many of these birds were life birds for me. Hopefully I correctly identified most of the birds. Corrections welcome. The album can be viewed here ? https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjBiixr cheers, Douglas Brown Bellingham -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Wed Apr 10 10:08:57 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (via Tweeters) Date: Wed Apr 10 10:09:01 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Off Topic - Panama Trip In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <000801da8b69$c6d29f50$5477ddf0$@northbeachlandscapes.com> Amazing photos! I couldn?t find Panama Birding on line, but I did find Birding Panama. Is that the company you used? If not, could you provide a link? Thank you, Janine Anderson Port Townsend, WA jatlmm@msn.com 206 618 6054 From: Tweeters On Behalf Of Douglas Brown via Tweeters Sent: Wednesday, April 10, 2024 9:07 AM To: tweeters@u.washington.edu Subject: [Tweeters] Off Topic - Panama Trip Chirp, Marion and I visited Panama for two weeks in March. It was a guided trip through Panama Birding. We were picked up at the airport. From that moment until we were dropped off at the airport two weeks later, all accommodations, transportation, and meals were provided. Our guide was outstanding and every aspect of the trip was Excellent ! I have created an album of photos from the trip. Many of these birds were life birds for me. Hopefully I correctly identified most of the birds. Corrections welcome. The album can be viewed here ? https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjBiixr cheers, Douglas Brown Bellingham -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Wed Apr 10 11:19:25 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Douglas Brown via Tweeters) Date: Wed Apr 10 11:19:29 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Birding Panama Message-ID: Chirp, I couple people have asked. The oufit is ?Birding Panama?, not Panama Birding. Here is a link to their tours?.. if Tweeters allows?. I?m happy to answer any questions. Probably best asked via PM, not on this list. https://www.birdingpanama.com/panama_birding_tours.html cheers, db From tweeters at u.washington.edu Thu Apr 11 12:09:17 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Shep Thorp via Tweeters) Date: Thu Apr 11 12:09:36 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Wednesday Walk for Billy Frank Jr Nisqually NWR for 4/10/2024 Message-ID: Hi Tweets, Approximately 30 of us had a nice spring day at the Refuge with temperatures in the 40's to 50's degrees Fahrenheit. There was a High 14'7" Tide at 6:15am and a Low -0'11" Tide at 12:59pm. So we skipped the Orchard, Access Roads, and west entrance to the Twin Barns Loop Trail in the morning and headed out to the dike or Nisqually Estuary Trail to catch the falling tide. Highlights included WILSON SNIPE in the flooded field south of the Twin Barns, Twin Barns Observation Platform, and freshwater marsh; RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER in the Maple Trees at the Twin Barns Picnic area, BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER on the mudflats west of Leschi Slough; MARSH WREN nest in the cattails of the freshwater marsh just east of the entrance to the Nisqually Estuary Boardwalk Trail; and First of Year NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW at the northern section of the Nisqually Estuary Boardwalk Trail along McAllister Creek. We had a high count of 100 plus BALD EAGLE with two occupied nests. With the low tide, exposed reach and distant waterfowl, there must be plenty of food along with migration. We are monitoring nests of CANADA GOOSE, ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD, BUSHTIT and BROWN CREEPER. Other FOY included BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD and reports of CASPIAN TERN on the high tide at 8am. For the day we observed 79 species and have seen 120 species this year. Mammals seen included Townsend's Chipmunk, Eastern Cotton-tailed Rabbit, Columbian Black-tailed Deer, Eastern Gray Squirrel, River Otter, and Harbor Seal. We also observed Pacific Tree Frog, Common or NW Garter Snake, Painted Turtle and Red-eared Slider. See eBird report below with additional details and embedded photos. Until next week when we meet again at 8am, happy birding. Shep -- Shep Thorp Browns Point 253-370-3742 Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually NWR, Thurston, Washington, US Apr 10, 2024 6:59 AM - 5:03 PM Protocol: Traveling 8.015 mile(s) Checklist Comments: Wednesday Walk. Mostly sunny with temperatures in the 40?s to 60?s degrees Fahrenheit. A High 14?7? Tide at 6:15am and a Low -0?11? Tide at 12:59pm. Mammals seen River Otter, Townsend?s Chipmunk, Eastern Cotton-tailed Rabbit, Columbian Black-tailed Deer, Eastern Gray Squirrel, Harbor Seal. Other seen Pacific Tree Frog, Northwest or Common Gartersnake, Painted Turtle, and Red-eared Slider. 79 species (+8 other taxa) Cackling Goose (minima) 400 Cackling Goose (Taverner's) 10 Canada Goose (moffitti/maxima) 35 Wood Duck 5 Visitor Center Pond and Maple Trees at Twin Barns Picnic Area. Northern Shoveler 150 Gadwall 20 Eurasian Wigeon 1 Female spotted by Craig in flooded field south of Twin Barns. American Wigeon 125 Eurasian x American Wigeon (hybrid) 1 Male observed from Twin Barns Overlook. Mallard 100 Northern Pintail 50 Green-winged Teal (American) 500 dabbling duck sp. 1000 Many waterfowl out on the reach flushed by area Bald Eagle. Suspect predominently Green-winged Teal do to the lack of white markings on the wing and tight fast flying formation comparable to shorebirds. Ring-necked Duck 20 Greater Scaup 2 One seen in freshwater marsh, the other seen in McAllister Creek. Bufflehead 100 Common Goldeneye 45 Hooded Merganser 6 Visitor Center Pond and Twin Barns Loop Trail. Common Merganser 3 Nisqually River Overlook. Red-breasted Merganser 25 Pied-billed Grebe 2 Freshwater Marsh. Horned Grebe 1 Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 20 Band-tailed Pigeon 3 Orchard and West Bank of McAllister Creek. Mourning Dove 1 Anna's Hummingbird 1 Seen by Louis and Alec. Rufous Hummingbird 4 American Coot (Red-shielded) 125 Black-bellied Plover 2 Mudflats west of Leschi Slough and north of Nisqually Estuary Trail or dike. Long-billed Dowitcher 1 Freshwater marsh. Wilson's Snipe 4 Spotted Sandpiper 1 West Bank of McAllister Creek. Greater Yellowlegs 30 Dunlin 7 Seen by Louis and Alec at the start of the Nisqually Estuary Boardwalk Trail between 8-9am. Least Sandpiper 20 Short-billed Gull 100 Ring-billed Gull 10 Glaucous-winged Gull 2 Western x Glaucous-winged Gull (hybrid) 22 Western/Glaucous-winged Gull 20 Larus sp. 50 Caspian Tern 1 Seen by Louis and Alec between 8-9am north of the Nisqually Estuary Trail or dike. Brandt's Cormorant 1 Channel Marker mouth of Nisqually River. Double-crested Cormorant 5 Great Blue Heron (Great Blue) 15 Bald Eagle 100 High Count. Red-tailed Hawk 1 Belted Kingfisher 2 West Bank of McAllister Creek Red-breasted Sapsucker 2 Twin Barns Picnic Area and east side of Twin Barns Loop Trail. Downy Woodpecker 2 Pileated Woodpecker 1 Heard only. Northern Flicker 1 Merlin 1 Spotted by Louis and Alec. Steller's Jay 2 American Crow 8 Common Raven 2 Black-capped Chickadee 4 Chestnut-backed Chickadee 2 Tree Swallow 75 Violet-green Swallow 2 Northern Rough-winged Swallow 3 Nisqually Estuary Boardwalk Trail. Barn Swallow 4 Bushtit 2 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 5 Brown Creeper 4 Pacific Wren 1 Marsh Wren 8 Bewick's Wren 4 European Starling 50 American Robin 20 Purple Finch 1 Pine Siskin 6 American Goldfinch 4 Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon) 1 White-crowned Sparrow (pugetensis) 6 Golden-crowned Sparrow 30 Savannah Sparrow 4 Song Sparrow 22 Lincoln's Sparrow 1 Spotted by Whittier north of the dike. Spotted Towhee (oregonus Group) 1 Red-winged Blackbird 50 Brown-headed Cowbird 3 Orange-crowned Warbler (lutescens) 1 Twin Barns picnic area. Common Yellowthroat 8 Yellow-rumped Warbler 30 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 3 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's) 4 View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S168087518 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Thu Apr 11 13:09:54 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Michael Hobbs via Tweeters) Date: Thu Apr 11 13:10:09 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Marymoor Park (Redmond, King Co.) 2024-04-11 Message-ID: Tweets - We had dark overcast for most of the morning today. There was lots of singing, but bird sightings were in short supply. About 8 species were heard-only, with another two seen pre-dawn only, and two more seen only on a late scan of the lake. Highlights: Greater White-fronted Goose - The two hung out with Canadas near the Viewing Mound Cackling Goose - Two flocks of ~75 each, flying north Mourning Dove - Tony photographed one before sunrise, First of Year (FOY) Great Blue Heron - A low chorus of "grum grum grum", indicating multiple young in the nests Osprey - They're Back - Probably at least 4 birds (FOY). Canada Geese continue to occupy the nests, though Cooper's Hawk - One flyby, first in a month Purple Martin - Male and female, each in a gourd (FOY), and the 3rd-earliest we've had them in spring Northern Rough-winged Swallow - Perhaps four, seen from the Lake Platform (FOY) Barn Swallow - Two, one at the lake, one at the Pea Patch (FOY) Yellow-rumped Warbler - Quite numerous, and the only warbler seen. Heard about 7 COMMON YELLOWTHROAT and 1 ORANGE-CROWNED The only sightings of GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE later in the spring than today's are three times that large flocks were seen flying overhead. Dates of these late flyovers were 4/17/2014, 4/24/2023, and 5/2/2010. So today's were the latest seen on the ground at the park. Excluding Song Sparrow and Dark-eyed Junco, sparrow numbers were notably low. We had fewer than 5 each of FOX, WHITE-CROWNED, and GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROWS, and of SPOTTED TOWHEE. SAVANNAH SPARROWS might have been fewer than 10. We did not find the White-throated Sparrow that has been with the flock of Golden-crowned Sparrows that we also did not find. A late scan of the lake turned up the only VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW and PIED-BILLED GREBES. Mammals seen today included two COYOTE near the model airplane field just before sunrise. Misses today included Common Goldeneye, Virginia Rail, Glaucous-winged Gull, Red-tailed Hawk, American Goldfinch, and Lincoln's Sparrow. For the day, 62 species. Adding 5 species, we're at 96 species for the year. = Michael Hobbs = BirdMarymoor@gmail.com = www.marymoor.org/birding.htm -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Thu Apr 11 17:05:42 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (via Tweeters) Date: Thu Apr 11 17:06:09 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Nesting platforms for Ospreys Message-ID: <006d01da8c6d$29d91f30$7d8b5d90$@comcast.net> Hello Tweeters, Today I drove over to a cell tower near Hwy 99, where, for the past number of years, Ospreys have had nests. I have attached a photo showing a prospective parent on the tower with a bunch of sticks already on the tower. https://www.flickr.com/photos/29258421@N07/53648198239/in/dateposted-public/ I have been pondering this question: why is it that in eastern WA and probably other places in western WA there are lots of platforms erected for Ospreys to use during nesting season, yet around here in affluent Edmonds, for instance, we have none that I know of? My understanding is that the cell tower owners may need to clean off the debris from the nest, possibly interrupting the nesting season for these birds. I wish we had some platforms around here in Edmonds! I think there are several pairs of Ospreys that nest here every year, but all on things like cell phone towers. Eastern WA appears to be way ahead of us here. I'd love to hear from some of you that are better informed than me about why this is the case. Best regards, Charlotte Byers, Edmonds -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Thu Apr 11 19:00:56 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Jim Danzenbaker via Tweeters) Date: Thu Apr 11 19:01:12 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Clark County Spring Migration location this morning Message-ID: Hi Tweeters, With Birdcast reporting that 1.259 million birds ( https://dashboard.birdcast.info/region/US-WA-011) had passed through Clark County from 7:50 last night through 6:30 this morning, I decided I had to check the migration location on Larch Mountain in eastern Clark County. While not bowled over by the volume of birds, my visit still yielded some good results and a few county rarities too! Cassin's Finch - 1 (not recorded every year but probably occurs every year along the eastern edge of the county) Pine Grosbeak - 1 (not annual in this county) Townsend's Solitaire - 2 (one bird presumably on territory) Yellow-rumped Warbler - 74 (the first push of warblers this season) Golden-crowned Kinglet - 47 (surprisingly common migrant here) Here's today's list which has embedded location information: https://ebird.org/checklist/S168172556 The total species seen on Larch Mountain this year for me stands at 51. Last year's total for me was 99. Keep your eyes and ears skyward. Jim -- Jim Danzenbaker Battle Ground, WA 360-702-9395 jdanzenbaker@gmail.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Thu Apr 11 22:06:22 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Tom Benedict via Tweeters) Date: Thu Apr 11 22:06:58 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Nesting platforms for Ospreys In-Reply-To: <006d01da8c6d$29d91f30$7d8b5d90$@comcast.net> References: <006d01da8c6d$29d91f30$7d8b5d90$@comcast.net> Message-ID: I?ve wondered the same thing around here in not so affluent Burien we had Osprey nesting on a cell phone tower next to Highway 509 for a number of years, but I haven?t seen it for at least 10 years. Tom Benedict Seahurst, WA > On Apr 11, 2024, at 17:05, via Tweeters wrote: > > Hello Tweeters, > Today I drove over to a cell tower near Hwy 99, where, for the past number of years, Ospreys have had nests. I have attached a photo showing a prospective parent on the tower with a bunch of sticks already on the tower. > https://www.flickr.com/photos/29258421@N07/53648198239/in/dateposted-public/ > I have been pondering this question: why is it that in eastern WA and probably other places in western WA there are lots of platforms erected for Ospreys to use during nesting season, yet around here in affluent Edmonds, for instance, we have none that I know of? My understanding is that the cell tower owners may need to clean off the debris from the nest, possibly interrupting the nesting season for these birds. I wish we had some platforms around here in Edmonds! I think there are several pairs of Ospreys that nest here every year, but all on things like cell phone towers. Eastern WA appears to be way ahead of us here. I?d love to hear from some of you that are better informed than me about why this is the case. Best regards, Charlotte Byers, Edmonds -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Fri Apr 12 03:55:07 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Dan Reiff via Tweeters) Date: Fri Apr 12 03:55:23 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] =?utf-8?q?=E2=80=9CA_Hanuman_plover=2C_previously_iden?= =?utf-8?q?tified_as_a_subspecies_of_the_Kentish_plover=2C=E2=80=9D=3A____?= =?utf-8?q?=E2=80=9CNewly_identified_shorebird_species_takes_its_name_from?= =?utf-8?q?_Hanuman=2C_a_mythical_Hindu_ape_god=E2=80=9D?= Message-ID: <50A8BD51-117F-401E-884C-B022FCA031BF@gmail.com> ? https://news.mongabay.com/2024/01/newly-identified-shorebird-subspecies-takes-its-name-from-hanuman-a-mythical-hindu-ape-god/ Sent from my iPhone Sent from my iPhone From tweeters at u.washington.edu Fri Apr 12 09:20:59 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Ronda Stark via Tweeters) Date: Fri Apr 12 09:21:15 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Nesting platforms for Ospreys In-Reply-To: References: <006d01da8c6d$29d91f30$7d8b5d90$@comcast.net> Message-ID: Hi Tom, I am trying to respond to Charlotte but it is not showing her email as recipient. I have been working on Osprey nest platforms for the Seattle area and the results are not encouraging. Even when the Seattle Parks department puts up a platform, it is often not a good situation for the Osprey because it is not properly constructed. Two examples: First, there was an excellent nest built by the Osprey at Dahl Field one of the light poles. It was removed during the off- season-- it is illegal to remove nests from towers when actively in use. But the "replacement" on top on the light pole is a small metal grid with no depth or sides to prevent sticks from rolling off and no protection for hatchlings. It is truly a terrible site now and even lacks a parallel pole to allow the male to protect the female and young chicks from predators. Similarly, Nathan Hale High School removed the excellent Osprey nest from the light pole there and replaced it with an undersized box at the top of the pole. Last year the dismayed parents did not know what to do. They would come and stare at the box and even tried to bring sticks but the box was too small to fit the sticks in. I guess due to site fidelity, they did not leave but I don't know whether they produced any chicks. This had been a productive nest for about 10 years. NOAA put up the only well constructed platform in this area. It is surprisingly expensive to do the work correctly. I have not seen the platforms in eastern Washington but you might want to look at the website for Sandpoint, Idaho as this nest is a total community wide effort and now has a state of the art webcam as well. Ronda On Thu, Apr 11, 2024 at 10:07?PM Tom Benedict via Tweeters < tweeters@u.washington.edu> wrote: > I?ve wondered the same thing around here in not so affluent Burien we had > Osprey nesting on a cell phone tower next to Highway 509 for a number of > years, but I haven?t seen it for at least 10 years. > > Tom Benedict > Seahurst, WA > > On Apr 11, 2024, at 17:05, via Tweeters wrote: > > Hello Tweeters, > Today I drove over to a cell tower near Hwy 99, where, for > the past number of years, Ospreys have had nests. I have attached a photo > showing a prospective parent on the tower with a bunch of sticks already on > the tower. > > https://www.flickr.com/photos/29258421@N07/53648198239/in/dateposted-public/ > I have been pondering this question: why is it that in > eastern WA and probably other places in western WA there are lots of > platforms erected for Ospreys to use during nesting season, yet around here > in affluent Edmonds, for instance, we have none that I know of? My > understanding is that the cell tower owners may need to clean off the > debris from the nest, possibly interrupting the nesting season for these > birds. I wish we had some platforms around here in Edmonds! I think there > are several pairs of Ospreys that nest here every year, but all on things > like cell phone towers. Eastern WA appears to be way ahead of us here. > I?d love to hear from some of you that are better informed than me about > why this is the case. Best regards, Charlotte Byers, Edmonds > > > _______________________________________________ > Tweeters mailing list > Tweeters@u.washington.edu > http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Fri Apr 12 12:21:44 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Nancy Morrison via Tweeters) Date: Fri Apr 12 12:22:04 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] nesting platforms for Osprey Message-ID: Last year I very much wanted to get an Osprey nesting platform built at the newly refurbished Tl' awh-ah-dees Park (formerly Squires Landing in Kenmore). The Osprey are currently nesting across the street in a cell tower. I connected with two organizations here in Seattle and got permission from the City of Kenmore, but I could not get a response from the cell tower company. They even have a bird division, but after emails and phone calls, I got no response. Very frustrating!! Nancy Morrison -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Fri Apr 12 13:59:34 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Carrie Frederick Frost via Tweeters) Date: Fri Apr 12 13:59:58 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Zimbabwe In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <9f22c1d5-e82d-441a-b7d0-696be9a0846c@app.fastmail.com> Hello all, I am headed to Zimbabwe for research at the beginning of May and am looking to hire a local guide for a half day or day of birding. Does anyone have any leads or suggestions? Thanks! Carrie -- Carrie Frederick Frost, PhD Instructor, Global Humanities and Religions, Western Washington University Book Reviews Editor, *Journal of Orthodox Christian Studies* From tweeters at u.washington.edu Fri Apr 12 15:00:32 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Marilyn Sherling via Tweeters) Date: Fri Apr 12 15:00:46 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Nesting Platforms for Osprey Message-ID: Hello Tweeters, This is in response to the question that was asked as to