From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sun Feb 1 09:50:49 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (David Swinford via Tweeters) Date: Sun Feb 1 09:51:03 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Ann Kramer question re Port Angeles birding spots In-Reply-To: <67523A54-7CD1-4AB7-B725-AE1407731B7A@contoso.com> References: <67523A54-7CD1-4AB7-B725-AE1407731B7A@contoso.com> Message-ID: Don't forget Ediz Hook. Easy looks at Harlequin Ducks, Black Turnstone and Black-Bellied Plovers. Often you can score all three species of Cormorant, Loon and Grebe. Common Goldeneye and sometimes a stray Barrows. Brant are likely, Red-Breasted Mergansers and Surf Scoters. Just after passing the Mckinley Paper Mill, find a parking area on the right and scope the boom logs on the inner harbor. Then look across the road and back to the Mill and there is an area where you can easily and safely walk to the top of the bouldered seawall revetment and scope out to the Strait. Long-Tailed Ducks are usually spotted there. Drive out the end and scope the inner bay and Strait from there. Grab the occasional pull out along the way. On the way back stop at the Mill pond and look for Hooded Mergansers. Then walk the trail that is on the opposite side of the road from the Mill Pond back towards PA and look for a wintering group of Yellow-Rumped Warblers. If I had a day I would probably do Ediz Hook, the Mouth of the Elwha and the Salt Creek Campground including Tongue Point. On Sat, Jan 31, 2026 at 12:11?PM Judith A. Howard via Tweeters < tweeters@u.washington.edu> wrote: > Ann, there is a wonderful birding area, part of the Washington State > Birding Trail, just west of Port Angeles. Take Highway 112, turn right on > Place Road, and take it to the water. At Dike Access, turn right and > park. It?s where the Elwha enters the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Since the > dams were removed, it has become a beautiful estuary again. Enjoy! > > > > Judy Howard > > Clinton > _______________________________________________ > 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 Feb 1 13:21:25 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Ann Kramer via Tweeters) Date: Sun Feb 1 13:22:05 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Ann Kramer question re Port Angeles birding spots In-Reply-To: References: <67523A54-7CD1-4AB7-B725-AE1407731B7A@contoso.com> Message-ID: Wow, thanks to everyone who replied!!!!. I did not expect such a rich supply of detailed suggestions! Three Crabs, incidentally, is one of the sites I went to with Pilchuck Audubon that I was trying to remember. After posting this request a few days ago, I noticed I had an open tab (my husband says he will inscribe "open tabs" on my tombstone!) of the Olympic Loop of the Great Washington State Birding Trail. I meticulously went over the areas I could potentially visit in the course of 3 1/2 days, plotting the exact travel times to each from our hotel with OCD accuracy, and came up with this: 1. First day, arrival at Port Townsend terminal, birding there, Fort Worden, Kah Tai Lagoon and Fort Flagler in Marrowstone, then to our lodging in Sequim, which is 7 miles from the John Wayne Marina. 2. Next morning, off to Salt Creek, Elwha Estuary, Lake Crescent and Ediz Hook. I'll need to look at tides to determine where to go first. 3. Following day, Dungeness NWR, Dungeness River audubon Center, Dungeness Bay and John Wayne Marina 4. On the last day, heading toward Port Townsend, possibly revisit any of the above and see if I have time for Johnnycomelately Creek. Did I take on too much? Any suggestions about what to do first? last? Anything not worth my time? Judith, thank you for the details on the Elwha River Estuary. Sounds like a must see and it's definitely a place I will visit now. David, I've highlighted every place where I can see Long Tailed Ducks, in hope for better images than I have. I didn't think Yellow Rumped Warblers would be anywhere close by this deep in winter. Thanks very much! Jane, I thought it was interesting how many of you recommend Three Crabs, which is in the Birding in Washington big book but not listed on the Olympic Trail map locations. I did find a map with its specific location also. Thank you for giving me the detailed instructions and alternate label. I did look up the Birder's Dashboard when I researched. I will keep my eye on it. Bob, Thank you for the additional resources; I'll take a look. I usually go armed with way more information than I need or ever use so I'll have an artillery. Big book is the BGA. What a wonderful resource that book is!! As a newcomer to Skagit County and eventually Snohomish County, that book was an amazing resource, now dog eared and tab marked almost into non functional mayhem! Appreciate your complete list. Also, Paul, thank you also for the Three Crabs and dining recommendations also. I can see why this would be a good region to visit throughout the seasons, but I now see that I picked a good place for winter birding, which had been something I was second guessing.. *Additional Question*: How much hiking should I be doing on the NWR Spit? I'm concerned about spending too much time there at the cost of losing other more valuable time in other, perhaps richer locations. Kudos to you Washingtonians. Maybe it's because I was just a burgeoning birder and photographer in Southern California, but the birding resources and community paled in my area in comparison to up here. The Big Book alone is a treasure trove. I'm so grateful to the great birders who put that information together. Also, I hope I'm replying correctly. I was trying to find a way to stay on one thread but they seem broken up and I haven't yet figured out the nuances of Tweeters. thanks again, everyone, Ann On Sun, Feb 1, 2026 at 9:51?AM David Swinford via Tweeters < tweeters@u.washington.edu> wrote: > Don't forget Ediz Hook. Easy looks at Harlequin Ducks, Black Turnstone > and Black-Bellied Plovers. Often you can score all three species of > Cormorant, Loon and Grebe. Common Goldeneye and sometimes a stray > Barrows. Brant are likely, Red-Breasted Mergansers and Surf Scoters. Just > after passing the Mckinley Paper Mill, find a parking area on the right and > scope the boom logs on the inner harbor. Then look across the road and > back to the Mill and there is an area where you can easily and safely walk > to the top of the bouldered seawall revetment and scope out to the Strait. > Long-Tailed Ducks are usually spotted there. Drive out the end and scope > the inner bay and Strait from there. Grab the occasional pull out along > the way. On the way back stop at the Mill pond and look for Hooded > Mergansers. Then walk the trail that is on the opposite side of the road > from the Mill Pond back towards PA and look for a wintering group of > Yellow-Rumped Warblers. > > If I had a day I would probably do Ediz Hook, the Mouth of the Elwha and > the Salt Creek Campground including Tongue Point. > > > > On Sat, Jan 31, 2026 at 12:11?PM Judith A. Howard via Tweeters < > tweeters@u.washington.edu> wrote: > >> Ann, there is a wonderful birding area, part of the Washington State >> Birding Trail, just west of Port Angeles. Take Highway 112, turn right on >> Place Road, and take it to the water. At Dike Access, turn right and >> park. It?s where the Elwha enters the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Since the >> dams were removed, it has become a beautiful estuary again. Enjoy! >> >> >> >> Judy Howard >> >> Clinton >> _______________________________________________ >> 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 Sun Feb 1 13:36:48 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Ann Kramer via Tweeters) Date: Sun Feb 1 13:37:28 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] WOODPECKER A Year in the Life of North American Woodpeckers In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Hi Jamie, Thank you for this review. I mean to buy it but I think I'm waiting to buy it from him in person at our April meeting at the new Mt. Vernon library commons room. He will be our speaker on April 14th, 2026 @ 7:00 PM (doors open at 6:30 PM). Skagit Audubon is doing a first time joint event with the library. Everyone is invited. We will have some sweets and coffee and tea. It is FREE to everyone. The new commons room at the new Mt. Vernon library is beautiful, state of the art, comfortable table seating for 300 with 2 projectors (a system that actually works as opposed to our last program with Paul). We're very excited to be partnering with the library and introducing the love of birds to a potentially new generation and population. I'll post more on this event as we get closer to the date. Paul will be selling his books at the event. Ann Program Committee Chair, Skagit Audubon Society On Mon, Jan 19, 2026 at 10:13?AM Jamie Acker via Tweeters < tweeters@u.washington.edu> wrote: > This latest book by Paul Bannick is the result of tens of thousands of > hours of field observations spanning the North American continent. The > numerous photos are of National Geographic quality and make this book > coffee table worthy. But it is the personal field observations documented > by the photos that make this book stand out and complement the Cornell > "Birds of the World" life histories accounts. > Where the ?Birds of the World? life histories leave off, Paul?s book picks > up by relating the relationships between the woodpecker species as well as > their individual specialized adaptations, habitat and environmental needs > through his observations in the field. > This well written book follows 41 species of North American woodpeckers > through a year with beautifully captured photographs. It is also a plea to > view woodpeckers as habitat and environmental canaries that should not go > unacknowledged. > Highly recommended, not just for the photos which are gorgeous, but for > the abundant information contained in the writing. > -Jamie > owler637@gmail.com > Bainbridge Island, 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 Mon Feb 2 01:03:31 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Robert O'Brien via Tweeters) Date: Mon Feb 2 01:03:45 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Merlin Complaints Backfire ! Badly. Message-ID: For quite a while, there have been complaints that some bird calls/songs are reported as birds that 'cannot possibly be present'.by Merlin. Merlin is often held up to scorn. But what if the bird IS ACTUALLY present, as a vagrant. For instance rare eastern warblers breeding/singing in coastal SW Oregon n (Think Tim Rodenkirk) I just made the terrible mistake of updating Merlin to the current version. *So very sad.* With this version, if Merlin (in its infinite wisdom). decides that* 'it can't be present'* then Merlin simply ignores it. That could be good for inexperienced birders who would be confused by a bad id. But, would IGNORING IT really help? But for experienced birders, that means vagrants are out of bounds for Merlin. Either location or seasonal wise. For instance, the wonderful ID of a White-eyed Vireo along the Tillamook coast. As I recall a very creative birder heard that call while driving; didn't recognize it, backed up;,recorded it, reported to OBOL and OBRC, and it became an accepted record. White-eyed Vireo. Had she done that with the new version. Identifying it from Merlin would not have been possible. The call would simply pass by in the sonogram with no reaction. And very likely never reported. So (currently) sad. *WEVI-2022-02 (A2) Nehalem Bay State Park parking lot, Tillamook Co., 26 June 2022. Report and audio files BH. Second state record* *This OBRC report does not do it justice for how outstanding and creative this 2nd Oregon Record was. * There are other resources for ID when Merlin cops out, but all of them are difficult to use. So, my advice (to everyone) DO NOT DOWNLOAD THE CURRENT VERSION. If you get a surprising ID, figure it out. Real or not., Just sayin' But, as always, it's your choice. Bob OBrien Carver OR P.S. It took me hours to figure this all out. And I checked it just now by playing an On-line White eyed vireo song and recording it (both on my phone, at my home location Merlin reported 'No Suggestions'. So very sad. Merlin is a fantastic resource, so powerful, and hopefully it will one day be. But for now, it seems to be floundering around in the UI (user interface) and the concepts. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Mon Feb 2 08:40:14 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Kevin Lucas via Tweeters) Date: Mon Feb 2 08:40:44 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Merlin Complaints Backfire ! Badly. In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Robert et al, Perhaps that's why Merlin did not identify the Black Phoebe I was watching and photographing and videoing while Merlin sound recording a few weeks ago. I could see the Black Phoebe's vocalization in/on the sonogram in real-time, and hear the vocalization well when I later played back my Merlin sound recordings. I was baffled. Recently, while browsing Merlin in the field, I often see "Not in Yakima today" with Merlin's account for a bird that I'm watching and listening to. It seems a poorly chosen phrase, especially when Merlin has just correctly identified the vocalization from that species. I find Merlin great for bringing my attention to birds whose calls aren't registering in my noggin. I find some of its mistakes frustrating -- often not recognizing a loudly calling Pacific Wren that I'm watching, others, like it identifying a squirrel as a Steller's Jay funny, and some mistakes, like those of Starling vocalizations being misidentified as Red-tailed Hawk, American Kestrel, Western Wood-Pewee,..., quite understandable. Sometimes, when Merlin ID's a species that I'm pretty sure is not present, I enter a zero for quantity for that species on my checklist, and enter in the comments that Merlin identified it and I think it was not present. Maybe adding some sort of special 'Merlin only' checkbox to eBird app's checklist entries is in order? Good Birding, https://www.aba.org/aba-code-of-birding-ethics/ Kevin Lucas Yakima County, Washington *Qui tacet consentire videtur* On Mon, Feb 2, 2026 at 1:04?AM Robert O'Brien via Tweeters < tweeters@u.washington.edu> wrote: > For quite a while, there have been complaints that some bird calls/songs > are reported as birds that 'cannot possibly be present'.by Merlin. Merlin > is often held up to scorn. > But what if the bird IS ACTUALLY present, as a vagrant. For instance > rare eastern warblers breeding/singing in coastal SW Oregon n (Think Tim > Rodenkirk) > > I just made the terrible mistake of updating Merlin to the current > version. *So very sad.* > With this version, if Merlin (in its infinite wisdom). decides that* 'it > can't be present'* then Merlin simply ignores it. > That could be good for inexperienced birders who would be confused by a > bad id. But, would IGNORING IT really help? > But for experienced birders, that means vagrants are out of bounds for > Merlin. Either location or seasonal wise. > > For instance, the wonderful ID of a White-eyed Vireo along the Tillamook > coast. As I recall a very creative birder heard that call while driving; > didn't recognize it, backed up;,recorded it, reported to OBOL and OBRC, and > it became an accepted record. White-eyed Vireo. Had she done that with the > new version. Identifying it from Merlin would not have been possible. The > call would simply pass by in the sonogram with no reaction. And very > likely never reported. So (currently) sad. > > *WEVI-2022-02 > > (A2) Nehalem Bay State Park parking lot, Tillamook Co., 26 June > 2022. Report and audio files BH. Second state record* > > *This OBRC report does not do it justice for how outstanding and creative > this 2nd Oregon Record was. * > > There are other resources for ID when Merlin cops out, but all of them are > difficult to use. > > So, my advice (to everyone) DO NOT DOWNLOAD THE CURRENT VERSION. If you > get a surprising ID, figure it out. Real or not., > Just sayin' But, as always, it's your choice. > > Bob OBrien Carver OR > > P.S. It took me hours to figure this all out. And I checked it just now > by playing an On-line White eyed vireo song and recording it (both on my > phone, at my home location Merlin reported 'No Suggestions'. So very > sad. Merlin is a fantastic resource, so powerful, and hopefully it will > one day be. But for now, it seems to be floundering around in the UI (user > interface) and the concepts. > _______________________________________________ > 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 Feb 2 08:54:00 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Stef Neis via Tweeters) Date: Mon Feb 2 08:54:20 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Merlin Complaints Backfire ! Badly. In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <71FAFDBA-23FF-4124-9B83-2A4B985C2F4D@whidbey.com> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Mon Feb 2 09:46:18 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Chuq Von Rospach via Tweeters) Date: Mon Feb 2 09:46:23 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Merlin