why there seem to be many more Osprey nesting platforms in eastern Washington than in the Seattle area. I can?t speak for the rest of eastern Washington, but in Chelan County, maintaining Osprey nests is part of the responsibilities of the Fish and Wildlife department of Chelan County PUD. As of last July, CCPUD maintained 56 Osprey platforms in the county. Here is a page from their web site that tells a bit about it. https://www.chelanpud.org/about-us/news/2023/07/10/osprey-geese-keep-chelan-pud-biologists-crews-on-their-toes Thanks! Marilyn Sherling Wenatchee -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Fri Apr 12 16:36:00 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (via Tweeters) Date: Fri Apr 12 16:36:02 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Nesting Platforms for Osprey In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: I live in Douglas County, and the PUD puts up platforms, to keep them off the high transmission lines. I don't know if they have a wildlife division, but probably do. Meredith Spencer, Bridgeport From tweeters at u.washington.edu Fri Apr 12 20:21:09 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Steve Hampton via Tweeters) Date: Fri Apr 12 20:21:23 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Olympic Pen BirdFest -- Vesper Sparrow and others Message-ID: We enjoyed a good day in Port Angeles today for the Olympic Peninsula BirdFest. My group had the following highlights: VESPER SPARROW at Ediz Hook, only the 9th Clallam Co record on eBird. It was just east of the radio tower. There is also a Lapland Longspur and a W Meadowlark in that area. See eBird for pics by others. The Elwha River Mouth featured a female MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD and 3 species of loons feeding very near shore at the river mouth. A YELLOW-BILLED LOON just off the tidepool rocks, very near shore, at Salt Creek/Tongue Point. Looking forward to a beautiful day out there again tomorrow! -- Steve Hampton Port Townsend, WA (qat?y) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sat Apr 13 12:41:51 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Karen Wosilait via Tweeters) Date: Sat Apr 13 12:42:08 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Whimbrel and Purple Martins at English Boom County Park on Camaro Message-ID: <65CD564F-8C2A-4B95-A610-9E2275731EFD@gmail.com> Still counting Whimbrel (scope view) but in the 60s foraging on the mudflats. Purple Martins singing and checking out the nest boxes. Sunshine. Gorgeous day! Karen Wosilait (she/her) Seattle, WA karen.w.mobile@gmail.com From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sat Apr 13 14:47:10 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (via Tweeters) Date: Sat Apr 13 14:47:38 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Thanks for Osprey platform comments Message-ID: <005501da8dec$24559e00$6d00da00$@comcast.net> Hello tweeters, I hadn't realized that Tweeters doesn't publish a contributer's email anymore, so no one who might have wanted to write to me directly about my Osprey platform query (why don't we have many in western WA as opposed to eastern WA) could do so. So thank you to Nancy Morrison, Meredith Spencer and Marilyn Shearling for your comments today. There were some yesterday too. It appears that county offices of Washington Dept of Fish and Wildlife may be responsible for erecting Osprey nesting platforms. Apparently ours in King and Snohomish don't feel a need to do that. So many of our Ospreys are obliged to nest in cell phone towers! Ronda Stark and Tom Benedict also had comments. Ronda said that some platforms constructed in our area are so poorly designed that Ospreys can't use them NOAA did a good job, however. Since I wrote my original post, I have seen one good Osprey platform in western WA. It is on PUD land above Sultan at the hydroelectric plant that they operate there. The Ospreys are already on the nest and seem happy! Good birding, Charlotte Byers, Edmonds -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sat Apr 13 16:16:47 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Larry Schwitters via Tweeters) Date: Sat Apr 13 16:17:00 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Vaux's happening Message-ID: <7C26AB2B-4AD6-4FCF-8EE5-8AAE09E9C2D9@me.com> Hello Tweeters, We can use some help with our Vaux?s Swift monitoring project in Monroe and Selleck. Let me know if that could be you. Larry Schwitters Issaquah From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sun Apr 14 00:46:58 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Dan Reiff via Tweeters) Date: Sun Apr 14 00:47:02 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Scientists find blue light makes buildings more deadly to migrating birds Message-ID: <72DEA540-258A-48AF-94F3-321B828DBE78@gmail.com> https://phys.org/news/2024-04-scientists-blue-deadly-migrating-birds.html Sent from my iPhone From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sun Apr 14 00:52:36 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Dan Reiff via Tweeters) Date: Sun Apr 14 00:52:40 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] What do bird dreams sound like? Message-ID: <463149DF-50CA-4FAF-8F63-BA894B63F3F6@gmail.com> https://phys.org/news/2024-04-bird.html Sent from my iPhone From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sun Apr 14 00:55:51 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Dan Reiff via Tweeters) Date: Sun Apr 14 00:55:56 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] =?utf-8?q?Great_news=3A_=E2=80=9CHouse_Passes_Bill_to_?= =?utf-8?q?Reauthorize_Funding_for_Migratory_Bird_Conservation_-_American_?= =?utf-8?q?Bird_Conservancy=E2=80=9D?= Message-ID: <3BE2E87B-9966-4ADC-BCA8-D61530F70C35@gmail.com> https://abcbirds.org/news/house-passes-bill-to-reauthorize-funding-for-migratory-bird-conservation/ Sent from my iPhone From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sun Apr 14 09:27:38 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (jgretten via Tweeters) Date: Sun Apr 14 09:27:54 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Galapagos Info In-Reply-To: <26606E92-444B-4CAD-9711-95650CBAE4AC@comcast.net> Message-ID: <661c0406.170a0220.50e02.189a@mx.google.com> Hi Blair,We were just in Galapagos a week ago, and had a great trip, although not specifically birding, with Enchanted Expeditions. However, you should be aware there are currently restrictions on visiting some islands, including Genovesa, due to Avian Influenza.John? GrettenbergeOlympia, WASent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone -------- Original message --------From: Dennis Paulson via Tweeters Date: 4/6/24 10:08 AM (GMT-08:00) To: B B Cc: Tweeters Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Galapagos Info Blair, we had a great tour there with Wings in 2007, led by Rich Hoyer. Great because they visited all the islands necessary to give a broad picture of the birds and other features. Some of the general tour companies don?t visit Genovesa, far up in the northeast corner, and I think that?s one of the best islands to visit.Sadly, their upcoming trip in November is already full, with a waitlist. But any tour company that visits Genovesa as part of their itinerary is probably fine, as you don?t really need a specialized bird guide.Dennis PaulsonSeattleOn Apr 6, 2024, at 9:38 AM, B B via Tweeters wrote:Cindy and I are looking at a trip/cruise to the Galapagos.? Does not have to be bird-centric.? We would welcome recommendations from folks in Tweeterdom who have visited these islands - especially about ships/tour companies.? Email to me or share with tweeters - thank you?Blair Bernson_______________________________________________Tweeters mailing listTweeters@u.washington.eduhttp://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sun Apr 14 09:39:36 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (pan via Tweeters) Date: Sun Apr 14 09:39:43 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] King Cty. Loggerhead Shrike -- no Message-ID: <908415862.65037.1713112776501@ichabod.co-bxl> Several birders started at Marymoor Park this morning before dawn.? No shrikes were detected through mid-morning (one having been seen much of yesterday). 14 April, 2024, Alan Grenon Seattle panmail AT mailfence.com -- Sent with https://mailfence.com Secure and private email -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sun Apr 14 10:13:13 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Eric Hoffman via Tweeters) Date: Sun Apr 14 10:13:25 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Suggestions for birding in Eastern Wash Message-ID: I'm planning a birding weekend across the mountains in early May and would appreciate any suggestions. I'm thinking somewhere in Okanogan county but I'm open to other options. Priorities are good habitat and short walks/hikes. I haven't been birding in that area for 15 years so I'm sure things have changed. Any suggestions are much appreciated. Eric Hoffman Bainbridge Island -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sun Apr 14 11:18:03 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Diann MacRae via Tweeters) Date: Sun Apr 14 11:18:08 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] question Message-ID: An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sun Apr 14 11:49:56 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Tim Brennan via Tweeters) Date: Sun Apr 14 11:50:01 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Kitsap and Jefferson County birding Message-ID: Hey Tweets! I made a trip, now a week back, to Kitsap and Jefferson Counties - continuing to do monthly-ish trips to see what birds I can see out there this year. Day one (all Kitsap) has been blogged at the link below. Lordy, it's a ramble. Solitaires, grouse, auklets, stooping, shooting, petrichor, lighthouses, and maybe? some Siberian Miner's lettuce have all been sprinkled around in there, along with the usual brushes with death and flubbed directions. Enjoy https://jkcountybirding.blogspot.com/2024/04/april-7th-digging-for-gold-in-kitsap.html [https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijE3aPpk2iYEze2wetjg9Zhe6yMU5_lZNH5fP22hk2TwVX4Cms9qyEwfxIW0iGBOwuFObW7ytw-aTzM_dZIqEkMWZHdlcPwaqDxd1oOzJM2ESq0Iuwc27_FfyMf_y8SQuaMtWe3FjjN4fBqllNpX53I2V3QWcRsjU_Pc-R1iXbjab_PiuC46GDz_yZOd0L/w1200-h630-p-k-no-nu/DSC_0001.JPG] April 7th - Digging for Gold in Kitsap Gold Mountain Olympics through the clouds Back in March, I'd done the hike up Gold Mountain, the highest point in Kitsap County, in the snow... jkcountybirding.blogspot.com Tim Brennan, Renton -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sun Apr 14 12:06:43 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Marcy D'Addio via Tweeters) Date: Sun Apr 14 12:06:56 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Hwy 10 East of Cle Elum Message-ID: Predicted 70s, light wind near Ellensburg so we drove to see the bluebirds and balsam root. The Arrowleaf BalsamRoot was peak along Hwy 10, Yakima River and on Hayward Rd. Early boom near Cle Elum. But where are the bluebirds? I visit this area every 2-3 years to see both Western and Mountains on the bluebird boxes on Hayward. Numbers seem down during my last 2 visits. WA 10/WA970 4/13 11:00am Wild Turkey Taylor Rd, Hart Rd 11:15 -12:15 3 White Crown Sparrows American Robin 2 Black'billed Magpie Western Meadowlark Norther Harrier Turkey Vulture American Kestrel Yellow rumped Warbler, Audubon's 4 Western Blue Birds Northern Flicker House FINCH Purple FINCH Spotted Towhee 16 deer 6 squirrels on road munching gravel, Western Gray Squirrels? Very long, bushy tail 12:15-1:30 Hwy 10, near Thorp/Hayward corner 2 crow Meadowlark 2 Violet green swallow - so many Steller Jay 2 raven Ground hog/marmot ? 2-3p Hayward Rd in the Kittitas Valley Wind Farm No Mountain Bluebirds 4 Western Bluebirds Marcy D'Addio Redmond, WA -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sun Apr 14 12:22:58 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Kersti Muul via Tweeters) Date: Sun Apr 14 12:23:13 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Osprey nest questions Message-ID: Can't find the original questions.. FWIW, hopefully this helps- regarding nests on utility towers - if the utility wants them removed, they must obtain an inactive nest destruction permit from DFW. These permits are not typically approved past February. Kersti E. Muul SALISH WILDLIFE WATCH Urban Conservation & Wildlife Biologist/Specialist - Response and Rescue WASART, MMSN and BCS referral Wildlife Field Biologist IV Marbled murrelet forest certified and USFWS marine certified Birds Connect Neighborhood Bird Project Site Leader Climate Watch Coordinator Animal Care Specialist/Animal & Off the Grid First Aid Certified -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sun Apr 14 15:03:25 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (B B via Tweeters) Date: Sun Apr 14 15:03:31 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Hwy 10 East of Cle Elum In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <1340611230.516868.1713132205999@mail.yahoo.com> Friday more than a dozen eac Mountain and Western Bluebirds on Durr Road and Umptanum N. Wenas roads south of Ellensburg.? 5 or 6 White Headed Woodpeckers Observatory Road. On Sunday, April 14, 2024 at 12:07:08 PM PDT, Marcy D'Addio via Tweeters wrote: Predicted 70s, light wind near Ellensburg so we drove to see the bluebirds and balsam root.? The Arrowleaf BalsamRoot was peak along Hwy 10, Yakima River and on Hayward Rd. Early boom near Cle Elum.But where are the bluebirds? I visit this area every 2-3 years to see both Western and Mountains on the bluebird boxes on Hayward. Numbers seem down during my last 2 visits. WA 10/WA9704/13 11:00amWild Turkey Taylor Rd, Hart Rd 11:15 -12:153 White Crown SparrowsAmerican Robin2 Black'billed Magpie?Western MeadowlarkNorther HarrierTurkey VultureAmerican KestrelYellow rumped Warbler, Audubon's4 Western Blue BirdsNorthern FlickerHouse FINCHPurple FINCHSpotted Towhee16 deer6 squirrels on road munching gravel, Western Gray Squirrels? Very long, bushy tail 12:15-1:30Hwy 10, near Thorp/Hayward corner2 crowMeadowlark 2Violet green swallow - so manySteller Jay2 raven Ground hog/marmot ? 2-3pHayward Rd in the Kittitas Valley Wind FarmNo Mountain Bluebirds4 Western Bluebirds Marcy D'Addio?Redmond, WA_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters@u.washington.edu http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sun Apr 14 17:02:14 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Tim Brennan via Tweeters) Date: Sun Apr 14 17:02:19 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] And Jefferson Message-ID: Hey Tweets, Less rambling, and more pictures - from last Monday in Jefferson County. The best finds of the day: Sora on Marrowstone Island, and Cackling Geese on Gardiner Beach Road. Kitsap - 98 species for the year; Jefferson - 116. Excited to see what spring brings! If you're on your way back from the Olympic Bird Festival this weekend, feel free to stop in Jefferson and Kitsap to leave me some bread crumbs, please and thankya! Cheers, Tim Brennan Renton https://jkcountybirding.blogspot.com/2024/04/april-8th-early-spring-trip-jefferson.html [https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC8UAinzM6IACSZAVFBZJwlOx9ltVnWWPCXZRD9Eog4iaBUcjm0aAEC_UyHlyQzecLCzgAdL6eeUgLSyAIqan_Ikx6jBh7krI1_tn1_t6avGrEwTnQddsF9J6nqMimx7LFxoBz6rxxttEE91-vcXwmWxGKBBmWUvBASAUJxHB3B3wVFr3irBK-CKqESntV/w1200-h630-p-k-no-nu/DSC_0002.JPG] April 8th - Early Spring Trip, Jefferson County Can't even remember where - Kitsap County Catching up I woke up Monday morning. Not a shocker. I just got to thinking - what an interesting... jkcountybirding.blogspot.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sun Apr 14 17:20:46 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Rob Faucett via Tweeters) Date: Sun Apr 14 17:21:01 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] question In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <71EDA41C-BAA3-4747-9115-CE67F32C15A6@mac.com> Hi Diane (et al) - There should always be a ?sent by? email address in the message. Depending on how your email reader thing (technically called a ?CLIENT?) is set up. In the old days it was considered rude or invasive to reply directly to the senders address respondingto something sent to a LISTSERV. Call anytime if you don?t see any senders address or need more info. I?m happy to help. Good birding!! Rob ? Rob Faucett +1(206) 619-5569 robfaucett@mac.com Seattle, WA 98105 > On Apr 14, 2024, at 11:20?AM, Diann MacRae via Tweeters wrote: > > ? > Hi. Tweets > > Evidently I missed the boat sometime in the recent past. I did notice the "via Tweeters" on emails but didn't think much of it. Now, I realize there is no email so that we can answer someone's posting. That makes it difficult for people like me collecting data of some sort or the other. Not everyone posts their email at the end of their posting > > It would be nice to know why this change was made. > > Cheers, Diann > > Diann MacRae > Olympic Vulture Study > 22622 - 53rd Avenue S.E. > Bothell, WA 98021 > tvulture@gmx.com > _______________________________________________ > Tweeters mailing list > Tweeters@u.washington.edu > http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sun Apr 14 21:42:32 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (B B via Tweeters) Date: Sun Apr 14 21:42:38 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Kittitas County Springtime Birding - Blog Post References: <1971895580.5550206.1713156152333.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <1971895580.5550206.1713156152333@mail.yahoo.com> This blog post relates to the call of Spring to head east and bird in Kittitas County, covers some of my favorite places and routes and includes lots of birds and photos from my recent trip there of Friday April 12. https://blairbirding.com/2024/04/15/spring-has-sprung-kittitas-county-is-calling/ Blair Bernson -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Tue Apr 16 12:37:37 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Hubbell via Tweeters) Date: Tue Apr 16 12:38:12 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Union Bay Watch } Kingfisher Quest Message-ID: <8665A675-691D-4929-8DC3-62EDC824C50D@comcast.net> Tweeters, In the PNW we have just one kingfisher species, the Belted Kingfisher. If you have not traveled much, you might not realize there are over a hundred different species around the world. Someday, I hope a scientist researches all their DNA and determines the relationships among all the different Kingfisher species. Did they start out in Africa or Australia? Where was their second stop after they left their first continent? What caused their numbers of species to multiple in some locations and not others? Why did one species become nocturnal but none of the others? So much to learn. This post focuses on a much simpler question. Will a local pair nest nearby? https://unionbaywatch.blogspot.com/2024/04/the-kingfisher-quest.html Have a great day on Union Bay, where nature lives in the city and Black Birders are welcome! Sincerely, Larry Hubbell ldhubbell at comcast dot net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Tue Apr 16 13:26:52 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Hank Heiberg via Tweeters) Date: Tue Apr 16 13:27:08 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Skagit County In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Last week we took advantage of the favorable weather to travel north to Skagit County for the tulip fields https://www.flickr.com/photos/ljcouple/53651281518/in/dateposted/ the scenery https://www.flickr.com/photos/ljcouple/53655784907/in/dateposted/ and the birds. Snow Geese at West 90 (Samish Flats): https://www.flickr.com/photos/ljcouple/53658694085/in/dateposted/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/ljcouple/53655798432/in/dateposted/ Orange-crowned Warbler: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ljcouple/53654774463/in/dateposted/ Savannah Sparrow: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ljcouple/53656058966/in/dateposted/ Black Oystercatcher: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ljcouple/53651281383/in/dateposted/ Yellow-headed Blackbird: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ljcouple/53651413169/in/dateposted/ Here are links to the photo album for the trip https://www.flickr.com/photos/ljcouple/albums/72177720316205043/ and the eBird trip report. https://ebird.org/tripreport/220600 Hank & Karen Heiberg Issaquah, WA -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Tue Apr 16 14:54:01 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Jane Hadley via Tweeters) Date: Tue Apr 16 14:54:06 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Suggestions for birding in Eastern Washington Message-ID: <5c9a925b-4d87-4e93-9556-900d02e9326a@gmail.com> Eric Hoffman of Bainbridge Island said in a Tweeters post several says ago that he is planning a birding weekend across the mountains in early May. He asked for suggestions of places to bird, especially places with good habitat and short walks or hikes. The Washington Ornithological Society (WOS) and the American Birding Association published A Birder's Guide to Washington, 2nd edition, in 2015. The entire content of the book is available online for free at https://wabirdguide.org. This is a site guide that describes the best places to bird around the entire state. Places I've enjoyed birding in Eastern Washington include: Ahtanum Road to Ahtanum Ridge, Hardy Canyon and Fort Simcoe in Yakima County In Grant County, North Potholes Reserve, Potholes Reservoir and Potholes State Park, Gloyd Seeps Further east, Calispell Lake in Pend Oreille County, the Colville River Valley, including Waitts Lake and vicinity. Also Chamokane Creek in Stevens County. Jane Hadley Seattle, Washington -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Tue Apr 16 17:32:19 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Roger Moyer via Tweeters) Date: Tue Apr 16 17:32:26 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Lewis County Black-bellied Plovers Message-ID: I was out this afternoon attempting to photograph some Red-winged Blackbirds with my new camera gear. They weren't very cooperative. So I went on a little drive on Tune Road just outside Chehalis. And I happened upon a pair if Black-bellied Plovers. This is a county first for me. Pictures to follow. Roger Moyer Chehalis WA -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Tue Apr 16 18:08:26 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Mary Metz via Tweeters) Date: Tue Apr 16 18:08:34 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Bonaparte's gull References: <1825997926.33906.1713316106630.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <1825997926.33906.1713316106630@mail.yahoo.com> I don't know how unusual they are locally, but I was excited to see three Bonaparte's gulls off Constellation Park in West Seattle while I was out Tuesday afternoon. Definitely a first for me. -Mary16 April 24 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Tue Apr 16 19:39:36 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Tom Benedict via Tweeters) Date: Tue Apr 16 19:39:51 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Bonaparte's gull In-Reply-To: <1825997926.33906.1713316106630@mail.yahoo.com> References: <1825997926.33906.1713316106630.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <1825997926.33906.1713316106630@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <1544016F-1717-4FDF-AFD3-5F20FEE24A97@comcast.net> Larus philadelphia are found in varying numbers throughout the Sound in fall/winter/spring. They are supposed to be ?common? but for me they are always ?uncommon? and a treat to see them flitting about. Constellation Park is a wonderful location for seeing seabirds. Histrionicus histrionicus are regulars in the fall/winter/early spring in the rocky near shore, as well as Branta bernicla browsing the kelp beds. And the brass constellation maps in the sidewalk are a bonus. Tom Benedict Seahurst, WA > On Apr 16, 2024, at 18:08, Mary Metz via Tweeters wrote: > > I don't know how unusual they are locally, but I was excited to see three Bonaparte's gulls off Constellation Park in West Seattle while I was out Tuesday afternoon. Definitely a first for me. > > -Mary > 16 April 24 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Tue Apr 16 20:27:41 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Scott Downes via Tweeters) Date: Tue Apr 16 20:27:56 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Two spots open for May WOS Yakima County weekend trip Message-ID: Tweeters, Two spots have opened for the May WOS Yakima County weekend trip. Details below. Contact me if you want to sign up. Field trip details: Yakima County Weekend. May 18-19. The birding will start on Saturday at White Pass and spend the rest of Saturday covering the varied habitats of the east slope of the Cascades where an amazing variety of birds, including up to 10 species of woodpecker can be encountered! We?ll finish Saturday covering the Wenas Creek drainage before ending in Yakima. Sunday will have an early start to beat the heat and will head into the lower Yakima Valley covering areas like Toppenish NWR, Sunnyside Wildlife Area and Fort Simcoe. The Lower Yakima Valley is often alive with birds of the marsh during May. The trip will end in early afternoon to allow time for people to travel home and beat at least some of the heat. The weekend trip should be a great exposure to the breeding birds of Yakima County and at least 120 species are expected over the weekend, likely more. Participants should be prepared with lunch, water and snacks both days as we?ll be birding on the run. A scope will be helpful if you have it. Drivers should have the Discover Pass and ideally a Northwest Forest Pass. Weather can vary from needing layers at White Pass to bug spray and sunscreen in the Lower Valley. Expect to meet both days in Yakima at dawn or just before. Scott Downes Downess@charter.net Yakima Wa -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Tue Apr 16 21:17:21 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Tom Benedict via Tweeters) Date: Tue Apr 16 21:17:37 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Northbound Canada Geese over Burien? Message-ID: Sorry this is a little late, but I noticed my first of season northbound skein of Canada Geese high over the Seahurst neighborhood of Burien, a week ago Sunday. I assume they were migratory rather than locals. There were over 100 and they were quite high. I could hear them but didn?t have binocs to definitely id. Is it too early? Tom Benedict Seahurst, WA From tweeters at u.washington.edu Tue Apr 16 21:48:32 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Denis DeSilvis via Tweeters) Date: Tue Apr 16 21:48:37 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] BLM Eagle's Pride Golf Course Monthly Birdwalk - Thursday, April 18 Message-ID: Hi Tweeters, The Joint Base Lewis McChord (JBLM) Eagle's Pride Golf Course (GC) birdwalk is scheduled for Thursday, April 18. The JBLM Eagle's Pride GC birders meet the third Thursday of each month at 8:00AM. Starting point is the Driving Range Tee, Eagle's Pride Golf Course, I-5 Exit 116, Mounts Road Exit. When you turn into the course entrance, take an immediate left onto the road to the driving range - that's where we meet. Also, to remind folks that haven't been here before, even though Eagle's Pride is a US Army recreational facility, you don't need any ID to attend these birdwalks. Hope you're able to make it! The forecast looks as if we're REALLY going to have a spring outing - warm weather is on it's way! May all your birds be identified, Denis Denis DeSilvis Avnacrs 4 birds at outlook dot com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Wed Apr 17 17:10:38 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Scott Downes via Tweeters) Date: Wed Apr 17 17:10:53 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Two spots open for May WOS Yakima County weekend trip In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Thank you for the interest. The two spots have been filled and there is now a wait list as well. Scott Downes Downess@charter.net Yakima Wa > On Apr 16, 2024, at 8:28?PM, Scott Downes wrote: > > ? > Tweeters, > Two spots have opened for the May WOS Yakima County weekend trip. Details below. Contact me if you want to sign up. > > Field trip details: > Yakima County Weekend. May 18-19. > > The birding will start on Saturday at White Pass and spend the rest of Saturday covering the varied habitats of the east slope of the Cascades where an amazing variety of birds, including up to 10 species of woodpecker can be encountered! We?ll finish Saturday covering the Wenas Creek drainage before ending in Yakima. Sunday will have an early start to beat the heat and will head into the lower Yakima Valley covering areas like Toppenish NWR, Sunnyside Wildlife Area and Fort Simcoe. The Lower Yakima Valley is often alive with birds of the marsh during May. The trip will end in early afternoon to allow time for people to travel home and beat at least some of the heat. The weekend trip should be a great exposure to the breeding birds of Yakima County and at least 120 species are expected over the weekend, likely more. Participants should be prepared with lunch, water and snacks both days as we?ll be birding on the run. A scope will be helpful if you have it. Drivers should have the Discover Pass and ideally a Northwest Forest Pass. Weather can vary from needing layers at White Pass to bug spray and sunscreen in the Lower Valley. Expect to meet both days in Yakima at dawn or just before. > > Scott Downes > Downess@charter.net > Yakima Wa -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Wed Apr 17 20:27:42 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Hank Heiberg via Tweeters) Date: Wed Apr 17 20:27:56 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] OT: Carnation bobcat In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Today we were birding on the north side of the town of Carnation and lucked into seeing a bobcat hunting in a field. Here is a link to six photos. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ljcouple/albums/72177720316287262/ Hank & Karen Heiberg Issaquah, WA -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Wed Apr 17 22:36:47 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Dan McDougall-Treacy via Tweeters) Date: Wed Apr 17 22:37:04 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Wednesday Montlake Fill in Seattle Message-ID: Nice sightings at the Farm this morning: Oregon Junco (slate-colored) Lincoln?sSparrows 2-3 Western Meadowlark Also, flying west from Union Bay: American Bittern Dan McDougall-Treacy From tweeters at u.washington.edu Wed Apr 17 22:46:46 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Whitney Neufeld-Kaiser via Tweeters) Date: Wed Apr 17 22:46:59 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Bonaparte's gull Message-ID: Hello, Tweeters. For anyone who's annoyed at having to look up scientific Latin names, here's a translation of Tom Benedict's posting about Bonaparte's Gulls: "Bonaparte's Gulls are found in varying numbers throughout the Sound in fall/winter/spring. They are supposed to be common but for me they are always uncommon and a treat to see them flitting about. Constellation Park is a wonderful location for seeing seabirds. Harlequin Ducks are regulars in the fall/winter/early spring in the rocky near shore, as well as Brant browsing the kelp beds. And the brass constellation maps in the sidewalk are a bonus." Cheers, Whitney Neufeld-Kaiser Seattle, WA -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Wed Apr 17 23:51:13 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Lin Stern via Tweeters) Date: Wed Apr 17 23:51:27 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] 4/21 Black Hills Audubon Shorebird Trip Message-ID: Hello All, I have three spots available for my all-day shorebird trip to Bottle Beach, Tokeland, and Westport. This will be a great opportunity with a focus on shorebird ID help. It'll also be a wonderful chance to appreciate migration with fellow birders. Please send me an email if you're interested in attending. Happy birding, Lin "Caspian" Stern Olympia, WA From tweeters at u.washington.edu Thu Apr 18 07:11:27 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Kersti Muul via Tweeters) Date: Thu Apr 18 07:11:42 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Rae: Bonaparte's gulls Message-ID: There have been hundreds of Bonaparte's off Point No point over the last week or so. I thought maybe a herring spawn or something similar happening in the area. The last time we had them here (West Seattle) en mass was the 4/2020 herring spawn that stretched along Beach Drive, around Constellation Point and up Alki ave. Love them!! Here's a short clip of the near shore at Me Kw Mooks 4/23/2020: https://photos.app.goo.gl/SojhXqAsWNsY6byK6 Kersti E. Muul SALISH WILDLIFE WATCH Urban Conservation & Wildlife Biologist/Specialist - Response and Rescue WASART, MMSN and BCS referral Wildlife Field Biologist IV Marbled murrelet forest certified and USFWS marine certified Birds Connect Neighborhood Bird Project Site Leader Climate Watch Coordinator Animal Care Specialist/Animal & Off the Grid First Aid Certified -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Thu Apr 18 07:38:13 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Kersti Muul via Tweeters) Date: Thu Apr 18 07:38:25 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Extensive Oil Spill along Duwamish River Message-ID: FYI there was a pretty extensive Oil Spill near the bridge and marina in the Duwamish River on Tuesday. It wasn't completely contained yesterday morning and no visible booms in areas where it is concentrating, so I escalated it with Ecology. Also due to the wildlife that use the area - including the imperiled Caspian terns who just arrived, marbled murrelets, and several several marine mammal species. Ecology told me it was an oil spill from a tug boat and they would be facing repercussions. I have pictures from an anonymous source that are pretty shocking. Email me if you'd like to see them. And please look for oiled or sick wildlife if in the area. Hopefully it's getting cleaned up more vigorously and that won't be an issue. *Kersti E. MuulSALISH WILDLIFE WATCH Urban Conservation & Wildlife Biologist/Specialist - Response and RescueWASART referral, MMSN and BCSWildlife Field Biologist IV Marbled murrelet forest certified and USFWS marine certified Birds ConnectNeighborhood Bird Project Site Leader Climate Watch CoordinatorAnimal Care Specialist/Animal & Off the Grid First Aid Certified * -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Thu Apr 18 09:05:19 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Brian Zinke via Tweeters) Date: Thu Apr 18 09:05:34 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Puget Sound Bird Fest (June 1 & 2) schedule is live! Message-ID: Hi Tweets, The event schedule for Puget Sound Bird Fest is now live on our website! PSBF webpage: https://www.pilchuckaudubon.org/puget-sound-bird-fest Featured presentations include: - *The Ecology of Hummingbirds from Ecuador to Washington* by Gregory Green - *Counting Seabirds in Puget Sound: How Difficult Could It Be?* by Matthew Farr - *Seattle?s Adaptable Urban Cooper?s Hawks* by Ed Deal - *Marking Waterfowl in Washington: Insights from Banding and Telemetry Projects* by Kyle Spragens For those who have attended in the past, you'll notice we've moved the festival to June from its usual scheduling in September. When the festival started 20 years ago, it was actually a spring festival. With the return to its original timing, we hope this will make for better birding opportunities with our spring migrants. For any questions related to the event, please contact me. We hope to see you there! Brian -- [image: Logo] Brian Zinke Executive Director phone: (425) 232-6811 email: director@pilchuckaudubon.org Pilchuck Audubon Society 1429 Avenue D, PMB 198, Snohomish, WA 98290 [image: Facebook icon] [image: Twitter icon] [image: Instagram icon] -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Thu Apr 18 09:58:50 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Gary Bletsch via Tweeters) Date: Thu Apr 18 09:58:57 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] quasi-off-topic question re AviSys shortcut keys (long) References: <2039024044.473588.1713459530380.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <2039024044.473588.1713459530380@mail.yahoo.com> Dear Tweeters, This is a somewhat recondite question for anyone in the Tweeterverse who is still using AviSys bird listing software. Once again, an HP laptop of mine has begun to fail after a relatively short time, so I've bought a new laptop, a Lenovo Yoga 7. I'm not too impressed with their online support, which seems to consist mainly of links to YouTube videos.? I have AviSys up and running just fine on the new machine, but I've realized that the laptop does not have the same keyboard as my previous ones. The new keyboard appears to have the same quantity of keys, but the function keys in the top row have different labels. The four keys in the top-right corner have different functions from the functions of those keys on my last two HP laptops. The new functions are all geared toward either gaming or media. There are just three functions that I am missing when using AviSys, and would like to get them going.? 1. The handiest of these was CTRL + f11. This is a shortcut that lets the AviSys user get an instant list of all of his sightings of one species. For example, right now, on my old HP laptop--on which everything works except for Internet access--I have the Chestnut-backed Chickadee highlighted. Simply by pressing CTRL + f11, AviSys gives me all 2506 of my lifetime sightings of this species. Without this shortcut, I have to go to List Records, Species, put CBCH in there, then click D for date, L for list, and then hit Enter, just to get a chronological list of those 2506 sightings. That is way too much work, compared to CTRL + f11. 2 and 3. The other two functions involve moving through lists of data, or List Records in AviSys parlance. For example, when I bring up a list all of those 2506 records of CBCH, I often want to go to the last record. On every previous laptop I've owned, all I had to do was press CTRL + end, and I go right to the last record in the set. If I want to go back up to the very first record again, I would press CTRL + home, and I am taken right back to that first Chestnut-backed Chickadee that I saw in 1978. So easy! There are two other functions that work similarly, CTRL + pg up, and CTRL + pg dn, but those are two that I rarely used, since they are not much different in efficiency than just pressing the up or down arrow, in order to move to the top or bottom of one page, which contains just 10 of those 2506 records. Well, I did a little reading online about this sort of thing. One website suggests that one use a program called Auto Hotkey. However, another website stated that Auto Hotkey leaves a computer more vulnerable to hacking. Several other websites recommended Microsoft Power Toys. That is a free product of Microsoft itself, so I'd feel safer using that. It is a program for "Power Users," a level of expertise that I don't claim even to approach.? I have now installed Microsoft Power Toys, but I can't really understand the complicated instructions. I have tried to follow them, but the results have been zero.? If anyone has any tips on making this work, I'd love to hear them. Yours truly, Gary Bletsch PS obligatory bird sighting for this e-mail is a flock of six Chipping Sparrows at my feeder just now! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Thu Apr 18 11:00:16 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Stephen Elston via Tweeters) Date: Thu Apr 18 11:00:32 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] quasi-off-topic question re AviSys shortcut keys (long) In-Reply-To: <2039024044.473588.1713459530380@mail.yahoo.com> References: <2039024044.473588.1713459530380.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <2039024044.473588.1713459530380@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Does this help you? https://superuser.com/questions/1549617/shortcut-to-toggle-f1-f12-function-keys-on-lenovo-yoga-lenovo-vantage#:~:text=1%20Answer&text=Save%20this%20answer.,square%20in%20the%20image%20below).