Complaints Backfire ! Badly. In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On Feb 2, 2026 at 01:03:31, Robert O'Brien via Tweeters < tweeters@u.washington.edu> wrote: > For quite a while, there have been complaints that some bird calls/songs > are reported as birds that 'cannot possibly be present'.by Merlin. Merlin > is often held up to scorn. > But what if the bird IS ACTUALLY present, as a vagrant. For instance > rare eastern warblers breeding/singing in coastal SW Oregon > My take is that if the bird is that rare and your only ID data is a merlin ID, that?s not a good enough ID to add it to eBird, so I think Merlin is doing the right thing here. Without stronger evidence (visual confirmation, enough experience with the call to call it without assistance), that?s not a solid ID in my mind so it lives on as a ?something?. But for experienced birders, that means vagrants are out of bounds for > Merlin. Either location or seasonal wise. > I think this is the right call. Newer birders tend to trust Merlin explicitly (ask any eBird reviewer). Experienced birders will many times (but not always) know enough to be skeptical, and experienced enough to not make an eBird catch definitive without confirming evidence. I?m all for eBird protecting the naive here. That said, there are some things Merlin ought to do that it?s not that annoy me. First, I experimented for a while with a tool called Haiku, which is one of a number automatic song pickup systems you can get now. It?s pretty good in a number of ways, but among other things, having a microphone listening outside my door 24x7 just wasn?t my idea of fun. One thing I want Merlin to add is Haiku?s confidence rating ? it not only gives you the ID, but a oonfidence level (high/medium/low) for that ID. That way, you can have some sense of how good the ID is, and Merlin makes it seem all of its IDs are absolutely perfect (which it?s not) Second, why doesn?t Merlin make it easy to extract a given call for further analysis or uploading with the eBird report? This should be fairly easy to implement, either on the fly or as a later ?re-process? phase offline, and would make it a lot easier to do follow up listening or sharing with others for these less likely IDs. Right now, the recording stays one big mass of data that you have to manually pull apart and honestly, that?s too much hassle for almost all IDs. They could make improving this and adding good call data to eBird a lot simpler. Overall though, while I have my issues with Merlin, I think it?s gotten way better in the last few years, and I?m all for it leaning towards doing the right thing for newbies here. Chuq --------------------------------------- Chuq Von Rospach (http://www.chuq.me) Silverdale, Washington Birder, Nature and Wildlife Photographer Email me at: chuqvr@gmail.com Mastodon: @chuqvr@fosstodon.org Stay Updated with what I'm doing: https://www.chuq.me/6fps/ My latest e-book: https://www.chuq.me/ebooks -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Mon Feb 2 12:46:35 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Alan Richards via Tweeters) Date: Mon Feb 2 12:46:44 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Merlin / location problems Message-ID: <417015008.379399479.1770065195756.JavaMail.zimbra@wwest.net> For a few years now, I have been using Merlin Sound ID on my Android phone. In the last couple of years, I have saved a few audio files. Up until at least Nov 4 , 2025, the location where these files were made was clearly displayed at the top of the file listing, along with the date / time. Just lately, the location is not displayed, and I have not so far been able to find it. Date and time, yes; location, no. What good is a list without knowing where it was formed? Any help appreciated on this perplexing question. Thanks! Alan Richards / Pacific co / 98638 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Mon Feb 2 13:58:56 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Peter Relson via Tweeters) Date: Mon Feb 2 13:59:05 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Merlin Complaints Backfire ! Badly. References: <208239611.38089.1770069536182.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <208239611.38089.1770069536182@mail.yahoo.com> Do we need to care which approach is better? Surely it is a simple matter of programming for Merlin to provide an option to indicate how to process this situation. With such an option, both the newbie and the expert can get what they want.? Perhaps suggest that to the Merlin owners.... Peter Relson -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Mon Feb 2 14:06:42 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Dale C via Tweeters) Date: Mon Feb 2 14:06:48 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] sign up please References: <189125979.43946.1770070002799.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <189125979.43946.1770070002799@mail.yahoo.com> -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Mon Feb 2 17:01:06 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Alan Richards via Tweeters) Date: Mon Feb 2 17:01:08 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Merlin / location problems Message-ID: <2015646301.380876543.1770080466332.JavaMail.zimbra@wwest.net> For a few years now, I have been using Merlin Sound ID on my Android phone. In the last couple of years, I have saved a few audio files. Up until at least Nov 4 , 2025, the location where these files were made was clearly displayed at the top of the file listing, along with the date / time. Just lately, the location is not displayed, and I have not so far been able to find it. Date and time, yes; location, no. What good is a list without knowing where it was formed? Any help appreciated on this perplexing question. Thanks! Alan Richards / Pacific co / 98638 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Mon Feb 2 19:04:03 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Lea Mitchell via Tweeters) Date: Mon Feb 2 19:04:07 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Merlin -- while biking past a pecan orchard Message-ID: <006901dc94b9$c0c79c40$4256d4c0$@mitcub.net> Yes! Keep the old version of Merlin if you can. And a brief tale. While biking in the deserts of Arizona we used Merlin to help us tap into birds along the way. We emerged from the desert and then into one of the largest Pecan plantations in the country. We heard a Peregrine, then an eagle, and a red tail. Merlin heard them too. Hmmm. We were skeptical. Turns out it was a recording the orchard folks were playing to keep the songbirds from eating the Pecans. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Mon Feb 2 21:03:55 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Thomas Dorrance via Tweeters) Date: Mon Feb 2 21:04:11 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Merlin -- while biking past a pecan orchard In-Reply-To: <006901dc94b9$c0c79c40$4256d4c0$@mitcub.net> References: <006901dc94b9$c0c79c40$4256d4c0$@mitcub.net> Message-ID: Raptor vocalizations at close range were often a feature of the spring Apple Century bike ride out of Wenatchee. Other orchards opted for cannon fire. Both quite distracting. Tom Dorrance On Mon, Feb 2, 2026 at 7:04?PM Lea Mitchell via Tweeters < tweeters@u.washington.edu> wrote: > Yes! Keep the old version of Merlin if you can. > > And a brief tale. While biking in the deserts of Arizona we used Merlin to > help us tap into birds along the way. We emerged from the desert and then > into one of the largest Pecan plantations in the country. We heard a > Peregrine, then an eagle, and a red tail. Merlin heard them too. Hmmm. We > were skeptical. Turns out it was a recording the orchard folks were playing > to keep the songbirds from eating the Pecans. > _______________________________________________ > 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 Tue Feb 3 07:39:05 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (pan via Tweeters) Date: Tue Feb 3 07:39:13 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] raptor recordings against pests Message-ID: <323662801.51012.1770133145862@fidget.co-bxl> For awhile last year, I heard barn owls loudly around a certain rat-frequented corner of Seattle Center after dark.? Later interspersed with cries of rodents in extremis.?? (I think there were Cooper's and Red-tailed in daylight, too.)??Eventually I (and probably the rats) learned to stop looking.? Alan Grenon Seattle panmail AT mailfence PERIOD com -- Sent with https://mailfence.com Secure and private email -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Tue Feb 3 07:41:09 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Jim Forrester via Tweeters) Date: Tue Feb 3 07:42:26 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Merlin Complaints Backfire ! Badly. References: <1842216803.2031318.1770133269319.