&text=Thank%20you!,solution%20before%20finding%20your%20answer. Regards, Steve On Thu, Apr 18, 2024 at 9:59?AM Gary Bletsch via Tweeters < tweeters@u.washington.edu> wrote: > Dear Tweeters, > > This is a somewhat recondite question for anyone in the Tweeterverse who > is still using AviSys bird listing software. > > Once again, an HP laptop of mine has begun to fail after a relatively > short time, so I've bought a new laptop, a Lenovo Yoga 7. I'm not too > impressed with their online support, which seems to consist mainly of links > to YouTube videos. > > I have AviSys up and running just fine on the new machine, but I've > realized that the laptop does not have the same keyboard as my previous > ones. The new keyboard appears to have the same quantity of keys, but the > function keys in the top row have different labels. The four keys in the > top-right corner have different functions from the functions of those keys > on my last two HP laptops. The new functions are all geared toward either > gaming or media. > > There are just three functions that I am missing when using AviSys, and > would like to get them going. > > 1. The handiest of these was CTRL + f11. This is a shortcut that lets the > AviSys user get an instant list of all of his sightings of one species. For > example, right now, on my old HP laptop--on which everything works except > for Internet access--I have the Chestnut-backed Chickadee highlighted. > Simply by pressing CTRL + f11, AviSys gives me all 2506 of my lifetime > sightings of this species. Without this shortcut, I have to go to List > Records, Species, put CBCH in there, then click D for date, L for list, and > then hit Enter, just to get a chronological list of those 2506 sightings. > That is way too much work, compared to CTRL + f11. > > 2 and 3. The other two functions involve moving through lists of data, or > List Records in AviSys parlance. For example, when I bring up a list all of > those 2506 records of CBCH, I often want to go to the last record. On every > previous laptop I've owned, all I had to do was press CTRL + end, and I go > right to the last record in the set. If I want to go back up to the very > first record again, I would press CTRL + home, and I am taken right back to > that first Chestnut-backed Chickadee that I saw in 1978. So easy! > > There are two other functions that work similarly, CTRL + pg up, and CTRL > + pg dn, but those are two that I rarely used, since they are not much > different in efficiency than just pressing the up or down arrow, in order > to move to the top or bottom of one page, which contains just 10 of those > 2506 records. > > Well, I did a little reading online about this sort of thing. One website > suggests that one use a program called Auto Hotkey. However, another > website stated that Auto Hotkey leaves a computer more vulnerable to > hacking. > > Several other websites recommended Microsoft Power Toys. That is a free > product of Microsoft itself, so I'd feel safer using that. It is a program > for "Power Users," a level of expertise that I don't claim even to > approach. > > I have now installed Microsoft Power Toys, but I can't really understand > the complicated instructions. I have tried to follow them, but the results > have been zero. > > If anyone has any tips on making this work, I'd love to hear them. > > Yours truly, > > Gary Bletsch > > PS obligatory bird sighting for this e-mail is a flock of six Chipping > Sparrows at my feeder just now! > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Tweeters mailing list > Tweeters@u.washington.edu > http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Thu Apr 18 11:50:29 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Shep Thorp via Tweeters) Date: Thu Apr 18 11:50:44 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Wednesday Walk at Billy Frank Jr Nisqually NWR for 4/17/2024 Message-ID: Hi Tweets, Approximately 35 of us had a lovely spring day at the Refuge with cool temperatures in the 30's to 50's degrees Fahrenheit and a steady north breeze. There was a Low 6' Tide at 9:40am and a High 9' Tide at 1:30pm so we did our regular walk. We had several out-of-towners from Minnesota and Virginia, so many nice west coast bird sightings to share. Highlights included a female RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD building a nest in the Orchard, Audubon's x Myrtle Intergrade Yellow-rumped Warbler spotted by Jason along the Access Road across from the Ed Center entrance road, FOY BLUE-WINGED TEAL in the flooded fields south of the Twin Barns along with nice looks of LESSER YELLOWLEGS, FOY WHIMBREL on the mudflats west of Leschi Slough, and FOY YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD in the freshwater marsh along the Nisqually Estuary Trail or new dike. We have numerous nesting birds we are observing in addition to the Rufous Hummingbird including BUSHTIT, BROWN CREEPER, CANADA GOOSE, RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER, TREE SWALLOW, MARSH WREN, and ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD. We had a great goose day with nice looks of SNOW GOOSE, GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE, BRANT GEESE, and both Minima and Taverner's CACKLING GEESE. Overall, duck numbers are decreasing as expected with migration. A nice morning chorus with a good diversity of songs. For the day we observed 87 species, and with FOY BWTE, LEYE, WHIM, and YHBL we've seen 124 species this year. Other nice sightings included River Otter, Pacific Tree Frog, Puget Sound Garter Snake and Harbor Seal. See our eBird list pasted below with details and embedded photos. Until next week when we meet again at 8am at the Visitor Center, happy birding. Shep -- Shep Thorp Browns Point 253-370-3742 Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually NWR, Thurston, Washington, US Apr 17, 2024 6:34 AM - 5:45 PM Protocol: Traveling 9.191 mile(s) Checklist Comments: Wednesday Walk. Sunny skies with temperatures in the 30?s-50?s degree?s Fahrenheit. A light breeze from the north. There was a Low 6?0? Tide at 9:40am and a High 9?1? Tide at 1:34pm. Mammals seen Eastern Cotton-tailed Rabbit, Columbian Black-tailed Deer, River Otter, Harbor Seal, and Eastern Gray Squirrel. Others seen included Pacific Tree Frog, NW Salamander Egg Cluster, and Puget Sound Garter Snake. 87 species (+8 other taxa) Snow Goose 1 With Cackling Geese. Greater White-fronted Goose 2 Brant (Black) 65 Nisqually Reach, mouth of Madrone Slough. Cackling Goose (minima) 500 Cackling Goose (Taverner's) 30 Canada Goose (moffitti/maxima) 25 Nest Visitor Center Pond and old owl tree nest north section of Twin Barns Loop Trail. Wood Duck 9 Blue-winged Teal 3 Flooded fields south of Twin Barns and Twin Barns Observation Platform. Cinnamon Teal 6 Flooded fields south of Twin Barns and Twin Barns Observation Platform. Northern Shoveler 200 Gadwall 35 American Wigeon 300 Mallard 100 Northern Pintail 50 Green-winged Teal (American) 400 Ring-necked Duck 15 Greater Scaup 1 McAllister Creek off the Nisqually Estuary Boardwalk Trail. Lesser Scaup 1 Visitor Center Pond. Surf Scoter 20 McAllister Creek. Bufflehead 80 Common Goldeneye 20 Hooded Merganser 6 Red-breasted Merganser 24 Pied-billed Grebe 1 Freshwater marsh. Horned Grebe 4 Breeding plumage in McAllister Creek. Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 24 Band-tailed Pigeon 3 Orchard. Mourning Dove 2 Orchard Anna's Hummingbird 2 Nest four planks north of Riparian Forest cut-off on Twin Barns Loop Trail. On inside of trail, most right Alder, on 8th branch up on right side, 6 feet from main trunk, on small horizontal branch just of main branch. Approximately 20 feet high. Rufous Hummingbird 8 7 males, one female. Nest building in Pear Tree at entrance to Technician Building. Virginia Rail 2 Heard in Freshwater Marsh. Male?s gidik, gidik, gidik, call. American Coot 175 Black-bellied Plover 3 Mudflats west of Leschi Slough. Killdeer 1 Whimbrel (Hudsonian) 1 Mudflats west of Leschi Slough. Wilson's Snipe 5 Flooded fields south of Twin Barns, Twin Barns Observation Platform, Freshwater Marsh. Spotted Sandpiper 1 West Bank of McAllister Creek from Puget Sound Observation Platform. Lesser Yellowlegs 1 FOY, with Greater Yellowlegs north of old McAllister Creek Access Road in flooded field. Seen from closure gate on Access Road west of west end parking lot. Greater Yellowlegs 40 Dunlin 4 Least Sandpiper 25 Bonaparte's Gull 100 10 plus birds foraging close over channels on reach adjacent to Madrone Slough, another 100 birds foraging in deep water channel between reach and Anderson Island 1 mile out. Short-billed Gull 200 Ring-billed Gull 25 Glaucous-winged Gull 2 Western x Glaucous-winged Gull (hybrid) 10 Western/Glaucous-winged Gull 50 Larus sp. 200 Caspian Tern 2 Double-crested Cormorant 15 Great Blue Heron (Great Blue) 15 Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 Being chased by Swallows while flying over west end parking lot. Bald Eagle 18 Four occupied nests: 1)West Bank of Nisqually River in tall Cottonwood north of Nisqually Estuary Trail; 2) West Bank of McAllister Creek south of McAllister Creek Observation Platform; 3)West Bank of McAllister Creek across from Puget Sound Observation Platform; 4) south of I5 in tall Cottonwood. Belted Kingfisher 1 Red-breasted Sapsucker 1 Nest cavity/hole in Maple Tree in Twin Barn Picnic Table Area. Downy Woodpecker (Pacific) 4 Northern Flicker 2 Peregrine Falcon 1 American Crow 10 Common Raven 2 Black-capped Chickadee 10 Chestnut-backed Chickadee 2 Tree Swallow 70 Violet-green Swallow 2 Northern Rough-winged Swallow 8 Barn Swallow 30 Cliff Swallow 20 Good numbers observed at entrance ramp to south bound I5 at overpass of McAllister Creek. Bushtit (Pacific) 3 Four nests: 1) Orchard; 2) east side of Maintenance Building Entrance Road 30 feet off road in Doug Fir; 3) outside of north section of Twin Barns Loop Trail across from old owl nest tree; 4) east entrance to Twin Barns Loop Trail. Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2 Heard only. Brown Creeper 4 Nest in Alder in median on southeast side of Ed Center parking lot entrance road. Marsh Wren 10 Freshwater marsh Bewick's Wren 5 European Starling 50 American Robin 20 American Pipit 4 Fly over dike and Nisqually Estuary Boardwalk Trail. Purple Finch (Western) 3 Orchard. Pine Siskin 6 Twin Barns and east side of Loop Trail. American Goldfinch 2 Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon) 2 White-crowned Sparrow (pugetensis) 1 Golden-crowned Sparrow 30 White-throated Sparrow 1 Seen by Lin in Orchard with GCSP. Savannah Sparrow (Savannah) 10 Nisqually Estuary Trail. Song Sparrow (rufina Group) 25 Spotted Towhee 2 Yellow-headed Blackbird 1 Freshwater Marsh along Nisqually Estuary Trail. Red-winged Blackbird 50 Brown-headed Cowbird 3 Orange-crowned Warbler 3 Orchard and Nisqually Estuary Trail. Orange-crowned Warbler (lutescens) 1 Common Yellowthroat 16 Yellow-rumped Warbler 73 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 20 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's) 30 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle x Audubon's) 2 Two males identified. Initially spotted by Jason at green gate on access road across from Education Center. Observed at 30-50 feet in Cottonwood Tree with 10x binoculars for several minutes. Seen by numerous birders. A yellow throated Yellow-rumped Warbler with white demarcation behind auricles, white trim around yellow throat, black facial mask and white supercillium or eyebrow. Not unexpected given the large numbers of migrating Yellow-rumped Warblers on this day. View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S169188369 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Thu Apr 18 14:48:04 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Diann MacRae via Tweeters) Date: Thu Apr 18 14:48:09 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] March 2024 TUVU report Message-ID: An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Thu Apr 18 16:28:42 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Michael Hobbs via Tweeters) Date: Thu Apr 18 16:29:01 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Marymoor Park (Redmond, King Co.) 2024-04-18 Message-ID: Tweets - It started out a frosty 32 degrees, but once the sun came up, so did the temperature. By the end, it was about 56 degrees, so a huge swing in a few hours. It was pretty birdy, though we haven't hit the big push of spring migration yet. Highlights: Cackling Goose - One flock (maybe two) of about 50 Cinnamon Teal - Very nice looking drake just below the weir. First of Year (FOY) Eurasian Collared-Dove - One near the Pea Patch at 7:00 a.m. (FOY) Osprey - Either 2 or 4 birds. Geese are nesting on all of the old OSPR nests, so one pair is building a new nest in the NE Sharp-shinned Hawk - One seen from our cars at 6:30 a.m. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Thu Apr 18 16:42:22 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Michael Hobbs via Tweeters) Date: Thu Apr 18 16:42:39 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Marymoor Park (Redmond, King Co.) 2024-04-18 Message-ID: Tweets - It started out a frosty 32 degrees, but once the sun came up, so did the temperature. By the end, it was about 56 degrees, so a huge swing in a few hours. It was pretty birdy, though we haven't hit the big push of spring migration yet. Highlights: Cackling Goose - One flock (maybe two) of about 50 Cinnamon Teal - Very nice looking drake just below the weir. First of Year (FOY) Eurasian Collared-Dove - One near the Pea Patch at 7:00 a.m. (FOY) Osprey - Either 2 or 4 birds. Geese are nesting on all of the old OSPR nests, so one pair is building a new nest in the NE Sharp-shinned Hawk - One seen from our cars at 6:30 a.m. Pileated Woodpecker - Pair at snag nest in Big Cottonwood Forest Hutton's Vireo - Singing away near the windmill Hermit Thrush - One heard on edge of Dog Meadow, unseen (FOY) Fox Sparrow - Only one, singing near the madrona along the slough Western Meadowlark - One in the East Meadow BREWER'S BLACKBIRD - One male near the Viewing Mound (FOY) Common Yellowthroat - Quite a few heard, a couple seen Orange-crowned Warbler - One, singing, heard-only Yellow-rumped Warbler - Dozens Kathy Kuyper photographed two male and one female BREWER'S BLACKBIRD on Sunday. It was nice to get one on the survey today, as we only get about one report a year for them. Misses today included Violet-green Swallow, Cliff Swallow, House Finch, and Lincoln's Sparrow. For the day, 67 species. We're up to 100 species for the year. = Michael Hobbs = BirdMarymoor@gmail.com = www.marymoor.org/birding.htm -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Thu Apr 18 20:41:10 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (John Riegsecker via Tweeters) Date: Thu Apr 18 20:41:10 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Banded Caspian Terns at Port Orchard Message-ID: All, Last summer a flock of Caspian Terns that numbered close to 300 at one time hung out near Etta Turner Park in Port Orchard. Three of the birds were banded: https://ebird.org/checklist/S149979580 I reported all three birds, but the only one reported back to me was F649 which was banded in 2013 in Walla Walla. Today there were 59 birds present, 3 of which were banded: https://ebird.org/checklist/S169208124 None of these birds were present last year, and none of last years birds are here now. Only one of the birds had a color coded band which I have reported. John Riegsecker Gig Harbor, WA jriegsecker at pobox.com -- John Riegsecker From tweeters at u.washington.edu Fri Apr 19 01:05:00 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Dan Reiff via Tweeters) Date: Fri Apr 19 01:05:05 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Mountain chickadees have remarkable memories. A new study explains why | ScienceDaily Message-ID: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/04/240417131136.htm Sent from my iPhone From tweeters at u.washington.edu Fri Apr 19 01:16:28 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Dan Reiff via Tweeters) Date: Fri Apr 19 01:16:32 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Team finds direct evidence of 'itinerant breeding' in East Coast shorebird species Message-ID: https://phys.org/news/2024-04-team-evidence-itinerant-east-coast.html Sent from my iPhone From tweeters at u.washington.edu Fri Apr 19 01:30:43 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Dan Reiff via Tweeters) Date: Fri Apr 19 01:30:48 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] =?utf-8?q?_Age_72=3A_=E2=80=9CWorld=27s_oldest_wild_bi?= =?utf-8?q?rd_is_=27actively_courting=27_after_losing_long-term_mate_=7C_L?= =?utf-8?q?ive_Science=E2=80=9D?= Message-ID: <464CD9BE-3A1B-4A70-89D4-AFCAE5EE78FA@gmail.com> https://www.livescience.com/animals/birds/worlds-oldest-wild-bird-is-actively-courting-after-losing-long-term-mate Sent from my iPhone From tweeters at u.washington.edu Fri Apr 19 01:58:13 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Dan Reiff via Tweeters) Date: Fri Apr 19 01:58:17 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] See inside an endangered California condor egg just before it hatches | New Scientist Message-ID: <92A652AE-CD7D-4DD0-BE2E-3502C0E14078@gmail.com> https://www.newscientist.com/article/2426749-see-inside-an-endangered-california-condor-egg-just-before-it-hatches/ Sent from my iPhone From tweeters at u.washington.edu Fri Apr 19 07:47:00 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Robert Gray via Tweeters) Date: Fri Apr 19 07:47:08 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] =?utf-8?q?See_inside_an_endangered_California_condor_e?= =?utf-8?q?gg_just=09before_it_hatches_=7C_New_Scientist?= In-Reply-To: <92A652AE-CD7D-4DD0-BE2E-3502C0E14078@gmail.com> References: <92A652AE-CD7D-4DD0-BE2E-3502C0E14078@gmail.com> Message-ID: <2026496469.1047760.1713538020574@mail.yahoo.com> I would like to see a voluntary ban on multiple emails in a single day from a single person. I'm getting carpal tunnel issues from deleting.? On Friday, April 19, 2024 at 01:58:45 AM PDT, Dan Reiff via Tweeters wrote: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2426749-see-inside-an-endangered-california-condor-egg-just-before-it-hatches/ Sent from my iPhone _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters@u.washington.edu http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Fri Apr 19 07:51:10 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Ruby Newton via Tweeters) Date: Fri Apr 19 07:51:21 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] See inside an endangered California condor egg just before it hatches | New Scientist In-Reply-To: <2026496469.1047760.1713538020574@mail.yahoo.com> References: <92A652AE-CD7D-4DD0-BE2E-3502C0E14078@gmail.com> <2026496469.1047760.1713538020574@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Some of us find his posts very interesting. Surely it is not that difficult to delete ? ________________________________ From: Tweeters on behalf of Robert Gray via Tweeters Sent: Friday, April 19, 2024 7:47 AM To: Tweeters ; Dan Reiff Subject: Re: [Tweeters] See inside an endangered California condor egg just before it hatches | New Scientist I would like to see a voluntary ban on multiple emails in a single day from a single person. I'm getting carpal tunnel issues from deleting. On Friday, April 19, 2024 at 01:58:45 AM PDT, Dan Reiff via Tweeters wrote: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2426749-see-inside-an-endangered-california-condor-egg-just-before-it-hatches/ Sent from my iPhone _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters@u.washington.edu http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Fri Apr 19 08:04:38 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Constance Sidles via Tweeters) Date: Fri Apr 19 08:04:53 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] See inside an endangered California condor egg just before it hatches | New Scientist In-Reply-To: References: <92A652AE-CD7D-4DD0-BE2E-3502C0E14078@gmail.com> <2026496469.1047760.1713538020574@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Hey tweets, with something like 8 billion people on the planet, and thousands of articles published every day 365 days a year, year after year, there is way too much information being generated on a daily basis for any one human being to keep up with. I for one am grateful to those like Dan who sift through the mountainous sand dunes of facts to highlight the most consequential for birders and conservationists. Tweeters, unlike so many other listserves for birders, has always been a forum that is about so much more than where to find rare birds. It is really a community of people who share a love of birds, nature, and conservation. In any community, there are bound to be people with different interests, some of whom like science, others who like art or rare bird locations, or almost any other aspect of the avian world. Birding is a big tent, another reason I am grateful to Tweeters and to everybody who takes the time to share bird-related information that expands my horizons. - Connie, Seattle > On Apr 19, 2024, at 7:51?AM, Ruby Newton via Tweeters wrote: > > Some of us find his posts very interesting. Surely it is not that difficult to delete ? > From: Tweeters > on behalf of Robert Gray via Tweeters > > Sent: Friday, April 19, 2024 7:47 AM > To: Tweeters >; Dan Reiff > > Subject: Re: [Tweeters] See inside an endangered California condor egg just before it hatches | New Scientist > > I would like to see a voluntary ban on multiple emails in a single day from a single person. I'm getting carpal tunnel issues from deleting. > > On Friday, April 19, 2024 at 01:58:45 AM PDT, Dan Reiff via Tweeters > wrote: > > > > https://www.newscientist.com/article/2426749-see-inside-an-endangered-california-condor-egg-just-before-it-hatches/ > > Sent from my iPhone > _______________________________________________ > Tweeters mailing list > Tweeters@u.washington.edu > http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters > _______________________________________________ > Tweeters mailing list > Tweeters@u.washington.edu > http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Fri Apr 19 08:49:38 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Doug Santoni via Tweeters) Date: Fri Apr 19 08:49:53 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Multiple Posts In-Reply-To: References: <92A652AE-CD7D-4DD0-BE2E-3502C0E14078@gmail.com> <2026496469.1047760.1713538020574@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Connie ? Thank you for your thoughtful reply! I agree 100%. Today?s article about Woodcocks brought a smile to my face; two of my favorite childhood early birding encounters were with Woodcocks in Maryland! I delete some of the articles that don?t hold as much interest, but I do enjoy the occasional treasures and I?m grateful that they?re provided. Doug Santoni Seattle, WA > On Apr 19, 2024, at 8:04 AM, Constance Sidles via Tweeters wrote: > > Hey tweets, with something like 8 billion people on the planet, and thousands of articles published every day 365 days a year, year after year, there is way too much information being generated on a daily basis for any one human being to keep up with. I for one am grateful to those like Dan who sift through the mountainous sand dunes of facts to highlight the most consequential for birders and conservationists. Tweeters, unlike so many other listserves for birders, has always been a forum that is about so much more than where to find rare birds. It is really a community of people who share a love of birds, nature, and conservation. In any community, there are bound to be people with different interests, some of whom like science, others who like art or rare bird locations, or almost any other aspect of the avian world. Birding is a big tent, another reason I am grateful to Tweeters and to everybody who takes the time to share bird-related information that expands my horizons. - Connie, Seattle > >> On Apr 19, 2024, at 7:51?AM, Ruby Newton via Tweeters wrote: >> >> Some of us find his posts very interesting. Surely it is not that difficult to delete ? >> From: Tweeters > on behalf of Robert Gray via Tweeters > >> Sent: Friday, April 19, 2024 7:47 AM >> To: Tweeters >; Dan Reiff > >> Subject: Re: [Tweeters] See inside an endangered California condor egg just before it hatches | New Scientist >> >> I would like to see a voluntary ban on multiple emails in a single day from a single person. I'm getting carpal tunnel issues from deleting. >> >> On Friday, April 19, 2024 at 01:58:45 AM PDT, Dan Reiff via Tweeters > wrote: >> >> >> >> https://www.newscientist.com/article/2426749-see-inside-an-endangered-california-condor-egg-just-before-it-hatches/ >> >> Sent from my iPhone >> _______________________________________________ >> Tweeters mailing list >> Tweeters@u.washington.edu >> http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters >> _______________________________________________ >> Tweeters mailing list >> Tweeters@u.washington.edu >> http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters > > _______________________________________________ > Tweeters mailing list > Tweeters@u.washington.edu > http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Fri Apr 19 10:43:26 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Teresa Michelsen via Tweeters) Date: Fri Apr 19 10:43:31 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] See inside an endangered California condor egg just before it hatches | New Scientist In-Reply-To: References: <92A652AE-CD7D-4DD0-BE2E-3502C0E14078@gmail.com> <2026496469.1047760.1713538020574@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <5bc00bccba054aed8859d9bdccf7c6e0@avocetconsulting.com> All of the links could be put in one e-mail rather than successive one? Best of both worlds? Just a suggestion ? Teresa Michelsen Hoodsport, WA From: Tweeters On Behalf Of Constance Sidles via Tweeters Sent: Friday, April 19, 2024 8:05 AM To: Ruby Newton Cc: Tweeters Subject: Re: [Tweeters] See inside an endangered California condor egg just before it hatches | New Scientist Hey tweets, with something like 8 billion people on the planet, and thousands of articles published every day 365 days a year, year after year, there is way too much information being generated on a daily basis for any one human being to keep up with. I for one am grateful to those like Dan who sift through the mountainous sand dunes of facts to highlight the most consequential for birders and conservationists. Tweeters, unlike so many other listserves for birders, has always been a forum that is about so much more than where to find rare birds. It is really a community of people who share a love of birds, nature, and conservation. In any community, there are bound to be people with different interests, some of whom like science, others who like art or rare bird locations, or almost any other aspect of the avian world. Birding is a big tent, another reason I am grateful to Tweeters and to everybody who takes the time to share bird-related information that expands my horizons. - Connie, Seattle On Apr 19, 2024, at 7:51?AM, Ruby Newton via Tweeters > wrote: Some of us find his posts very interesting. Surely it is not that difficult to delete ? ________________________________ From: Tweeters > on behalf of Robert Gray via Tweeters > Sent: Friday, April 19, 2024 7:47 AM To: Tweeters >; Dan Reiff > Subject: Re: [Tweeters] See inside an endangered California condor egg just before it hatches | New Scientist I would like to see a voluntary ban on multiple emails in a single day from a single person. I'm getting carpal tunnel issues from deleting. On Friday, April 19, 2024 at 01:58:45 AM PDT, Dan Reiff via Tweeters > wrote: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2426749-see-inside-an-endangered-california-condor-egg-just-before-it-hatches/ Sent from my iPhone _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters@u.washington.edu http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters@u.washington.edu http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Fri Apr 19 13:19:20 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Zora Monster via Tweeters) Date: Fri Apr 19 13:19:37 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Martha Jordan Birding Trail Message-ID: <9574C7E7-6739-4542-8801-287A61A9E9B0@mac.com> This trail was a wonderful find. We saw over a dozen varied thrushes, orange-crowned, townsend?s and yellow warblers, warbling vireos, golden-crowned, white-crowned and song sparrows, steller?s jays, an unidentified flycatcher, ruby-crowned kinglets, red-winged blackbirds and heard marsh and bewick?s wrens, several bald eagles, several rabbits and a river otter. We walked approximately 2miles round trip-2 people and a dog-from 11am to 1pm. If you?re around the Long Beach area, this trail is well worth the drive. Zora Dermer Seattle Sent from my iPhone From tweeters at u.washington.edu Fri Apr 19 13:48:39 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Jeff Gilligan via Tweeters) Date: Fri Apr 19 13:49:22 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] shorebirds picking up on Willapa Bay Message-ID: <8E900DA4-4B59-4F9C-B319-D28C4A2539FE@gmail.com> It is near high tide currently. The little bight at my house has 36 Greater Yellowlegs and 48 Short-billed Dowitchers. The yellowlegs are apparently near the height of their migration numbers. I have seen as many as 80 at another place on the bay recently. The dowitchers and most other shorebird species should be increasing dramatically over the next two weeks or so. Jeff Gilligan From tweeters at u.washington.edu Fri Apr 19 16:29:38 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Denis DeSilvis via Tweeters) Date: Fri Apr 19 16:29:43 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Joint Base Lewis McChord (JBLM) Eagle's Pride Golf Course (GC) monthly bird walk - 4-18-2024 Message-ID: Tweeters, Twenty-two birders enjoyed a glorious Spring day with fine sightings and fun conversations. It started cool but ended warmer (35-59degF) with a slight northerly breeze, and JBLM Eagle's Pride GC welcomed not only Spring migrants, but also some folks from Vancouver Audubon, who traveled up here to visit not only Eagle's Pride, but also the nearby Billy Frank, Jr., Nisqually Wildlife Refuge. The highlights included a well-seen CASSIN'S VIREO and 5 (!) HERMIT THRUSHES (see below). Notable sightings: RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD - First of Year (FOY) KILLDEER - FOY OSPREY - FOY RED-TAILED HAWK - 6 - we usually don't see that many, but a kettle of 3 were different birds from the other 3 we saw that were more terrestrial located. MERLIN- a species that we don't normally see. CASSIN'S VIREO - FOY - heard first and then excellent visual with most observers seeing it. PURPLE MARTIN - FOY and a species usually seen later in spring or summer at Eagle's Pride BARN SWALLOW - FOY HERMIT THRUSH - FOY - the 5 seen were exceptional for Eagle's Pride and well seen in various spread-out areas of the walk, thus highly unlikely as counted more than once. CHIPPING SPARROW - FOY BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD - FOY ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER - FOY COMMON YELLOWTHROAT- FOY TOWNSEND'S WARBLER - First of season The JBLM Eagle's Pride GC birders meet the third Thursday of each month at 8:00AM starting in March. Starting point is the Driving Range building, Eagle's Pride Golf Course, I-5 Exit 116, Mounts Road Exit. (Turn left immediately after entering the parking lot to take the road leading to the driving range building.) Upcoming walks include the following: * May 16 * June 20 * July 18 Everyone is welcome to join us! >From the eBird PNW report: 54 species Mallard 9 Ring-necked Duck 8 Bufflehead 6 Hooded Merganser 3 Pied-billed Grebe 2 Band-tailed Pigeon 12 Mourning Dove 4 Anna's Hummingbird 7 Rufous Hummingbird 3 Killdeer 2 Osprey 1 Bald Eagle 2 Red-tailed Hawk 6 Downy Woodpecker 1 Northern Flicker 4 Merlin 1 Cassin's Vireo 1 Steller's Jay 8 American Crow 4 Black-capped Chickadee 14 Chestnut-backed Chickadee 9 Tree Swallow 40 Violet-green Swallow 2 Purple Martin 3 Barn Swallow 12 Bushtit 12 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 4 Golden-crowned Kinglet 1 Red-breasted Nuthatch 12 Brown Creeper 5 Pacific Wren 5 Bewick's Wren 4 European Starling 4 Varied Thrush 4 Hermit Thrush 5 American Robin 25 House Finch 10 Purple Finch 14 Red Crossbill 1 Pine Siskin 35 American Goldfinch 3 Chipping Sparrow 4 Fox Sparrow 1 Dark-eyed Junco 16 White-crowned Sparrow 12 Golden-crowned Sparrow 5 Song Sparrow 12 Spotted Towhee 10 Red-winged Blackbird 6 Brown-headed Cowbird 5 Orange-crowned Warbler 8 Common Yellowthroat 3 Yellow-rumped Warbler 18 Townsend's Warbler 1 View this checklist online at https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Febird.org%2Fchecklist%2FS169352295&data=05%7C02%7C%7Caa420d450db04853af6808dc60beb224%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C638491619356393347%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=IjqeBaX9tcr21Usuy7Ge8US3u7yEXgrMbOROna8xhjM%3D&reserved=0 May all your birds be identified, Denis Denis DeSilvis Avnacrs 4 birds at outlook dot com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Fri Apr 19 18:55:10 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Julia H via Tweeters) Date: Fri Apr 19 18:55:29 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] See inside an endangered California condor egg just before it hatches | New Scientist In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: If you are receiving too many individual emails, you may want to switch your subscription to "digest" mode. This bundles up all the messages in a 24 hour period into a single email for quick & easy skimming. This is how I use Tweeters and it works quite well! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Fri Apr 19 21:54:07 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (via Tweeters) Date: Fri Apr 19 21:54:09 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Birding in Belize ... Trip Report In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <20240419215407.Horde.92NJzoHtHsGiFk-SRM64fMr@webmail.jimbetz.com> Hi, We have just returned to the States from a birding tour in Belize. It was great! The rooms were comfortable, the food was simple/basic and excellent, the 2 different resorts we stayed in were both convenient (close to the birding) and accommodating, and the people of Belize are friendly and honest. If that isn't enough to make you consider Belize then I'll add in that our guide was one of the best, if not the best, birding guide we've ever had - and he was also a history, cultural, and archeological guide as well! Are you "into numbers"? We had 9 days of guided birding, 3 different guides but 2 of those were one day only, and we saw 201 species (by my count). At the end of each day we sat down with the guide and checked boxes in a comprehensive list/chart. In addition, our primary guide shared his eBird checklists with us. Most of the birding was done walking, one boat trip, and some "car birding" where we drove, stopped, birded, and drove some more. We went to pine savanna, oak-transition, jungle, wetlands, and one full day of island birding on Caulker Caye. Belize is the 2nd smallest country in Central America, English is the official language and the exchange rate is 2 Belizean dollars to 1 U.S. There are many different language/cultural groups with Hispanic and Mestizo (Mayan+Hispanic) being the most common. There were many whose preferred language was Spanish, but they all spoke English well enough to speak with us. Yes, this is a "Third World Country" ... no, we didn't care. We felt safe and welcomed every where we went. There are about 500,000 people living in Belize and the population density is under 20 per square kilometer. We -highly- recommend Belize, Crystal Paradise (aka "Birding in Belize"), and our excellent guide Abimael Morales. - Jim From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sat Apr 20 12:12:02 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Jack Nolan via Tweeters) Date: Sat Apr 20 12:12:27 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Osprey are back Message-ID: <3C991849-0BBC-4A4A-84D4-8E330A9DE46A@comcast.net> Saw two over Magnuson today and one on its nest at Dahl Field in Wedgewood. Jack Nolan Shoreline wa Sent from my iPhone. Pardon my brevity and typos. From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sat Apr 20 19:49:47 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Diann MacRae via Tweeters) Date: Sat Apr 20 19:49:52 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] multiple emails Message-ID: An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sat Apr 20 20:27:23 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Vincent Lucas via Tweeters) Date: Sat Apr 20 20:27:39 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Belize Trip Message-ID: The Garifuna people have a large population in Belize as well. Subject: [Tweeters] Birding in Belize ... Trip Report Message-ID: <20240419215407.Horde.92NJzoHtHsGiFk-SRM64fMr@webmail.jimbetz.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed; DelSp=Yes Hi, We have just returned to the States from a birding tour in Belize. It was great! The rooms were comfortable, the food was simple/basic and excellent, the 2 different resorts we stayed in were both convenient (close to the birding) and accommodating, and the people of Belize are friendly and honest. If that isn't enough to make you consider Belize then I'll add in that our guide was one of the best, if not the best, birding guide we've ever had - and he was also a history, cultural, and archeological guide as well! Are you "into numbers"? We had 9 days of guided birding, 3 different guides but 2 of those were one day only, and we saw 201 species (by my count). At the end of each day we sat down with the guide and checked boxes in a comprehensive list/chart. In addition, our primary guide shared his eBird checklists with us. Most of the birding was done walking, one boat trip, and some "car birding" where we drove, stopped, birded, and drove some more. We went to pine savanna, oak-transition, jungle, wetlands, and one full day of island birding on Caulker Caye. Belize is the 2nd smallest country in Central America, English is the official language and the exchange rate is 2 Belizean dollars to 1 U.S. There are many different language/cultural groups with Hispanic and Mestizo (Mayan+Hispanic) being the most common. There were many whose preferred language was Spanish, but they all spoke English well enough to speak with us. Yes, this is a "Third World Country" ... no, we didn't care. We felt safe and welcomed every where we went. There are about 500,000 people living in Belize and the population density is under 20 per square kilometer. We -highly- recommend Belize, Crystal Paradise (aka "Birding in Belize"), and our excellent guide Abimael Morales. - Jim Sent from Gmail Mobile ??? ??? ??? -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sat Apr 20 22:38:32 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Shep Thorp via Tweeters) Date: Sat Apr 20 22:38:48 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Pacific Golden Plover at Hoquiam STP Sat 4/20/24 Message-ID: Hi Tweets, I observed a breeding plumage Pacific Golden today at the Hoquiam STP around 1pm and again at 7:45pm. It was foraging in the bulldozed dirt between Paulson Road and the Lumber Mill along the Grass Edge within 50 feet of the road. Last seen: 46?58'31.6"N 123?55'03.3"W https://maps.app.goo.gl/j74rMJDppCs2o6gYA?g_st=iw Good birding, Shep Shep Thorp, VMD Family Guy, Emergency Veterinarian, Birder Browns Point, Tacoma 253-370-3742 From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sun Apr 21 08:19:05 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Robert Gray via Tweeters) Date: Sun Apr 21 08:19:13 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] multiple emails In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <1694034573.1520885.1713712745931@mail.yahoo.com> Voluntary restraint is an admirable trait. On Saturday, April 20, 2024 at 07:50:16 PM PDT, Diann MacRae via Tweeters wrote: Hi, Tweets?Just a note to say I don't mind the multiple emails at all. If I'm not interested, I just delete them, but lots of them are interesting and worth looking into.?Cheers, diann ?Diann MacRae Olympic Vulture Study 22622 - 53rd Avenue S.E. Bothell, WA 98021 tvulture@gmx.com_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters@u.washington.edu http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sun Apr 21 11:18:44 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (John Riegsecker via Tweeters) Date: Sun Apr 21 11:18:50 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Banded Caspian Tern Update Message-ID: <47be1814-f9b6-4d1b-86ba-a8277091624d@pobox.com> From USGS: Band Number 0875-98169 C116 Banded 07/12/2007 WAS TOO YOUNG TO FLY WHEN BANDED IN 2007 Location NEAR CHINOOK, CLATSOP COUNTY, OREGON, USA (COORDINATES:LAT: 46.25833; LON: -123.97500 ) John Riegsecker Gig Harbor, WA jriegsecker@pobox.com -- John Riegsecker From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sun Apr 21 11:58:00 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Diane Yorgason-Quinn via Tweeters) Date: Sun Apr 21 11:58:05 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Banded Caspian Tern Update In-Reply-To: <47be1814-f9b6-4d1b-86ba-a8277091624d@pobox.com> References: <47be1814-f9b6-4d1b-86ba-a8277091624d@pobox.com> Message-ID: Wow! That bird is getting old, happily! ________________________________ From: Tweeters on behalf of John Riegsecker via Tweeters Sent: Sunday, April 21, 2024 11:18 AM To: Tweeters Subject: [Tweeters] Banded Caspian Tern Update >From USGS: Band Number 0875-98169 C116 Banded 07/12/2007 WAS TOO YOUNG TO FLY WHEN BANDED IN 2007 Location NEAR CHINOOK, CLATSOP COUNTY, OREGON, USA (COORDINATES:LAT: 46.25833; LON: -123.97500 ) John Riegsecker Gig Harbor, WA jriegsecker@pobox.com -- John Riegsecker _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters@u.washington.edu https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fmailman11.u.washington.edu%2Fmailman%2Flistinfo%2Ftweeters&data=05%7C02%7C%7C553e4332835b4ab74a9b08dc622f8cce%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C638493203596578107%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=IiAeXlMD9v%2FG8iT3gDhjFBuKwqVN03qhVI46dKHplFA%3D&reserved=0 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sun Apr 21 13:53:54 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Faye McAdams Hands via Tweeters) Date: Sun Apr 21 13:53:59 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Banded Caspian Tern Update In-Reply-To: <47be1814-f9b6-4d1b-86ba-a8277091624d@pobox.com> References: <47be1814-f9b6-4d1b-86ba-a8277091624d@pobox.com> Message-ID: Wow! Very cool! Get Outlook for iOS ________________________________ From: Tweeters on behalf of John Riegsecker via Tweeters Sent: Sunday, April 21, 2024 11:18:44 AM To: Tweeters Subject: [Tweeters] Banded Caspian Tern Update >From USGS: Band Number 0875-98169 C116 Banded 07/12/2007 WAS TOO YOUNG TO FLY WHEN BANDED IN 2007 Location NEAR CHINOOK, CLATSOP COUNTY, OREGON, USA (COORDINATES:LAT: 46.25833; LON: -123.97500 ) John Riegsecker Gig Harbor, WA jriegsecker@pobox.com -- John Riegsecker _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters@u.washington.edu https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fmailman11.u.washington.edu%2Fmailman%2Flistinfo%2Ftweeters&data=05%7C02%7C%7C553e4332835b4ab74a9b08dc622f8cce%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C638493203600112595%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=Ujn9A5kqGw0iXFiGT4pzW8SC6%2ByGQ2mvtNwOX0dS8JM%3D&reserved=0 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sun Apr 21 16:36:08 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Larry Schwitters via Tweeters) Date: Sun Apr 21 16:36:21 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Lots of wee birds Message-ID: <637EE8BE-ADCF-4B4A-8D19-64AE55B0D928@me.com> A traveling flock of 1000 wee birds showed up at the Selleck Village last night. They circled the chimney roost in silence for 15 minutes before entering. That?s not the way it?s supposed to go down. Our Vaux?s Happening project needs some more community involvement. "We Want You" as Uncle Sam would say. Larry Schwitters Issaquah From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sun Apr 21 21:16:12 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (via Tweeters) Date: Sun Apr 21 21:16:16 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] =?utf-8?q?WOS_Monthly_Meeting=2C_May_6=2C_2024__=28in_?