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <1842216803.2031318.1770133269319@mail.yahoo.com> Merlin is a great tool, but I would second Chuq's suggestion that Merlin should give a confidence rating on its identifications.? I've plugged it before, but we use BirdNET in the field, particularly outside the U.S., which rates its identifications between "Almost Certain" and "Just a Wild Guess".? We've found it to be spot-on when it's confident on an ID, and the "Just a Wild Guess" tends to lump in birds not expected in the area - and it's only rarely correct in that instance, as it should be.? There are many certainty levels that it has between those 99% and 1% certainties, of course.? BirdNET's only disadvantage is that it requires an internet connection to make an ID, so while you can submit a recording once you're back on-line, it's nice to be able to do the ID in the field.? For better or for worse, there are ever fewer places where internet isn't available, so it's getting easier to use this tool in the field.?? Anyway, it would be nice if Merlin would show the confidence rating and had a setting for the % confidence that would be the threshold for showing an ID.?? -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Tue Feb 3 11:40:56 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Robert O'Brien via Tweeters) Date: Tue Feb 3 11:41:10 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Fwd: HI beats AI In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: HI beats AI. Or not? After hours of mulling around in Merlin I finally figured out a way to 'beat' Merlin AI Say I got a bird recording via email asking to ID the audio file of a singing bird. (I did recently; which opened my Pandora's Box leading to mulling) I simply played the file for Merlin. No ID was given. Hours later I finally figured it out: The process. I down-loaded the audio file from the email but didn't play it (yet). I opened the Merlin App and started it recording (Both of these on my phone) I returned to the loaded sound file and played it. When it finished playing in a few seconds (or minutes) I returned to Merlin and stopped that recording. The bird song had not been identified by Merlin. (Next) I saved that unidentified file in Merlin. The bird had not been identified, because my phone had defaulted to my location in Carver OR In this Merlin file I clicked the 3 dots at top right and changed the location to where the recording was made. Still no ID. I clicked the 3 dots again, and changed the date to when the recording was made. You must click backward from the current date. Bingo the bird was instantly identified. Corollary I hear an unusual song in the trees at my house in April. I can't see the bird. (Shades of the White-eyed Vireo). I record the song with Merlin which does not identify it at my default location in Carver OR Hmmm. I"m guessing it's some vagrant warbler that Merlin does not allow me to identify. I'm guessing it might be a migrant through east texas. I change the location to High Islands TX (Merlin defaults to the Bolivar peninsula TX, that's fine) Merlin identifies the bird which I would not normally be allowed to see at all. Bingo. Or, Merlin still does not identify the bird. OK, second guess. Some warblers migrate north through Florida, not Texas (Cape May Warbler, for instance) so I change the location to Miami, Bingo the bird is identified. This would be the same if the bird was a Vireo rather than a warbler, or any other bird that might be in a location during spring, resident or migrant.. Same process, same ID. Very tedious but at least I have vanquished Merlin at its own game. That is, until Merlin gets smarter (than me) and stops letting me change the date or location. Don't leak this. Please. By The Way, I first tried to change the location simply to the United States. That way all birds would be considered. I tried this for Bewick's Wren. Nope. With my location as the United States no identification was given. Maybe Bewick's Wren is not widespread enough in the US for that to work. You must narrow it down more and this seems to require guessing where the unknown bird might be found AND when. A singing warbler would not be recognized in the winter since they are assumed to be NOT singing and/or Not in the country. Bob OBrien Carver OR -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Tue Feb 3 22:33:41 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Martha Jordan via Tweeters) Date: Tue Feb 3 22:34:10 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Whooper Swan - Skagit Message-ID: The Whooper is still around. From the photos I have from Whatcom County early in the swan season, from Snohomish County north zone from January and the many photos of a whooper in Skagit today, this appears to be the same swan. The bill pattern in all the photos I have or have been posted show the same bill pattern. With Whooper and Bewick swans you can ID individuals by their distinct yellow patterns on their bills. Nice find for all you out birding. Martha Jordan Everett, WA -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Wed Feb 4 07:53:24 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Gary Bletsch via Tweeters) Date: Wed Feb 4 07:53:30 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Hawaii birding RFI References: <670184550.199455.1770220404648.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <670184550.199455.1770220404648@mail.yahoo.com> Dear Tweeters, In a few weeks, I will hang up my snow shovel and depart Western New York for Hawaii. I will ask the pilot to waggle the wings if we fly over Skagit County. It's silly that Mrs. Bletsch and I never made it to Hawaii when we lived in Washington, but oh, well. We are finally getting around to it. I went there with my parents in August of 1973, six months before I started birding, so it will all be tabula rasa for me, as far as the birds go--not counting the hordes of introduced species, I reckon. I have a few questions about birding in the Aloha State. I. On just about any trip, I usually take my scope and tripod, but sometimes I do enjoy a break from the burden, and go with just binoculars and zoom camera (the later being what I call "the poor man's scope"). Will I kick myself if I leave the scope home? II. On my bookshelf, the only field guide that covers Hawaiian birds is Peterson's A Field Guide to Western Birds,??second edition, 1961. That book has a little section on Hawaiian birds at the back. It is, of course, wildly out of date. Lots of the native birds shown in this book have either gone extinct, or have been split into various species endemic to just one island.? So, is there a Hawaiian bird book worth buying, or could I get away with just using RTP's old book, with the photos and text of Merlin as a backup? III. We are visting Kauai, Maui, Hawaii, and Oahu. What would be the most important sites to visit? IV. Any other suggestions? Thanks for any help on this. Yours truly, Gary Bletsch ? -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Wed Feb 4 08:22:41 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Jerry Tangren via Tweeters) Date: Wed Feb 4 08:22:46 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Hawaii birding RFI In-Reply-To: <670184550.199455.1770220404648@mail.yahoo.com> References: <670184550.199455.1770220404648.