= =?utf-8?q?person_and_via_Zoom=29?= Message-ID: <20240422041612.48776.qmail@s401.sureserver.com> The Washington Ornithological Society (WOS) is pleased to announce our next Monthly Meeting: on Monday, May 5, Dennis Paulson will present, "Cormorants?perhaps you didn?t know they were so interesting!" Cormorants occur worldwide, and we are fortunate to have three species of them in the Pacific Northwest. They share a common ancestry and many similar anatomical modifications, but each of them has its own way of life. And cormorants around the world add even more variation to this plan. Dennis Paulson grew up in Miami, exposed to nature in all its glory while southern Florida was still largely unspoiled. After receiving his Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of Miami, he moved to Seattle where he has lived ever since. He continues to work regularly at the Slater Museum of Natural History, University of Puget Sound where he was Director for 15 years. Dennis is an iconic figure in the birding community, a noted naturalist and dragonfly authority, and perhaps most of all, a dedicated, generous and respected educator. This meeting will be conducted both IN-PERSON at the UW Center for Urban Horticulture, and virtually, via Zoom. At CUH (3501 NE 41st Street, Seattle), our social time starts at 7pm, and the formal program begins at 7:30pm. Please go to the WOS Monthly Meetings page: https://wos.org/monthly-meetings/ for instructions on virtual participation and to get the Zoom link. When joining the meeting, we ask that you mute your device and make certain that your camera is turned off. Zoom sign-in begins at 7:15 pm, and once again, the meeting commences at 7:30 pm. This meeting is open to all as WOS invites everyone in the wider birding community to attend. Thanks to the generosity of our presenters, recordings of past programs are available at the following link to the WOS YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@washingtonornithologicalso7839/videos If you are not yet a member of WOS, we hope you will consider becoming one at https://wos.org Please join us! Elaine Chuang WOS Program Support From tweeters at u.washington.edu Mon Apr 22 05:43:55 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Dan Reiff via Tweeters) Date: Mon Apr 22 05:44:09 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] =?utf-8?q?I_highly_recommend_watching_the_two-part_Nat?= =?utf-8?q?ure_series=E2=80=94=E2=80=9CRaptors=3A_a_Fistful_of_Daggers?= =?utf-8?b?4oCd?= Message-ID: <4711F83F-158D-4532-99E5-C67F366A9539@gmail.com> ? Hello Tweeters, I am highly recommending to you the Nature TV series episodes: ?Raptors: a Fistful of Daggers?, a two-part series. Episode one was on Wednesday, April 10 at 8 PM PBS. Episode two aired Wednesday, April 17. Goggle for other show times. This is an extraordinary compilation of video captures of raptor behaviors. Truly stunning video images, many close-up, of many species hunting. This was the result of Nature?s excellent production company, top writers and editors working with several masterful photographers who spent many hundreds of hours in the field capturing terabits of video. This was all edited down to show the viewer the beauty and fascinating behaviors of each of the species shown. I give Two talons up and RRTS: 10/10. Enjoy! Dan Reiff Sent from my iPhone From tweeters at u.washington.edu Mon Apr 22 05:53:53 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Dan Reiff via Tweeters) Date: Mon Apr 22 05:53:58 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] =?utf-8?q?=E2=80=9CBirds_rest_on_rafts_of_eelgrass_whe?= =?utf-8?q?n_they_can=27t_find_a_safe_space_to_roost_onshore=3A_=E2=80=9CA?= =?utf-8?q?s_Coastal_Habitat_Shrinks=2C_Scientists_Take_Inspiration_from_S?= =?utf-8?q?urfing_Shorebirds=E2=80=9D=7C_Audubon?= Message-ID: <79D12B79-9E28-495B-B751-4CAD24104C68@gmail.com> https://www.audubon.org/news/coastal-habitat-shrinks-scientists-take-inspiration-surfing-shorebirds Sent from my iPhone From tweeters at u.washington.edu Mon Apr 22 06:08:18 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Dan Reiff via Tweeters) Date: Mon Apr 22 06:08:23 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] =?utf-8?q?Extraordinary=3A_=E2=80=9CBaby_penguins_dive?= =?utf-8?q?_off_50-foot_cliff_in_1st-of-its-kind_footage_from_National_Geo?= =?utf-8?q?graphic=E2=80=9D?= Message-ID: https://www.google.com/search?q=Baby+penguins+dive+off+50-foot+cliff+in+1st-of-its-kind+footage+from+National+Geographic&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:d1d38f7d,vid:4PwDFddpo4c,st:0 Sent from my iPhone From tweeters at u.washington.edu Mon Apr 22 14:57:55 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Sara Blauman via Tweeters) Date: Mon Apr 22 14:58:02 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] header intact References: <1815404309.2463675.1713823075365.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <1815404309.2463675.1713823075365@mail.yahoo.com> -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Wed Apr 24 00:15:32 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Kevin Lucas via Tweeters) Date: Wed Apr 24 00:16:04 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] seeking Magnificent Frigatebird info Message-ID: On August 19th of last year we'd traveled down to the Columbia River, hoping to get a break from wildfire smoke in the Yakima Area. The air stunk of smoke there too, and we found a "park" that we'll not bother visiting again - Avery Recreation Area, but I'll never forget it. When I got out of the car I saw a Magnificent Frigatebird flying upriver just off shore. Once past, it u-turned overhead then headed back down river. It ignored the lone gull that was resting on the river, not feeding. I suspected it was quite lost in the smoke. It sure was hot enough for it. I'm pretty sure I've never seen a loner before, and I've only seen them down Mexico way. I did not have my camera with me, and I had my phone turned off and stored. I didn't post about my sighting. I did submit my sighting to eBird: https://ebird.org/checklist/S147648669 It was not accepted. I was asked to submit a report to the WBRC. I did. My sighting was not accepted by the Washington Birds Records Committee (WBRC). While it didn't clear their bars, my only question was whether it could have been a different species of frigatebird than Magnificent. Tonight I was reading about past reported sightings of improbable birds. I followed a google search that lead to the Second Report of the WBRC, published in Washington Birds 5:7-28, 1996. I read the account regarding the species I'd chased down this rabbit hole, Pi?on Jay, then scrolled to the top to see the paper's title, authors, publication date, and such. As I scrolled up, I caught sight of an account for Magnificent Frigatebird. It notes "The immature photographed in the interior over the Columbia River at Umatilla National Wildlife Refuge, BE on 1 Jul 1975, TMc, +KMi (MAFR-75-11 was the first Washington record. Details were published (M 57:43-44)" Umatilla is about 73 miles east up the Columbia River from where I saw the frigatebird. If there is anyone out there in Tweeterdom who saw, or heard of another report of, a frigatebird last summer in Washington or Oregon, I'd sure like to hear about it. Even one along northern California would be interesting. Replying directly to me rather than copying Tweeters is fine. I haven't searched for sightings. eBird's range map is understandably useless for sightings that have not been "confirmed". I don't know of an effective search strategy for this. Thanks and Good Birding, https://www.aba.org/aba-code-of-birding-ethics/ https://www.audubon.org/get-outside/audubons-guide-ethical-bird-photography Kevin Lucas Yakima County, WA *Qui tacet consentire videtur* -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Wed Apr 24 07:02:00 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Bruce LaBar via Tweeters) Date: Wed Apr 24 07:02:18 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Westport Pelagic Trip Message-ID: <383BE954-F5FD-4CCD-8DA9-B1AFD01AF72B@harbornet.com> A new pelagic trip has been added by Westport Seabirds on Saturday, May 4. It's a great time to catch colorful migrating seabirds heading north plus the usual ones seen on most trips. All other trips are full for the year. So, now is a great time to sign up. To make reservations please visit the website at www.westportseabirds.com. On behalf of Westport Seabirds, Bruce LaBar From tweeters at u.washington.edu Wed Apr 24 12:57:51 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (via Tweeters) Date: Wed Apr 24 12:57:56 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Magnificent Frigatebird In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <20240424125751.Horde.jg8-mtD4jXHRFeANrDuljUt@webmail.jimbetz.com> Kevin Lucas, Using eBird's "Explore" by species I found reports of the Magnificent Frigatebird in the Portland and Lyle areas. Based on that I would not consider your report worthy of being rejected - it seems to be an "unlikely". However, not having a photo or some other evidence may have been the reason. All, I have found that eBird is geared to accept the reports of some people (do they have a "user rating"?) much more readily than others. This is not bad or wrong - it's a good thing because none of us wants just anybody to be able to report something rare (or even unlikely) - the quality of the database -has- to take precedence over the feelings of the users. Having said the above - I once had a report I made of a Great Egret at Ship Harbor rejected. Since my report was just one of -many- that were made that day and week for that same location (same bird?) ... I have never understood why "mine" was rejected when others were accepted ... it seemed/seems kind of arbitrary (to me). Still does. - Jim From tweeters at u.washington.edu Wed Apr 24 14:31:37 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Scott Ramos via Tweeters) Date: Wed Apr 24 14:32:17 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Birding in southeast Texas Message-ID: Earlier this month, Dave Swayne and I made a trip to Texas with the hope of catching an early wave of migrants. While the weather did not cooperate, providing only southerly winds, and we missed the charm of a fallout, by visiting a variety of habitats in the southeast part of the state we were able to have a productive trip. We were able to see over 200 species of birds, many of them lifers for both of us. Here is a flickr link with photos of many favorites. https://www.flickr.com/photos/farpost/albums/72177720316399297/ We camped most of the trip which added a little complexity to travel arrangements but gave us some flexibility to be in good places when we wanted. Most locations we visited are well-known eBird hotspots and we chose them for the possible collection of birds we might see. Some spots were from suggestions by local birders we met on the trip (Hazel Bazemore Park is a must!) while others we stumbled upon when en route and in need of a break from driving (Sikes Road Catfish Ponds, but beware the skeeters!). The trip report below gives detail on the itinerary and links to the hotspots should you want to visit. https://ebird.org/tripreport/218231 Oh, and not entirely unplanned, we had a chance to witness a total eclipse. Many of the popular parks were closed to entry the days before and of the eclipse but we didn't intend to be part of a crowd. Instead, we found a backroad that borders the Balcones Canyonlands NWR, didn't have that much traffic and had plenty of sky view for watching the event. Sadly, as time approached the clouds which had been with us all morning seemed to grow denser. We despaired that the effort was not going to pay off. While laying on the edge of the road, we could occasionally see the sun being encroached upon by the moon (eclipse glasses!) then more clouds passed overhead, obscuring the sun entirely. As time neared, so did an even larger black cloud. Sigh. But serendipity prevailed and at the last moment when totality started, the skies cleared and we enjoyed a full 4+ minutes of the awesome phenomenon. It was spectacular! As is often reported, when totality approached and the whole scene moved to darkness, all bird song ceased, with the exception of a pair of Mourning Doves. And when the event ended, the birds returned to their singing and calling as if nothing had happened. And we continued on our way to more birding. In the end, the trip was successful in many ways. Hope you enjoy the report. Scott Ramos Seattle -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Wed Apr 24 19:59:38 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Larry Schwitters via Tweeters) Date: Wed Apr 24 19:59:52 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Wagner Roost Message-ID: <5EE7461D-9133-40FE-99DD-6EF613BC2876@me.com> Thousands of Vaux?s inside now. Larry Schwitters Issaquah From tweeters at u.washington.edu Thu Apr 25 06:40:11 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Shep Thorp via Tweeters) Date: Thu Apr 25 06:40:24 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Wednesday Walk for Billy Frank Jr Nisqually NWR for 4/24/2024 Message-ID: Hi Tweets, Approximately thirty of us had a very active day of birding at the Refuge with cloudy skies, intermittent light rain and temperatures in the 40's to 50's degrees Fahrenheit. There was a Low -0'7" Tide at 12:53pm. Highlights included First of Year WILSON'S WARBLER, WARBLING VIREO, SORA, WESTERN TANAGER, BANK SWALLOW and VAUX'S SWIFT. We also had really nice looks of CINNAMON TEAL, nesting RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD and MERLIN. There were high counts for YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER, swallow species, and BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER. For the day we observed 96 species. We enjoyed 8 FOY and have seen 134 species this year. See eBird Report pasted below with details and embedded photos. Until next week when we meet again at 8am, happy spring birding! Shep -- Shep Thorp Browns Point 253-370-3742 Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually NWR, Thurston, Washington, US Apr 24, 2024 7:01 AM - 5:50 PM Protocol: Traveling 7.704 mile(s) Checklist Comments: Wednesday Walk. Cloudy skies with intermittent light rain and temperatures in the 40?s to 50?s degrees Fahrenheit. A Low -0?7? Tide at 12:53pm. Mammals seen Eastern Cotton-tailed Rabbit, Columbian Black-tailed Deer, Eastern Gray Squirrel, and Harbor Seal. 96 species (+4 other taxa) Greater White-fronted Goose 13 Freshwater marsh. Brant (Black) 40 Nisqually Reach scoped from Puget Sound Observation Platform. Cackling Goose (minima) 400 Canada Goose (canadensis Group) 25 Wood Duck 6 Blue-winged Teal 2 Flooded field south of Twin Barns. Cinnamon Teal 7 Northern Shoveler 125 Gadwall 20 American Wigeon 75 Mallard 30 Northern Pintail 45 Green-winged Teal (American) 800 Ring-necked Duck 6 Greater Scaup 1 Shannon slough. Surf Scoter 12 Bufflehead 60 Common Goldeneye 20 Hooded Merganser 4 Common Merganser 5 Red-breasted Merganser 8 Pied-billed Grebe 2 Freshwater Marsh Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 7 Band-tailed Pigeon 9 Mourning Dove 3 Vaux's Swift 25 Anna's Hummingbird 0 Rufous Hummingbird 5 Nest in Pear Tree near entrance to Technician Building. Virginia Rail (Virginia) 1 Heard only. Freshwater marsh. Sora 2 ?Sora? call heard multiple times in the morning in flooded fields south of Twin Barns. American Coot (Red-shielded) 75 Black-bellied Plover 20 Counted. 18 seen on the reach with other shorebirds from the Puget Sound Observation Platform with 60x spotting scope. 3 additional seen from Nisqually Estuary Trail on mudflats west of Leschi Slough. Killdeer 2 Semipalmated Plover 2 Mudflats west of Leschi Slough. Whimbrel (Hudsonian) 1 Mudflats west of Leschi Slough at 3:30pm on incoming tide. Wilson's Snipe 1 Greater Yellowlegs 25 Dunlin 300 Least Sandpiper 200 Western Sandpiper 30 Bonaparte's Gull 15 Short-billed Gull 120 Ring-billed Gull 15 Western Gull 1 California Gull 2 Glaucous-winged Gull 3 Western x Glaucous-winged Gull (hybrid) 15 Larus sp. 50 Caspian Tern 6 Common Loon 3 Brandt's Cormorant 6 Double-crested Cormorant 35 Great Blue Heron 20 Turkey Vulture 2 Bald Eagle 75 Occupied nest west side of Nisqually River north of dike and across McAllister Creek from Puget Sound Observation Platform. Red-tailed Hawk 2 Belted Kingfisher 1 Downy Woodpecker 3 Northern Flicker 1 American Kestrel 1 Merlin 1 Warbling Vireo 1 Spotted by Jason at Twin Barns Picnic Area. Steller's Jay 3 West side of McAllister Creek. California Scrub-Jay 1 American Crow 12 Common Raven 1 Black-capped Chickadee 10 Chestnut-backed Chickadee 3 Bank Swallow 1 First spotted by Jason foraging over flooded fields south of Twin Barns with other swallows. Observed with 10x bins. Small brown topped swallow with white throat and necktie. Observed by many on walk. Tree Swallow 200 Violet-green Swallow 200 Northern Rough-winged Swallow 4 Barn Swallow 300 Cliff Swallow 50 Bushtit (Pacific) 3 Nests in Orchard, entrance to Maintenance Building and north section of Twin Barns Loop Trail. Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1 Brown Creeper 6 Next in medium next to entrance road to Education Center Parking Lot. Pacific Wren 2 Marsh Wren 10 Bewick's Wren 4 European Starling 10 American Robin 25 American Pipit 1 Fly over Nisqually Estuary Boardwalk Trail. Purple Finch 5 Orchard. Pine Siskin 6 American Goldfinch 6 Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon) 1 White-crowned Sparrow (Gambel's) 1 Golden-crowned Sparrow 30 Savannah Sparrow (Savannah) 5 Song Sparrow 20 Spotted Towhee (oregonus Group) 2 Red-winged Blackbird 50 Brown-headed Cowbird 15 Orange-crowned Warbler (lutescens) 8 Common Yellowthroat 16 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 65 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's) 130 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle x Audubon's) 6 High count of yellow-rumped warbler. Hundreds seen approximately 30% Myrtle variety. Several yellow and white throated warblers with variable eyebrows and black masks consistent with intergrades and suspected crossbacks. Multiple seen by multiple birders. Could be more. Wilson's Warbler 5 Western Tanager 1 Seen by Eric along the Nisqually Estuary Trail in the Willow Trees between the dike and slough. Male. Orange head, yellow body, black wings with wing bars. View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S170174489 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Thu Apr 25 07:28:56 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (AMK17 via Tweeters) Date: Thu Apr 25 07:29:00 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] =?utf-8?q?Fox_Wilson=E2=80=99s_warbler?= Message-ID: FOS Heard my first Wilson's warbler this morning. Seattle, wa AKopitov AMK17 From tweeters at u.washington.edu Thu Apr 25 13:55:27 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (DEENA HEG via Tweeters) Date: Thu Apr 25 13:55:32 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Scott Ramos report on SE Texas Message-ID: <1836499223.2335928.1714078527910@connect.xfinity.com> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Thu Apr 25 20:08:52 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Ed Newbold via Tweeters) Date: Thu Apr 25 20:08:57 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Migration was yesterday at Butyl, but today, do birds not bathe in the rain? References: <967288084.3330193.1714100932998.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <967288084.3330193.1714100932998@mail.yahoo.com> Hi all, Yesterday the migration was up and running on Butyl Creek, with an estimated 45 Yellow-rumped Warblers, an estimated 8 Orange-crowned Warblers, plus a Wilson's Warbler, Lincoln Sparrow (3 bath visits), a Hermit Thrush and a Ruby-crowned Kinglet (3 visits) (counting that as a migrant) plus a whole heck of a lot of bath-taking. When you have a creek and see the amount of bathing these birds do, you begin to wonder if it is really important to them in some way that people don't fully appreciate. Also, they seem to do it socially. Nobody bathes in the morning but around lunchtime everybody comes in, then a couple hours later then of course you need an evening bath. Today the creek was unbelievably quiet with only a few Warblers and some resident non-migrants stopping by. It was raining. Maybe they don't bathe as much in the rain??It might seem to make sense. There is so little actual day-long rain in this area that we don't get a feel for whether the no-bathing-in-the-rain thing is real. We'll see what tomorrow brings. Cheers, Ed Newbold (and Delia Scholes who keeps us in the game and does the research.) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Fri Apr 26 00:13:49 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Michael Price via Tweeters) Date: Fri Apr 26 00:14:05 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Magnificent Frigatebird Message-ID: Hi tweets This issue of acceptance/rejection of extraordinary rarity reports has always been a fraught one, leading to frustration on either side of the rarities committee: on one side, irritation with undocumented, possibly frivolous reports; on the other, frustration and resentment at sometimes haughty and insensitively bureaucratic committee dismissal. It doesn't have to be this way. There is a simple workaround: the 'pending' file. This category ensures that potentially valid migrational/dispersion/trending data are not lost. Longer ago than I care to think, I operated a Rare Bird Alert for five years, and I became suspicious of a connection between a cluster of undocumented reports of subtropical vagrants in the Greater Vancouver region and BC generally and a then-occurring El Ni?o episode. Lacking documentation, none of them could be accepted under then-current committee acceptance protocols at either the metro or the provincial committees. The same lack of flexibility existed in many US and Canadian committees. The result? data lost. Well, we now know that many of these tropical and subtropical rarities which heat up our alerts are climate refugees, whether displaced by global heating or cyclical atmospheric phenomena such as El Ni?o. But how much of the early warnings were lost for want of a 'pending' category in our rarities committees? best wishes, m -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Fri Apr 26 06:30:43 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Steve Hampton via Tweeters) Date: Fri Apr 26 06:31:00 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Magnificent Frigatebird In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: I'm not a reviewer, but I've watched eBird best-practices presentations and talked to reviewers about how to describe a flagged (rare) bird. They want a description of what you saw, meaning at least 3 field marks, vocalizations if any, and the context -- angle, lighting, distance -- how good of a look you got, etc. Someone should be able to read your description and guess the species just from your description. Obviously, even a poor photo or audio is great. Audio can be gotten with a cell phone pretty easily. Descriptions such as "Clearly identified" "I know this species" "front yard" "highlight of the day" "Merlin said" and "yep" don't help the reviewer evaluate the record. On Fri, Apr 26, 2024 at 12:14?AM Michael Price via Tweeters < tweeters@u.washington.edu> wrote: > Hi tweets > > This issue of acceptance/rejection of extraordinary rarity reports has > always been a fraught one, leading to frustration on either side of the > rarities committee: on one side, irritation with undocumented, possibly > frivolous reports; on the other, frustration and resentment at sometimes > haughty and insensitively bureaucratic committee dismissal. It doesn't > have to be this way. There is a simple workaround: the 'pending' file. > This category ensures that potentially valid > migrational/dispersion/trending data are not lost. > > Longer ago than I care to think, I operated a Rare Bird Alert for five > years, and I became suspicious of a connection between a cluster of > undocumented reports of subtropical vagrants in the Greater Vancouver > region and BC generally and a then-occurring El Ni?o episode. Lacking > documentation, none of them could be accepted under then-current committee > acceptance protocols at either the metro or the provincial committees. The > same lack of flexibility existed in many US and Canadian committees. The > result? data lost. > > Well, we now know that many of these tropical and subtropical rarities > which heat up our alerts are climate refugees, whether displaced by global > heating or cyclical atmospheric phenomena such as El Ni?o. But how much of > the early warnings were lost for want of a 'pending' category in our > rarities committees? > > best wishes, m > > > > _______________________________________________ > Tweeters mailing list > Tweeters@u.washington.edu > http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters > -- ?Steve Hampton? Port Townsend, WA (qat?y) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Fri Apr 26 07:17:44 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Dennis Paulson via Tweeters) Date: Fri Apr 26 07:18:11 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Magnificent Frigatebird In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <7ABBEAE7-3C6D-45BA-8A35-129B9BA5DA24@comcast.net> Tweets, I was on the Washington Bird Records Committee for many years, and I agree strongly with Steve?s comments. Those items in his last paragraph never convinced any reviewer. There has to be a good description at the least, and much better than that a photo, even a mediocre one. I have been looking at the eBird rarities daily reports for some time now, and they contain quite a few observations that are very unlikely, with no documentation. ?Merlin said? is fraught with difficulty, as Merlin makes mistakes all the time, and I don?t think it should ever be used as evidence of a bird rare at that place or time. Whenever that happens, the observer should make every effort to see the bird. I have much sympathy for all the vetters who put time and energy into figuring out which of those observations is valid. And please think about the fact that every misidentification in eBird compromises its value. It was set up as an aid to our gaining a deep understanding of bird distribution, abundance, and seasonality, and that makes those data priceless, as long a they are correct. Dennis Paulson Seattle > On Apr 26, 2024, at 6:30 AM, Steve Hampton via Tweeters wrote: > > I'm not a reviewer, but I've watched eBird best-practices presentations and talked to reviewers about how to describe a flagged (rare) bird. > > They want a description of what you saw, meaning at least 3 field marks, vocalizations if any, and the context -- angle, lighting, distance -- how good of a look you got, etc. Someone should be able to read your description and guess the species just from your description. Obviously, even a poor photo or audio is great. Audio can be gotten with a cell phone pretty easily. > > Descriptions such as "Clearly identified" "I know this species" "front yard" "highlight of the day" "Merlin said" and "yep" don't help the reviewer evaluate the record. > > > > > > On Fri, Apr 26, 2024 at 12:14?AM Michael Price via Tweeters > wrote: > Hi tweets > > This issue of acceptance/rejection of extraordinary rarity reports has always been a fraught one, leading to frustration on either side of the rarities committee: on one side, irritation with undocumented, possibly frivolous reports; on the other, frustration and resentment at sometimes haughty and insensitively bureaucratic committee dismissal. It doesn't have to be this way. There is a simple workaround: the 'pending' file. This category ensures that potentially valid migrational/dispersion/trending data are not lost. > > Longer ago than I care to think, I operated a Rare Bird Alert for five years, and I became suspicious of a connection between a cluster of undocumented reports of subtropical vagrants in the Greater Vancouver region and BC generally and a then-occurring El Ni?o episode. Lacking documentation, none of them could be accepted under then-current committee acceptance protocols at either the metro or the provincial committees. The same lack of flexibility existed in many US and Canadian committees. The result? data lost. > > Well, we now know that many of these tropical and subtropical rarities which heat up our alerts are climate refugees, whether displaced by global heating or cyclical atmospheric phenomena such as El Ni?o. But how much of the early warnings were lost for want of a 'pending' category in our rarities committees? > > best wishes, m > > > > _______________________________________________ > Tweeters mailing list > Tweeters@u.washington.edu > http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters > > > -- > ?Steve Hampton? > Port Townsend, WA (qat?y) > > > _______________________________________________ > Tweeters mailing list > Tweeters@u.washington.edu > http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Fri Apr 26 07:47:08 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Robert Gray via Tweeters) Date: Fri Apr 26 07:47:12 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Magnificent Frigatebird In-Reply-To: <7ABBEAE7-3C6D-45BA-8A35-129B9BA5DA24@comcast.net> References: <7ABBEAE7-3C6D-45BA-8A35-129B9BA5DA24@comcast.net> Message-ID: <564085588.3451518.1714142828043@mail.yahoo.com> I believe that most rare birds that we observe are doomed to never seeing another member of their species and that their lives are a tragedy. I try to never experience joy from another's suffering and will not drive for miles to experience it close up. On Friday, April 26, 2024 at 07:18:32 AM PDT, Dennis Paulson via Tweeters wrote: Tweets, I was on the Washington Bird Records Committee for many years, and I agree strongly with Steve?s comments. Those items in his last paragraph never convinced any reviewer. There has to be a good description at the least, and much better than that a photo, even a mediocre one. I have been looking at the eBird rarities daily reports for some time now, and they contain quite a few observations that are very unlikely, with no documentation. ?Merlin said? is fraught with difficulty, as Merlin makes mistakes all the time, and I don?t think it should ever be used as evidence of a bird rare at that place or time. Whenever that happens, the observer should make every effort to see the bird. I have much sympathy for all the vetters who put time and energy into figuring out which of those observations is valid. And please think about the fact that every misidentification in eBird compromises its value. It was set up as an aid to our gaining a deep understanding of bird distribution, abundance, and seasonality, and that makes those data priceless, as long a they are correct. Dennis PaulsonSeattle On Apr 26, 2024, at 6:30 AM, Steve Hampton via Tweeters wrote: I'm not a reviewer, but I've watched eBird best-practices presentations and talked to reviewers about how to describe a flagged (rare) bird.? They want a description of what you saw, meaning at least 3 field marks, vocalizations if any, and the context -- angle, lighting, distance -- how good of a look you?got,?etc. Someone should be able to read your description and guess the species just from your description. Obviously, even a poor photo or audio is great. Audio can be gotten with a cell phone pretty easily.?? Descriptions such?as? "Clearly identified"? "I know this species" "front yard"? "highlight of the day"? "Merlin said" and "yep" don't help the reviewer evaluate the record.? On Fri, Apr 26, 2024 at 12:14?AM Michael Price via Tweeters wrote: Hi tweets This issue of acceptance/rejection of extraordinary rarity reports has always been a fraught one, leading to frustration on either side of the rarities committee: on one side, irritation with undocumented, possibly frivolous reports; on the other, frustration and resentment at sometimes haughty and insensitively bureaucratic committee dismissal. It doesn't have? to be this way. There is?a simple workaround: the 'pending' file. This category ensures that potentially valid migrational/dispersion/trending data are not lost. Longer ago than I care to think, I?operated a Rare Bird Alert for five years, and I?became suspicious?of a connection between a cluster of undocumented reports of subtropical vagrants in the Greater Vancouver region and BC generally and a then-occurring El Ni?o episode. Lacking documentation, none of them could be accepted under then-current committee acceptance protocols at either the metro or the provincial committees. The same lack of flexibility existed in many US and Canadian committees. The result? data lost. Well, we now know that many of these tropical and subtropical rarities which heat up our alerts are climate refugees, whether displaced by global heating or cyclical atmospheric phenomena such as El Ni?o. But how much of the early warnings were lost for want of a 'pending' category in our rarities committees? best wishes, m _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters@u.washington.edu http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters -- ?Steve Hampton?Port Townsend, WA? (qat?y) _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters@u.washington.edu http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters@u.washington.edu http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Fri Apr 26 11:48:49 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (via Tweeters) Date: Fri Apr 26 11:48:55 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Skagit Area "Survey" In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <20240426114849.Horde.Et8SaYNfsrhwSf_qswFHAdz@webmail.jimbetz.com> Hello all, Having just returned from Belize I was anxious to see the changes that have happened in just 3 weeks since I had last gone out birding in Skagit County. The following represents what I saw/noticed. I drove out to the East 90, then to Fir Island, then back to the East 90 - in about 5 or 6 hours and stopping to just sit and watch at many different locations. I left the house just before noon and didn't return until just before sunset (7-ish). Significantly less Bald Eagles, all of them I saw were probably associated with active nests. Most of the active nests had "one white head sticking up". I did not observe any young but I was looking up from below so wouldn't have seen them until they are getting ready to fledge. I saw around a dozen or so eagles - at all the usual places (Samish River/East 90, Hayton, Allen West, etc.). (I found Shep's report of 75 eagles at Nisqually to be Amazing - are there fish running there that aren't in the Samish or Lower Skagit?) Very few Red-tailed Hawks. Less than half a dozen, probably more like 3. Zero Short-eared Owls at the East 90. This was in spite of sitting and just watching for an hour about 1 and another hour from 5:30 to 6:30. About 6 Northern Harriers. Two of them I saw at the East 90. No other raptor species. Zip-zero. At most 1/4 of the ducks of any species as before we left. These were scattered around and mostly in ditches/sloughs. There was no standing water in the fields which surely contributed. Most of them were probably Mallards but I did not have my spotting scope with me to Id the ones at long distances. There are passerines - everywhere - but not in large numbers. We have seen the first Goldfinch in breeding colors at our feeder/fountain. Our seed feeder went empty while we were gone so the birds are still re-discovering our backyard. There were Dunlin and sandpipers and yellow legs and other shore birds and ducks at Hayton. In fact this was the largest aggregation of birds I saw. I also stopped for about 1/2 hour at Jensen and there were very few birds out on the water. The tide was coming in both there and at Hayton. A "normal" amount of gulls - meaning everywhere but scattered and no large flocks. So that's the story for the Samish Flats, Skagit Flats, and the 90's. - Keep your eyes to the sky and trees and bushes ... Jim From tweeters at u.washington.edu Fri Apr 26 12:01:47 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Dennis Paulson via Tweeters) Date: Fri Apr 26 12:02:15 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Skagit Area "Survey" In-Reply-To: <20240426114849.Horde.Et8SaYNfsrhwSf_qswFHAdz@webmail.jimbetz.com> References: <20240426114849.Horde.Et8SaYNfsrhwSf_qswFHAdz@webmail.jimbetz.com> Message-ID: <23392C0C-F400-4ADB-B532-FEB396E9F5B9@comcast.net> Jim, thanks for your detailed accounts, helpful to birders and helpful to our knowledge of what?s going on with the birds. Dennis Paulson Seattle > On Apr 26, 2024, at 11:48 AM, via Tweeters wrote: > > Hello all, > > Having just returned from Belize I was anxious to see the changes that > have happened in just 3 weeks since I had last gone out birding in Skagit > County. The following represents what I saw/noticed. I drove out to the > East 90, then to Fir Island, then back to the East 90 - in about 5 or 6 > hours and stopping to just sit and watch at many different locations. > I left the house just before noon and didn't return until just before > sunset (7-ish). > > Significantly less Bald Eagles, all of them I saw were probably > associated with active nests. Most of the active nests had "one > white head sticking up". I did not observe any young but I was > looking up from below so wouldn't have seen them until they are > getting ready to fledge. I saw around a dozen or so eagles - at > all the usual places (Samish River/East 90, Hayton, Allen West, etc.). > (I found Shep's report of 75 eagles at Nisqually to be Amazing - are > there fish running there that aren't in the Samish or Lower Skagit?) > > Very few Red-tailed Hawks. Less than half a dozen, probably more like 3. > > Zero Short-eared Owls at the East 90. This was in spite of sitting and > just watching for an hour about 1 and another hour from 5:30 to 6:30. > > About 6 Northern Harriers. Two of them I saw at the East 90. > > No other raptor species. Zip-zero. > > At most 1/4 of the ducks of any species as before we left. These were > scattered around and mostly in ditches/sloughs. There was no standing > water in the fields which surely contributed. Most of them were > probably Mallards but I did not have my spotting scope with me to > Id the ones at long distances. > > There are passerines - everywhere - but not in large numbers. We have > seen the first Goldfinch in breeding colors at our feeder/fountain. > Our seed feeder went empty while we were gone so the birds are still > re-discovering our backyard. > > There were Dunlin and sandpipers and yellow legs and other shore birds > and ducks at Hayton. In fact this was the largest aggregation of > birds I saw. I also stopped for about 1/2 hour at Jensen and there > were very few birds out on the water. The tide was coming in both > there and at Hayton. > > A "normal" amount of gulls - meaning everywhere but scattered and no > large flocks. > > So that's the story for the Samish Flats, Skagit Flats, and the 90's. > > - Keep your eyes to the sky and trees and bushes ... Jim > > _______________________________________________ > Tweeters mailing list > Tweeters@u.washington.edu > http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters From tweeters at u.washington.edu Fri Apr 26 12:13:15 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Nick Bayard via Tweeters) Date: Fri Apr 26 12:13:29 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] BirdNote's "Birding 101" Message-ID: Hi Everyone! BirdNote has a new series called "Birding 101" for the beginner birders in your life. Here are the first four we're released so far: https://www.birdnote.org/listen/shows/birding-101-fear-getting-started https://www.birdnote.org/listen/shows/birding-101-finding-birds-any-time-day https://www.birdnote.org/listen/shows/birding-101-bird-vocab-basics https://www.birdnote.org/listen/shows/birding-101-learning-how-strike-out And here's a bonus episode for aspiring bird photographers: https://www.birdnote.org/listen/shows/observe-first-photograph-second Best, Nick -- Nick Bayard Executive Director | He/Him [image: BirdNote] *Follow BirdNote on social media:* [image: Instagram] [image: Facebook] [image: YouTube] [image: TikTok] [image: LinkedIn] www.birdnote.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Fri Apr 26 13:55:08 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Kersti Muul via Tweeters) Date: Fri Apr 26 13:55:22 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] So many birds today Message-ID: West Seattle is full of Red Crossbills, multiple warbler sp. (Black-throated greys, orange-crowned, Wilson's, butterbutts...) Western flycatchers and black-headed grosbeaks.. Seaview area. Lovely day Kersti E. Muul SALISH WILDLIFE WATCH Urban Conservation & Wildlife Biologist/Specialist - Response and Rescue WASART referral Wildlife Field Biologist IV Marbled murrelet forest certified and USFWS marine certified Birds Connect Neighborhood Bird Project Site Leader Climate Watch Coordinator Animal Care Specialist/Animal & Off the Grid First Aid Certified -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Fri Apr 26 17:10:09 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Odette B. James via Tweeters) Date: Fri Apr 26 17:10:17 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Red-breasted Merganser References: <01aa01da9837$4493a180$cdbae480$.ref@verizon.net> Message-ID: <01aa01da9837$4493a180$cdbae480$@verizon.net> I don't know if this is worth posting, but it's only the second time I've seen this bird over the last 4 years in this location. This afternoon at about 1:45 pm, there was a female Red-breasted Merganser with Common Mergansers just west of the Cedar River Delta, in the area near the trailer parks. The brown head did not have the sharp boundary with the neck plumage that the brown head of the Common usually has, the crest was very shaggy with several very long feathers, there was no white throat patch but there was an elongate pale patch between the eye and the bill, and the bill was thinner at its base than in the nearby Commons, giving the bird the appearance of a stronger forehead. Also, the head looked slightly smaller than the heads of the nearby Common females. Odette James, at the Lakeshore Retirement Community (a wonderful place for birders to retire!) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Fri Apr 26 17:53:54 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Nick Bayard via Tweeters) Date: Fri Apr 26 17:54:07 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] BirdNote Friends and Family Message-ID: Hello, Tweeters! BirdNote officially launched its online shop today, and we wanted to offer everyone on here a Friends and Family promo code. You can use FRIENDS25 for a 25% discount on any order. https://birdnote.myshopify.com Hope you like what you see! We're proud to be featuring some original art for BirdNote by the artist/writer/cartoonist Rosemary Mosco. If you haven't seen her bird comics, they are worth checking out! https://rosemarymosco.com/comics/bird-and-moon/all Best, Nick -- Nick Bayard Executive Director | He/Him [image: BirdNote] *Follow BirdNote on social media:* [image: Instagram] [image: Facebook] [image: YouTube] [image: TikTok] [image: LinkedIn] www.birdnote.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Fri Apr 26 22:31:45 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Tim Brennan via Tweeters) Date: Fri Apr 26 22:31:50 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Mid-April Jefferson/Kitsap birding Message-ID: Heya Tweets, I got out last week for another trip to Jefferson and Kitsap Counties. Three new posts are up on the blog: https://jkcountybirding.blogspot.com/2024/04/april-17th-fairweather-birding-trip-day.html https://jkcountybirding.blogspot.com/2024/04/april-18th-fairweather-birding-trip-day.html https://jkcountybirding.blogspot.com/2024/04/april-19th-fairweather-birding-trip-day.html Enjoy! Tim Brennan, Renton [https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbuzIvsUwW3RH4PZpaUTeVzQILQ1j0-T4MpNSePuO4AioMQ6xK42oVTJCkpMEZBqXjT5bZjvDOdHHWFSI417mD4WgfN5J8EHadrrtdfhg0mB7rZLGSovodYWc5Rpdn76Yb34TpBIwht_F8b0NJCX_fmD0PI4xCzxMyMRQ4wKqTncqUAEd55YEENNaZ82tk/w1200-h630-p-k-no-nu/DSC_0035.JPG] April 17th - Fairweather Birding Trip, Day One Clear skies Trip prep! Flauta filling I really do plan on getting out once a month to Jefferson and Kitsap Counties. More than that in a nor... jkcountybirding.blogspot.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sat Apr 27 01:21:51 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Hans-Joachim Feddern via Tweeters) Date: Sat Apr 27 01:22:08 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Magnificent Frigatebird In-Reply-To: <564085588.3451518.1714142828043@mail.yahoo.com> References: <7ABBEAE7-3C6D-45BA-8A35-129B9BA5DA24@comcast.net> <564085588.3451518.1714142828043@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: When living in Littleton, Colorado I saw a Frigatebird, which turned out to be the first state record. I did not have a camera with me, so no photo, but I had a witness and I was familiar with it from STt. Thomas, Virgin Islands. Of course my sighting was not accepted, especially since we had just moved to Colorado. Then the bizarre story unfolded two weeks later: the bird attacked a windsurfer on a reservoir and was stoned and killed. Eventually it was turned over to the Denver Museum of Natural History and now rests in a drawer there as a skin! Now there was proof and everybody believed me! Good Birding! Hans On Fri, Apr 26, 2024 at 7:47?AM Robert Gray via Tweeters < tweeters@u.washington.edu> wrote: > I believe that most rare birds that we observe are doomed to never seeing > another member of their species and that their lives are a tragedy. I try > to never experience joy from another's suffering and will not drive for > miles to experience it close up. > > On Friday, April 26, 2024 at 07:18:32 AM PDT, Dennis Paulson via Tweeters < > tweeters@u.washington.edu> wrote: > > > Tweets, I was on the Washington Bird Records Committee for many years, and > I agree strongly with Steve?s comments. Those items in his last paragraph > never convinced any reviewer. There has to be a good description at the > least, and much better than that a photo, even a mediocre one. > > I have been looking at the eBird rarities daily reports for some time now, > and they contain quite a few observations that are very unlikely, with no > documentation. ?Merlin said? is fraught with difficulty, as Merlin makes > mistakes all the time, and I don?t think it should ever be used as evidence > of a bird rare at that place or time. Whenever that happens, the observer > should make every effort to see the bird. > > I have much sympathy for all the vetters who put time and energy into > figuring out which of those observations is valid. And please think about > the fact that every misidentification in eBird compromises its value. It > was set up as an aid to our gaining a deep understanding of bird > distribution, abundance, and seasonality, and that makes those data > priceless, as long a they are correct. > > Dennis Paulson > Seattle > > > On Apr 26, 2024, at 6:30 AM, Steve Hampton via Tweeters < > tweeters@u.washington.edu> wrote: > > I'm not a reviewer, but I've watched eBird best-practices presentations > and talked to reviewers about how to describe a flagged (rare) bird. > > They want a description of what you saw, meaning at least 3 field marks, > vocalizations if any, and the context -- angle, lighting, distance -- how > good of a look you got, etc. Someone should be able to read your > description and guess the species just from your description. Obviously, > even a poor photo or audio is great. Audio can be gotten with a cell phone > pretty easily. > > Descriptions such as "Clearly identified" "I know this species" "front > yard" "highlight of the day" "Merlin said" and "yep" don't help the > reviewer evaluate the record. > > > > > > On Fri, Apr 26, 2024 at 12:14?AM Michael Price via Tweeters < > tweeters@u.washington.edu> wrote: > > Hi tweets > > This issue of acceptance/rejection of extraordinary rarity reports has > always been a fraught one, leading to frustration on either side of the > rarities committee: on one side, irritation with undocumented, possibly > frivolous reports; on the other, frustration and resentment at sometimes > haughty and insensitively bureaucratic committee dismissal. It doesn't > have to be this way. There is a simple workaround: the 'pending' file. > This category ensures that potentially valid > migrational/dispersion/trending data are not lost. > > Longer ago than I care to think, I operated a Rare Bird Alert for five > years, and I became suspicious of a connection between a cluster of > undocumented reports of subtropical vagrants in the Greater Vancouver > region and BC generally and a then-occurring El Ni?o episode. Lacking > documentation, none of them could be accepted under then-current committee > acceptance protocols at either the metro or the provincial committees. The > same lack of flexibility existed in many US and Canadian committees. The > result? data lost. > > Well, we now know that many of these tropical and subtropical rarities > which heat up our alerts are climate refugees, whether displaced by global > heating or cyclical atmospheric phenomena such as El Ni?o. But how much of > the early warnings were lost for want of a 'pending' category in our > rarities committees? > > best wishes, m > > > > _______________________________________________ > Tweeters mailing list > Tweeters@u.washington.edu > http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters > > > > -- > ?Steve Hampton? > Port Townsend, WA (qat?y) > > > _______________________________________________ > Tweeters mailing list > Tweeters@u.washington.edu > http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters > > > _______________________________________________ > Tweeters mailing list > Tweeters@u.washington.edu > http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters > _______________________________________________ > Tweeters mailing list > Tweeters@u.washington.edu > http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters > -- *Hans Feddern* Twin Lakes/Federal Way, WA thefedderns@gmail.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sat Apr 27 10:24:13 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (birdbooker via Tweeters) Date: Sat Apr 27 10:24:10 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Peterson guide turns 90 Message-ID: <7e0287cb5d57ef3408677d60ecb7ba25@zipcon.net> Hi All: Today marks the 90th anniversary of the first Peterson field guide. Here?s an article that I wrote for the ABA about PRE Peterson field guides: https://www.aba.org/pre-peterson-field-guides/ Sincerely Ian Paulsen From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sat Apr 27 19:20:35 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Rob Faucett via Tweeters) Date: Sat Apr 27 19:20:52 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Bill Tweit? Message-ID: <826EAA87-0433-4C8C-AA27-F73ED1108251@mac.com> Paging Bill Tweit. Could you give me or Tracey a call? Tx! Rob ? Rob Faucett +1(206) 619-5569 robfaucett@mac.com Seattle, WA 98105 From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sun Apr 28 09:28:17 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Doug Santoni via Tweeters) Date: Sun Apr 28 09:28:32 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Birding in southeast Texas In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <70DAF867-5EBA-4C50-99FB-CC4B2518621E@gmail.com> Scott ? Thank you for sharing all of these beautiful pictures (avian, insect, and celestial!), and for sharing where you?d visited. That was an amazing picture of a Sprague?s Pipit. All of the pics were great! Doug Santoni Seattle > On Apr 24, 2024, at 2:31 PM, Scott Ramos via Tweeters wrote: > > Earlier this month, Dave Swayne and I made a trip to Texas with the hope of catching an early wave of migrants. While the weather did not cooperate, providing only southerly winds, and we missed the charm of a fallout, by visiting a variety of habitats in the southeast part of the state we were able to have a productive trip. We were able to see over 200 species of birds, many of them lifers for both of us. Here is a flickr link with photos of many favorites. > > https://www.flickr.com/photos/farpost/albums/72177720316399297/ > > We camped most of the trip which added a little complexity to travel arrangements but gave us some flexibility to be in good places when we wanted. Most locations we visited are well-known eBird hotspots and we chose them for the possible collection of birds we might see. Some spots were from suggestions by local birders we met on the trip (Hazel Bazemore Park is a must!) while others we stumbled upon when en route and in need of a break from driving (Sikes Road Catfish Ponds, but beware the skeeters!). The trip report below gives detail on the itinerary and links to the hotspots should you want to visit. > > https://ebird.org/tripreport/218231 > > Oh, and not entirely unplanned, we had a chance to witness a total eclipse. Many of the popular parks were closed to entry the days before and of the eclipse but we didn't intend to be part of a crowd. Instead, we found a backroad that borders the Balcones Canyonlands NWR, didn't have that much traffic and had plenty of sky view for watching the event. Sadly, as time approached the clouds which had been with us all morning seemed to grow denser. We despaired that the effort was not going to pay off. While laying on the edge of the road, we could occasionally see the sun being encroached upon by the moon (eclipse glasses!) then more clouds passed overhead, obscuring the sun entirely. As time neared, so did an even larger black cloud. Sigh. But serendipity prevailed and at the last moment when totality started, the skies cleared and we enjoyed a full 4+ minutes of the awesome phenomenon. It was spectacular! > > As is often reported, when totality approached and the whole scene moved to darkness, all bird song ceased, with the exception of a pair of Mourning Doves. And when the event ended, the birds returned to their singing and calling as if nothing had happened. And we continued on our way to more birding. > > In the end, the trip was successful in many ways. Hope you enjoy the report. > Scott Ramos > Seattle > > _______________________________________________ > Tweeters mailing list > Tweeters@u.washington.edu > http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sun Apr 28 10:35:16 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (via Tweeters) Date: Sun Apr 28 10:35:22 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Would like to do this again ... In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <20240428103516.Horde.uUy9uIDGjmClt5k3bSriG-X@webmail.jimbetz.com> Hi all, As previously reported we have just returned from a birding tour in Belize. It was a fabulous trip and we'd like to "rinse and repeat" at other similar locations. So we're looking for recommendations for similar experiences. The things I see as important are the places you stay and the guide(s) you get. We were staying at Crystal Paradise (aka "Birding in Belize") and had Abimael Morales as our guide. The rooms, food, and environment at Crystal Paradise were all excellent - they even put out bird feeders with fruit on the deck just off of the covered dining area. ===> If you have been to/stayed at Crystal Paradise and have had other similar birding tours we'd like to hear about it! ANYwhere in the world. - Jim and Loretta P.S. If you want to see the bird pictures click on this link and use the small arrow on the right to see the pictures. https://eamon.smugmug.com/Family-pics-from-jim/Birds-and-Stuff-from-Jim/n-4Cw3NF/Birds-Web/i-n2vZmM3/A From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sun Apr 28 19:51:00 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Michael Hobbs via Tweeters) Date: Sun Apr 28 19:51:15 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Marymoor Park (Redmond, King Co.) 2024-04-25 Message-ID: Tweets - I never posted about Marymoor last Thursday, since we left for the WOS Conference down in Long Beach immediately afterwards. But last Thursday started gray and misty, and every hour the weather got worse. Darker, WETTER, windier. Matt & I even skipped the loop around the mansion, since we were pretty sure we'd add nothing new for the day. But the day was not a total waste. Highlights: Common Goldeneye - Three females at the weir, after a two week absence. Getting late for them Vaux's Swift - One or two, First of Year (FOY) for us Common Loon - One on the lake (FOY); the first since January 2023! Five Woodpecker Day Warbling Vireo - One heard singing several times, Dog Meadow (FOY). Our second-earliest sighting ever (earliest 2015-04-23) Cliff Swallow - One from the Lake Platform (FOY) Hermit Thrush - One heard and glimpsed by Matt pre-dawn White-crowned Sparrow - Tight flock of 20 Gambeli-type across Marymoor Way from the Viewing Mound; also 5-10 Pugetensis scattered Lincoln's Sparrow - Two at the Viewing Mound, first since January Nashville Warbler - One seen briefly south of the East Meadow; (FOY) for us Misses included Hooded Merganser, Pied-billed Grebe, Rock Pigeon, Double-crested Cormorant, Red-tailed Hawk, Barn Owl, Belted Kingfisher, and House Finch. Despite those many misses, we managed 62 species for the day. We're up to 105 for the year. = Michael Hobbs = BirdMarymoor@gmail.com = www.marymoor.org/birding.htm -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sun Apr 28 22:50:13 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Larry Schwitters via Tweeters) Date: Sun Apr 28 22:50:25 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] New chimney cams Message-ID: The Courteney BC Museum has set up two cameras at their Vaux?s Swift chimney roost. It's really slick and you can "rewind? it to watch the 1500 that went to roost tonight. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6I0tJoKrjbg Larry Schwitters Issaquah -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Mon Apr 29 13:54:12 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (jimullrich via Tweeters) Date: Mon Apr 29 13:54:30 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Grays Harbor Shorebird Festival 5/3-5 Message-ID: <8CF23D8C-4B18-4FE5-9286-09F73F14BD34@gmail.com> Howdy Tweets: Please consider joining us this weekend 5/3-5 at the Grays Harbor Shorebird & Nature Festival based out of the Hoquiam Middle School and Grays Harbor National Wildlife Refuge. Visit: https://shorebirdfestival.com Details on Friday and Saturday speakers, trips, fund raising dinner and Pub Visit. Great weekend to revisit your favorite haunts in general Aberdeen, Hoquiam and Ocean Shores area. Yours for the Birds n the Bees Jim Ullrich Sent from my iPhone From tweeters at u.washington.edu Mon Apr 29 15:49:05 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Ian Paulsen via Tweeters) Date: Mon Apr 29 15:49:00 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] The Birdbooker Report Message-ID: HI ALL: I posted about 9 bird and 3 non-bird books at my blog here: https://birdbookerreport.blogspot.com/2024/04/new-titles.html sincerely Ian Paulsen Bainbridge Island, WA, USA Visit my BIRDBOOKER REPORT blog here: https://birdbookerreport.blogspot.com/ From tweeters at u.washington.edu Mon Apr 29 20:21:32 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Megan Lyden via Tweeters) Date: Mon Apr 29 20:21:37 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Scott Ramos/Texas Trip photos and report Message-ID: Hi Scott, Thanks so much for making your amazing photos available. Thank you also for your detailed trip report. I was in Concan for the eclipse, and fortunately our experience was like yours; breaks in the clouds at exactly the right time! Then I spent the rest of the day birding in Lost Maples. I had limited time for birding on this trip, but going down there again next year so I really appreciate your trip report; lots of places to check out that I haven't been to yet. Tried to email you directly, but my email bounced back. Thanks again...and great photos! Megan L, Bellevue, WA -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Tue Apr 30 14:31:25 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Tim Brennan via Tweeters) Date: Tue Apr 30 14:32:32 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Jefferson County chasables Message-ID: Hi Tweets, I am not going to hop in my car to chase a bird just because it's a code 4 in a given county. But 6 code 4 birds reported in one location got me out to Jefferson for a quick bit of chasing today. Reported: Cinnamon Teal (found it), Blue-winged Teal (nope), Green Heron (nope), Sandhill Crane (not yet), Solitary Sandpiper (found it), and Western Kingbird (found it) out at Short Farm on Center Road. There is a parking spot on Short Road that allows for a little walk past a chained gate. This was not where I found any of the birds in question, but it's worth a stop, as it provides a nice view from above the fields, and gives access to some passerines that aren't as easy once you're out in the fields. There is also a north entrance, signed Short Farm, that allows you to drive past a couple houses and down to roads that run along the fields. All three of these birds were found along (or very near) the central road. Other Jefferson County goodies included Cackling Geese, Soras (so loud, calling throughout the morning, and photographed by another birder), Virginia Rails, and House Wrens. 64 species in all for the morning! It's great habitat, although access seemed confusing on my first trip or three. Cheers, Tim Brennan Renton -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Tue Apr 30 14:41:44 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Brian Zinke via Tweeters) Date: Tue Apr 30 14:42:00 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Puget Sound Bird Fest registrations open at 7am tomorrow (May 1) Message-ID: Hi Tweets, Registration for the field trips and workshops for the Puget Sound Bird Fest will open at 7:00am tomorrow morning, May 1st. Space is limited in each so be sure to save your spot! PSBF webpage: https://www.pilchuckaudubon.org/puget-sound-bird-fest You'll find the registration link in the description of each activity that requires it. Hope to see you there! Brian -- [image: Logo] Brian Zinke Executive Director phone: (425) 232-6811 email: director@pilchuckaudubon.org Pilchuck Audubon Society 1429 Avenue D, PMB 198, Snohomish, WA 98290 [image: Facebook icon] [image: Twitter icon] [image: Instagram icon] -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Tue Apr 30 15:24:34 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Dan Reiff via Tweeters) Date: Tue Apr 30 15:24:38 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] Rare bird sighting: What to know about blue rock thrush seen in Oregon Message-ID: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/04/29/blue-rock-thrush-bird-sighting-oregon/73498637007/ Sent from my iPhone From tweeters at u.washington.edu Tue Apr 30 15:25:44 2024 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Dan Reiff via Tweeters) Date: Tue Apr 30 15:25:49 2024 Subject: [Tweeters] How do birds flock? Researchers do the math to reveal previously unknown aerodynamic phenomenon | ScienceDaily Message-ID: <913BB7DE-D276-40F2-9C0B-B8FEF1E3B106@gmail.com> https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/04/240425131416.htm Sent from my iPhone