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <670184550.199455.1770220404648@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Not a complete answer? ?Take your scope. Every island presents seawatch opportunities. If you don't have one, get a hard sided case for carry-on. Study up on what pelagics can be seen. ?Sign up with one of the guides for the Hakalau Forest NWR. It's the best site for native landbirds, but requires a guide. Best money you will ever spend birding. --On Oahu, make sure you visit the Japanese cemetery on the northwest shore, think curlew; and the Aiea Loop Trail. --Of course, the Kilauea and Hanalei NWRs on Kauai; and the state parks at higher elevations. --Buy the photographic Hawaii's Birds book, full of tips and recent information. --Depend upon eBird. On Kauai we got most of the birds by virtually following the guided tours on eBird. --Jerry Tangren, East Wenatchee Get Outlook for iOS ________________________________ From: Tweeters on behalf of Gary Bletsch via Tweeters Sent: Wednesday, February 4, 2026 7:53:24 AM To: Tweeters Tweeters Subject: [Tweeters] Hawaii birding RFI Dear Tweeters, In a few weeks, I will hang up my snow shovel and depart Western New York for Hawaii. I will ask the pilot to waggle the wings if we fly over Skagit County. It's silly that Mrs. Bletsch and I never made it to Hawaii when we lived in Washington, but oh, well. We are finally getting around to it. I went there with my parents in August of 1973, six months before I started birding, so it will all be tabula rasa for me, as far as the birds go--not counting the hordes of introduced species, I reckon. I have a few questions about birding in the Aloha State. I. On just about any trip, I usually take my scope and tripod, but sometimes I do enjoy a break from the burden, and go with just binoculars and zoom camera (the later being what I call "the poor man's scope"). Will I kick myself if I leave the scope home? II. On my bookshelf, the only field guide that covers Hawaiian birds is Peterson's A Field Guide to Western Birds, second edition, 1961. That book has a little section on Hawaiian birds at the back. It is, of course, wildly out of date. Lots of the native birds shown in this book have either gone extinct, or have been split into various species endemic to just one island. So, is there a Hawaiian bird book worth buying, or could I get away with just using RTP's old book, with the photos and text of Merlin as a backup? III. We are visting Kauai, Maui, Hawaii, and Oahu. What would be the most important sites to visit? IV. Any other suggestions? Thanks for any help on this. Yours truly, Gary Bletsch -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Wed Feb 4 08:43:56 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Carla Conway via Tweeters) Date: Wed Feb 4 08:44:11 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Hawaii birding RFI In-Reply-To: References: <670184550.199455.1770220404648.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <670184550.199455.1770220404648@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Hi Gary, I'm so glad you and your wife will be visiting Hawai'i! If you can, visit the Hakalau Forest Preserve. Lance Tanino is a great guide and I think he was the top eBirder for the State and Island of Hawai'i last year. His tours are limited to four persons, unlike others which can have as many as 10. Hawai'i Audubon has many resources. https://hiaudubon.org/birding-in-hawaii/ Enjoy!? On Wed, Feb 4, 2026 at 8:22?AM Jerry Tangren via Tweeters < tweeters@u.washington.edu> wrote: > Not a complete answer? > > ?Take your scope. Every island presents seawatch opportunities. If you > don't have one, get a hard sided case for carry-on. Study up on what > pelagics can be seen. > > ?Sign up with one of the guides for the Hakalau Forest NWR. It's the best > site for native landbirds, but requires a guide. Best money you will ever > spend birding. > > --On Oahu, make sure you visit the Japanese cemetery on the northwest > shore, think curlew; and the Aiea Loop Trail. > > --Of course, the Kilauea and Hanalei NWRs on Kauai; and the state parks at > higher elevations. > > --Buy the photographic Hawaii's Birds book, full of tips and recent > information. > > --Depend upon eBird. On Kauai we got most of the birds by virtually > following the guided tours on eBird. > > --Jerry Tangren, East Wenatchee > > > Get Outlook for iOS > ------------------------------ > *From:* Tweeters on behalf > of Gary Bletsch via Tweeters > *Sent:* Wednesday, February 4, 2026 7:53:24 AM > *To:* Tweeters Tweeters > *Subject:* [Tweeters] Hawaii birding RFI > > Dear Tweeters, > > In a few weeks, I will hang up my snow shovel and depart Western New York > for Hawaii. I will ask the pilot to waggle the wings if we fly over Skagit > County. > > It's silly that Mrs. Bletsch and I never made it to Hawaii when we lived > in Washington, but oh, well. We are finally getting around to it. I went > there with my parents in August of 1973, six months before I started > birding, so it will all be *tabula rasa* for me, as far as the birds > go--not counting the hordes of introduced species, I reckon. > > I have a few questions about birding in the Aloha State. > > I. On just about any trip, I usually take my scope and tripod, but > sometimes I do enjoy a break from the burden, and go with just binoculars > and zoom camera (the later being what I call "the poor man's scope"). Will > I kick myself if I leave the scope home? > > II. On my bookshelf, the only field guide that covers Hawaiian birds is > Peterson's *A Field Guide to Western Birds, * second edition, 1961. That > book has a little section on Hawaiian birds at the back. It is, of course, > wildly out of date. Lots of the native birds shown in this book have either > gone extinct, or have been split into various species endemic to just one > island. > > So, is there a Hawaiian bird book worth buying, or could I get away with > just using RTP's old book, with the photos and text of Merlin as a backup? > > III. We are visting Kauai, Maui, Hawaii, and Oahu. What would be the most > important sites to visit? > > IV. Any other suggestions? > > Thanks for any help on this. > > Yours truly, > > Gary Bletsch > > > _______________________________________________ > 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 Feb 4 09:27:46 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Nagi Aboulenein via Tweeters) Date: Wed Feb 4 09:27:56 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Hawaii birding RFI In-Reply-To: References: <670184550.199455.1770220404648.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <670184550.199455.1770220404648@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <0d41b2e4-b284-4574-a4c3-8e2cbcddee4a@Canary> I will whole-heartedly second the recommendation for birding Hakalau Forest Preserve with Lance Tanino. We did that a couple of years ago, and it was amazing. The Hakalau Forest Preserve is limited access due to ROD concerns (Rapid Ohia Death disease), and birding it with a licensed guide is required. Another great spot for birding (this can be done on your own, no guide required) is the Kaulana Manu Nature Trail - another very nice small forest with lots of native Hawaii birds. For seawatches, Keahole Point near the airport is a great spot. Good luck! ? Nagi Aboulenein > On Wednesday, Feb 04, 2026 at 08:44, Carla Conway via Tweeters wrote: > Hi Gary, > > I'm so glad you and your wife will be visiting Hawai'i! If you can, visit the Hakalau Forest Preserve. Lance Tanino is a great guide and I think he was the top eBirder for the State and Island of Hawai'i last year. His tours are limited to four persons, unlike others which can have as many as 10. > > Hawai'i Audubon has many resources. > https://hiaudubon.org/birding-in-hawaii/ > > Enjoy!? > > > On Wed, Feb 4, 2026 at 8:22?AM Jerry Tangren via Tweeters wrote: > > Not a complete answer? > > > > ?Take your scope. Every island presents seawatch opportunities. If you don't have one, get a hard sided case for carry-on. Study up on what pelagics can be seen. > > > > ?Sign up with one of the guides for the Hakalau Forest NWR. It's the best site for native landbirds, but requires a guide. Best money you will ever spend birding. > > > > --On Oahu, make sure you visit the Japanese cemetery on the northwest shore, think curlew; and the Aiea Loop Trail. > > > > --Of course, the Kilauea and Hanalei NWRs on Kauai; and the state parks at higher elevations. > > > > --Buy the photographic Hawaii's Birds book, full of tips and recent information. > > > > --Depend upon eBird. On Kauai we got most of the birds by virtually following the guided tours on eBird. > > > > --Jerry Tangren, East Wenatchee > > > > > > Get Outlook for iOS (https://aka.ms/o0ukef) > > From: Tweeters on behalf of Gary Bletsch via Tweeters > > Sent: Wednesday, February 4, 2026 7:53:24 AM > > To: Tweeters Tweeters > > Subject: [Tweeters] Hawaii birding RFI > > > > > > > > Dear Tweeters, > > > > In a few weeks, I will hang up my snow shovel and depart Western New York for Hawaii. I will ask the pilot to waggle the wings if we fly over Skagit County. > > > > It's silly that Mrs. Bletsch and I never made it to Hawaii when we lived in Washington, but oh, well. We are finally getting around to it. I went there with my parents in August of 1973, six months before I started birding, so it will all be tabula rasa for me, as far as the birds go--not counting the hordes of introduced species, I reckon. > > > > I have a few questions about birding in the Aloha State. > > > > I. On just about any trip, I usually take my scope and tripod, but sometimes I do enjoy a break from the burden, and go with just binoculars and zoom camera (the later being what I call "the poor man's scope"). Will I kick myself if I leave the scope home? > > > > II. On my bookshelf, the only field guide that covers Hawaiian birds is Peterson's A Field Guide to Western Birds, second edition, 1961. That book has a little section on Hawaiian birds at the back. It is, of course, wildly out of date. Lots of the native birds shown in this book have either gone extinct, or have been split into various species endemic to just one island. > > > > So, is there a Hawaiian bird book worth buying, or could I get away with just using RTP's old book, with the photos and text of Merlin as a backup? > > > > III. We are visting Kauai, Maui, Hawaii, and Oahu. What would be the most important sites to visit? > > > > IV. Any other suggestions? > > > > Thanks for any help on this. > > > > Yours truly, > > > > Gary Bletsch > > > > _______________________________________________ > > 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 Wed Feb 4 10:24:15 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (LMarkoff via Tweeters) Date: Wed Feb 4 10:24:27 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Hawaii birding RFI In-Reply-To: <670184550.199455.1770220404648@mail.yahoo.com> References: <670184550.199455.1770220404648.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <670184550.199455.1770220404648@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <007801dc9603$7a63c760$6f2b5620$@mycci.net> Hello Gary and Tweeter Folk, On my first trip to Hawaii in 1975 I was on a tour, which was okay for an introduction. I finally got a chance to go back in 2010, with a focus on birds, and with seeing flowing lava with my own eyes. My daughter who is not a birder but who is a very patient person, went with me. We did it on our own and had a great time and stored up a lot of fond memories! Bird books I took: The Birds of Hawaii and the Tropical Pacific, by Pratt, Bruner, and Berrett. Hawaii?s Birds, by Hawaii Audubon Society Plant books I took: A Pocket Guide to Hawai?i?s Trees and Shrubs, by Pratt A Pocket Guide to Hawai?i?s Flowers, by Peebles and Miyano I just checked on Alibris, https://www.alibris.com/ and found both bird books. They didn?t have the plant books though, so I checked on ebay and found both bird books and both plant books. So all the books are still available, one way or another. Regarding taking a scope...I avoid taking a scope anywhere these days, too much hassle to lug around, too much concern that it might be stolen. Plus, with cataracts becoming an issue, I can?t see well through a scope anyway. I use my binocular and Canon zoom camera (as you described it) instead. Yes, I might miss some stuff, but I still get to see plenty and have a good time. Guess it is a personal choice, eh? Hope you two have a happy and safe trip, aloha, Lori Markoff, Citrus Heights, CA From: Tweeters On Behalf Of Gary Bletsch via Tweeters Sent: Wednesday, February 4, 2026 7:53 AM To: Tweeters Tweeters Subject: [Tweeters] Hawaii birding RFI Dear Tweeters, In a few weeks, I will hang up my snow shovel and depart Western New York for Hawaii. I will ask the pilot to waggle the wings if we fly over Skagit County. It's silly that Mrs. Bletsch and I never made it to Hawaii when we lived in Washington, but oh, well. We are finally getting around to it. I went there with my parents in August of 1973, six months before I started birding, so it will all be tabula rasa for me, as far as the birds go--not counting the hordes of introduced species, I reckon. I have a few questions about birding in the Aloha State. I. On just about any trip, I usually take my scope and tripod, but sometimes I do enjoy a break from the burden, and go with just binoculars and zoom camera (the later being what I call "the poor man's scope"). Will I kick myself if I leave the scope home? II. On my bookshelf, the only field guide that covers Hawaiian birds is Peterson's A Field Guide to Western Birds, second edition, 1961. That book has a little section on Hawaiian birds at the back. It is, of course, wildly out of date. Lots of the native birds shown in this book have either gone extinct, or have been split into various species endemic to just one island. So, is there a Hawaiian bird book worth buying, or could I get away with just using RTP's old book, with the photos and text of Merlin as a backup? III. We are visting Kauai, Maui, Hawaii, and Oahu. What would be the most important sites to visit? IV. Any other suggestions? Thanks for any help on this. Yours truly, Gary Bletsch -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Wed Feb 4 10:31:26 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (HAL MICHAEL via Tweeters) Date: Wed Feb 4 10:31:50 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Hawaii birding RFI In-Reply-To: <670184550.199455.1770220404648@mail.yahoo.com> References: <670184550.199455.1770220404648.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <670184550.199455.1770220404648@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <1627818779.1001283.1770229886574@connect.xfinity.com> Answers to your questions follow them. Hal Michael Board of Directors, Ecologists Without Borders http://ecowb.org/ Olympia WA 360-459-4005 360-791-7702 (C) ucd880@comcast.net On 02/04/2026 7:53 AM PST Gary Bletsch via Tweeters wrote: Dear Tweeters, In a few weeks, I will hang up my snow shovel and depart Western New York for Hawaii. I will ask the pilot to waggle the wings if we fly over Skagit County. It's silly that Mrs. Bletsch and I never made it to Hawaii when we lived in Washington, but oh, well. We are finally getting around to it. I went there with my parents in August of 1973, six months before I started birding, so it will all be tabula rasa for me, as far as the birds go--not counting the hordes of introduced species, I reckon. I have a few questions about birding in the Aloha State. I. On just about any trip, I usually take my scope and tripod, but sometimes I do enjoy a break from the burden, and go with just binoculars and zoom camera (the later being what I call "the poor man's scope"). Will I kick myself if I leave the scope home? There are a few places where a scope would be nice like scanning for pelagics or at some of the freshwater sites. It would be a real pain to carry, much less use, in the forests. II. On my bookshelf, the only field guide that covers Hawaiian birds is Peterson's A Field Guide to Western Birds, second edition, 1961. That book has a little section on Hawaiian birds at the back. It is, of course, wildly out of date. Lots of the native birds shown in this book have either gone extinct, or have been split into various species endemic to just one island. While old, The Birds of Hawaii and the Tropical Pacific by Pratt, Bruner, and Berrett is great. Check out bookstores there for some good alternatives. All better than Peterson as they are much updated. So, is there a Hawaiian bird book worth buying, or could I get away with just using RTP's old book, with the photos and text of Merlin as a backup? III. We are visting Kauai, Maui, Hawaii, and Oahu. What would be the most important sites to visit? Kauai. Haven't been to Kauai for decades but the Kilauea Lighthouse is probably the best site left as the forest birds seem to have crashed. Oahu. Kapiolani Park and/or Iolani Palace for the White Tern. The park also has some parrots. The islands to the east might be a spot for the 'scope as there are lots of seabirds on them. The James Campbell NWR is supposed to be pretty good, too. Maui. Hosmer Grove on Haleakala has lots of the commoner forest species at eye level. And begging on the picnic tables. Big Island. Certainly one of the guided trips to Hakalau NWR. We go with Hawaii Forest and Trail and general see all the remaining native forest species plus the exotics. Waikoloa Village gas station has Lovebirds and the playfields at the end of the development have the Sandgrouse. Old Saddle Road has Pueo (owl) and lots of other birds. If you have 4WD you can go search for Palila. In the lowlands the golf courses (Waikoloa, Mauna Lani) may have Bristle-thighed Curlew and do have lots of Kolea (Golden Plover). Down by Kailua the sewage ponds (locally known as the Turd and Bird Farm) has many species of migratory waterfowl and shorebirds. The nearby Aimakapa (sp?) Pond in the National Park has migratory waterfowl, herons, etc. plus shorebirds on the hike out. South Point may have some Noddies and Whittington SP (further east) has had a variety of waterfowl in the past including Snow Goose and Harlequin. Since you're in that area stop at the Punaluu Bake Shop. A few nice birds like the Yellow Billed Cardinal but even better pastries. Although not much for birds, the Punaluu Black Sand Beach further east and north of South Point almost always has Green Turtles sleeping on the beach and even more in the water if you look closely. IV. Any other suggestions? Keep a close on on ebird as rarities always pop up. That was how we found the Inca Tern a few years back. Enjoy. Thanks for any help on this. Yours truly, Gary Bletsch _______________________________________________ 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 Feb 4 11:06:53 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Peter Mann via Tweeters) Date: Wed Feb 4 11:07:00 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Hawaii birding RFI In-Reply-To: <007801dc9603$7a63c760$6f2b5620$@mycci.net> References: <670184550.199455.1770220404648.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <670184550.199455.1770220404648@mail.yahoo.com> <007801dc9603$7a63c760$6f2b5620$@mycci.net> Message-ID: <303ACA67-4678-4763-B6D3-580C0365594A@epl-inc.com> Sent from my iPad On Feb 4, 2026, at 12:24?PM, LMarkoff via Tweeters wrote: ? Hello Gary and Tweeter Folk, On my first trip to Hawaii in 1975 I was on a tour, which was okay for an introduction. I finally got a chance to go back in 2010, with a focus on birds, and with seeing flowing lava with my own eyes. My daughter who is not a birder but who is a very patient person, went with me. We did it on our own and had a great time and stored up a lot of fond memories! Bird books I took: The Birds of Hawaii and the Tropical Pacific, by Pratt, Bruner, and Berrett. Hawaii?s Birds, by Hawaii Audubon Society Plant books I took: A Pocket Guide to Hawai?i?s Trees and Shrubs, by Pratt A Pocket Guide to Hawai?i?s Flowers, by Peebles and Miyano I just checked on Alibris, https://www.alibris.com/ and found both bird books. They didn?t have the plant books though, so I checked on ebay and found both bird books and both plant books. So all the books are still available, one way or another. Regarding taking a scope...I avoid taking a scope anywhere these days, too much hassle to lug around, too much concern that it might be stolen. Plus, with cataracts becoming an issue, I can?t see well through a scope anyway. I use my binocular and Canon zoom camera (as you described it) instead. Yes, I might miss some stuff, but I still get to see plenty and have a good time. Guess it is a personal choice, eh? Hope you two have a happy and safe trip, aloha, Lori Markoff, Citrus Heights, CA From: Tweeters On Behalf Of Gary Bletsch via Tweeters Sent: Wednesday, February 4, 2026 7:53 AM To: Tweeters Tweeters Subject: [Tweeters] Hawaii birding RFI Dear Tweeters, In a few weeks, I will hang up my snow shovel and depart Western New York for Hawaii. I will ask the pilot to waggle the wings if we fly over Skagit County. It's silly that Mrs. Bletsch and I never made it to Hawaii when we lived in Washington, but oh, well. We are finally getting around to it. I went there with my parents in August of 1973, six months before I started birding, so it will all be tabula rasa for me, as far as the birds go--not counting the hordes of introduced species, I reckon. I have a few questions about birding in the Aloha State. I. On just about any trip, I usually take my scope and tripod, but sometimes I do enjoy a break from the burden, and go with just binoculars and zoom camera (the later being what I call "the poor man's scope"). Will I kick myself if I leave the scope home? II. On my bookshelf, the only field guide that covers Hawaiian birds is Peterson's A Field Guide to Western Birds, second edition, 1961. That book has a little section on Hawaiian birds at the back. It is, of course, wildly out of date. Lots of the native birds shown in this book have either gone extinct, or have been split into various species endemic to just one island. So, is there a Hawaiian bird book worth buying, or could I get away with just using RTP's old book, with the photos and text of Merlin as a backup? III. We are visting Kauai, Maui, Hawaii, and Oahu. What would be the most important sites to visit? IV. Any other suggestions? Thanks for any help on this. Yours truly, Gary Bletsch Caution: This is an external email and may be malicious. Please take care when clicking links or opening attachments. _______________________________________________ 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 Feb 4 11:13:25 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Peter Mann via Tweeters) Date: Wed Feb 4 11:13:29 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Hawaii birding RFI In-Reply-To: <007801dc9603$7a63c760$6f2b5620$@mycci.net> References: <670184550.199455.1770220404648.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <670184550.199455.1770220404648@mail.yahoo.com> <007801dc9603$7a63c760$6f2b5620$@mycci.net> Message-ID: <9E7308C6-2EEE-4AC6-BB00-3EB4027EC04D@epl-inc.com> If you are interested in a guide (big Island or multiple islands). I would highly recommend Lance Tonino. (lance.tonino@gmail.com). We did 10 days with him last year and saw 107 species, most of them new. He is a Big Island local, really knows his patch, and works very hard to produce birds. My personal feeling is that if you are going to a new location with new birds and limited time, hiring a local guide is one of the best investments you can make. Peter Sent from my iPad On Feb 4, 2026, at 12:24?PM, LMarkoff via Tweeters wrote: ? Hello Gary and Tweeter Folk, On my first trip to Hawaii in 1975 I was on a tour, which was okay for an introduction. I finally got a chance to go back in 2010, with a focus on birds, and with seeing flowing lava with my own eyes. My daughter who is not a birder but who is a very patient person, went with me. We did it on our own and had a great time and stored up a lot of fond memories! Bird books I took: The Birds of Hawaii and the Tropical Pacific, by Pratt, Bruner, and Berrett. Hawaii?s Birds, by Hawaii Audubon Society Plant books I took: A Pocket Guide to Hawai?i?s Trees and Shrubs, by Pratt A Pocket Guide to Hawai?i?s Flowers, by Peebles and Miyano I just checked on Alibris, https://www.alibris.com/ and found both bird books. They didn?t have the plant books though, so I checked on ebay and found both bird books and both plant books. So all the books are still available, one way or another. Regarding taking a scope...I avoid taking a scope anywhere these days, too much hassle to lug around, too much concern that it might be stolen. Plus, with cataracts becoming an issue, I can?t see well through a scope anyway. I use my binocular and Canon zoom camera (as you described it) instead. Yes, I might miss some stuff, but I still get to see plenty and have a good time. Guess it is a personal choice, eh? Hope you two have a happy and safe trip, aloha, Lori Markoff, Citrus Heights, CA From: Tweeters On Behalf Of Gary Bletsch via Tweeters Sent: Wednesday, February 4, 2026 7:53 AM To: Tweeters Tweeters Subject: [Tweeters] Hawaii birding RFI Dear Tweeters, In a few weeks, I will hang up my snow shovel and depart Western New York for Hawaii. I will ask the pilot to waggle the wings if we fly over Skagit County. It's silly that Mrs. Bletsch and I never made it to Hawaii when we lived in Washington, but oh, well. We are finally getting around to it. I went there with my parents in August of 1973, six months before I started birding, so it will all be tabula rasa for me, as far as the birds go--not counting the hordes of introduced species, I reckon. I have a few questions about birding in the Aloha State. I. On just about any trip, I usually take my scope and tripod, but sometimes I do enjoy a break from the burden, and go with just binoculars and zoom camera (the later being what I call "the poor man's scope"). Will I kick myself if I leave the scope home? II. On my bookshelf, the only field guide that covers Hawaiian birds is Peterson's A Field Guide to Western Birds, second edition, 1961. That book has a little section on Hawaiian birds at the back. It is, of course, wildly out of date. Lots of the native birds shown in this book have either gone extinct, or have been split into various species endemic to just one island. So, is there a Hawaiian bird book worth buying, or could I get away with just using RTP's old book, with the photos and text of Merlin as a backup? III. We are visting Kauai, Maui, Hawaii, and Oahu. What would be the most important sites to visit? IV. Any other suggestions? Thanks for any help on this. Yours truly, Gary Bletsch Caution: This is an external email and may be malicious. Please take care when clicking links or opening attachments. _______________________________________________ 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 Feb 4 16:52:13 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Heidi R via Tweeters) Date: Wed Feb 4 16:52:26 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Hawaii birding RFI Message-ID: Hi Gary, I have two book recommendations: 1. A Field Guide to The Birds of Hawaii and the Tropical Pacific by H. Douglas Pratt, Phillip L. Bruner and Delwyn G Berrett, Princeton University Press (Sponsored by the Hawaii Audubon Society), and 2. The Birdwatcher?s Guide to Hawai?i by Rick Soehren, A Kolowalu Book, University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu. This book is also available on www.alibris.com. I didn't rely on phone apps because cell phone reception wasn?t always available. I enjoyed whatever birds I saw because even the introduced species were new to me. Enjoy. Heidi -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Wed Feb 4 21:26:04 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Shep Thorp via Tweeters) Date: Wed Feb 4 21:26:20 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Wednesday Walk for Billy Frank Jr Nisqually NWR on 2/4/2026 Message-ID: Hi Tweets, Approximately 25 of us had a really fine day at the Refuge with cloudy skies in the morning turning to sunshine in the afternoon and unseasonable warm temperatures in the 40's to 50's degrees Fahrenheit. There was a High 15'1" Tide at 7:36am and a Low 4'6" Tide at 1:46pm, so we skipped the Orchard and Access Roads until the afternoon to chase the tide. Highlights included 6 WILSON'S SNIPE in the flooded fields, 3 EURASIAN WIGEON in the flooded fields/surge plain/and McAllister Creek, continuing WHITE-THROATED SPARROW from the Twin Barns Observation Platform and Nisqually Estuary Trail, First of Year BRANT GEESE at the mouth of Leschi Slough seen from the Puget Sound Observation Platform at the end of the boardwalk, FOY WHITE-WINGED SCOTER off Luhr Beach, RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER along the east entrance to the Twin Barns Loop Trail, upwards of three HUTTON'S VIREO exhibiting defensive/aggressive behavior near the access road green gate across from the entrance to the Education Center Parking Lot, and a MERLIN hunting the flooded field south of the old McAllister Creek Access Road. The BARN OWL was seen from the Twin Barns Overlook at approximately 7am. For the day we observed 74 species, with FOY STELLER'S JAY, Brant Geese, and White Winged Scoter, we now have seen 85 species so far this year. See our eBird Report with additional details posted below. Others seen included Muskrat, American Beaver, Columbian Black-tailed Deer, Harbor Seal, and numerous Common Garter Snakes sunbathing. 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 Feb 4, 2026 6:50 AM - 5:07 PM Protocol: Traveling 3.342 mile(s) Checklist Comments: Wednesday Walk. Mostly cloudy with sun in the afternoon, temperatures in the 40?s to 50?s degrees Fahrenheit. A High 15?1? Tide at 7:36am and a Low 4?6? Tide at 1:46pm. Animals seen included Eastern Cotton-tailed Rabbit, American Beaver, Muskrat, Columbian Black-tailed Deer, Eastern Gray Squirrel, Harbor Seal, Pacific Chorus Frog, and Common Garter Snake. 74 species (+5 other taxa) Brant (Black) 24 Nisqually Reach from Puget Sound Observation Platform. Cackling Goose (minima) 1300 Canada Goose (moffitti/maxima) 15 Northern Shoveler 150 Gadwall 70 Eurasian Wigeon 3 One in flooded field south of Twin Barns, another in surge plain - both spotted by Mary. A third spotted by Teri in McAllister Creek. American Wigeon 1700 Mallard 150 Northern Pintail 350 Green-winged Teal (American) 800 Ring-necked Duck 4 Visitor Center Pond. Greater/Lesser Scaup 4 Surf Scoter 75 White-winged Scoter 15 Small flock off Luhr Beach. Bufflehead 60 Common Goldeneye 40 Hooded Merganser 3 Common Merganser 20 Red-breasted Merganser 20 Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 21 Virginia Rail 2 Freshwater Marsh. American Coot 80 Killdeer 2 Long-billed Dowitcher 1 Spotted by Janel on Nisqually Estuary Trail or Dike at 7:15am Wilson's Snipe 6 Three in flooded field south of Twin Barns just north of the old McAllister Creek Access Road. Another three in the flooded field off the Twin Barns Observation Platform. Spotted Sandpiper 2 Greater Yellowlegs 25 Dunlin 1 Counted in ones. Least Sandpiper 24 Short-billed Gull 125 Ring-billed Gull 40 Glaucous-winged Gull 3 Western x Glaucous-winged Gull (hybrid) 10 Western/Glaucous-winged Gull 10 Larus sp. 200 Pied-billed Grebe 1 Visitor Center Pond. Horned Grebe 20 Many in McAllister Creek. Common Loon 3 Nisqually Reach. Brandt's Cormorant 6 Nisqually Channel marker. Double-crested Cormorant 15 Great Blue Heron (Great Blue) 50 Northern Harrier 2 Bald Eagle 18 Red-tailed Hawk 3 American Barn Owl 1 Spotted by Steve and Gene from the Twin Barns Observation Platform at 7am. Belted Kingfisher 5 Red-breasted Sapsucker 1 Spotted by Avy along the east entrance to the Twin Barns Loop Trail. Downy Woodpecker (Pacific) 5 Hairy Woodpecker (Pacific) 2 Spotted by Matt along the east entrance to the Twin Barns Loop Trail. Northern Flicker 4 Northern Flicker (Red-shafted) 2 American Kestrel (Northern) 1 Merlin 1 Spotted by Avy in the Alder Trees on the far side of the flooded field west of the west end parking lot and south of the old McAllister Creek Access Road. Hutton's Vireo (Pacific) 3 Heard and spotted by Janel, Matt and Mary at the green gate of the Access Road across from the entrance to the Education Center Parking Lot. Steller's Jay (Coastal) 1 Heard by Avy on McAllister Hill from the Nisqually Estuary Boardwalk Trail. American Crow 200 Common Raven 2 Black-capped Chickadee 25 Chestnut-backed Chickadee 10 Bushtit (Pacific) 15 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 15 Golden-crowned Kinglet 20 Brown Creeper 8 Pacific Wren 7 Marsh Wren 10 Bewick's Wren (spilurus Group) 4 European Starling 200 Varied Thrush 2 Spotted by Jon and Janel in the Orchard. American Robin (migratorius Group) 40 Purple Finch 7 Spotted by Ellen in the Orchard. Fox Sparrow (Sooty) 4 White-crowned Sparrow (pugetensis) 1 Golden-crowned Sparrow 40 White-throated Sparrow 2 Spotted by Jon and seen by many from the Twin Barns Observation Platform and the junction between the Nisqually Estuary Trail or dike and the central access road just west of the Leschi Slough Aqueduct. Song Sparrow (rufina Group) 34 Lincoln's Sparrow 1 Seen in the freshwater marsh across from the entrance to the Nisqually Estuary Boardwalk Trail. Spotted Towhee (oregonus Group) 6 Red-winged Blackbird (Red-winged) 60 Yellow-rumped Warbler 1 Heard by Gene along the west side of the Twin Barns Loop Trail. View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S298168969 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Thu Feb 5 12:19:30 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Peter Relson via Tweeters) Date: Thu Feb 5 12:19:35 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Hawaii Birding RFI References: <2072155713.820991.1770322770744.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <2072155713.820991.1770322770744@mail.yahoo.com> If you enjoy white terns and if you'll be there in their nesting season, you might check outwww.whiteterns.org Peter Relson -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Thu Feb 5 16:23:12 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Michael Hobbs via Tweeters) Date: Thu Feb 5 16:23:27 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Marymoor Park (Redmond, King Co.) 2026-02-05 Message-ID: Tweets - All that fog that was reported on early this morning? It was actually at Marymoor Park. I had no fog anywhere from West Seattle through Bellevue and Overlake. It wasn't until dropping down into the Sammamish Valley that there was any. And it seemed that there was all of it; couldn't see 20 yards. Luckily, by about 9:00, it had pretty much entirely burned off. The day was pretty birdy and nice, with temps in the 40s for the most part, no precipitation, and no wind. Highlights: Great Blue Heron - At least 50, with at least 45 standing in the heronry Pileated Woodpecker - One near the concert venue. First of Year (FOY) Hutton's Vireo - One singing near the Box Office of the concert venue (FOY). Only our 6th February sighting ever Northern Shrike - One north of Fields 7,8,9 American Robin - Lot of singing Cedar Waxwing - About 25 in the same two hawthorn trees that they were in last week, Dog Meadow edge, just east of the heronry Yellow-rumped Warbler - A couple just before the boardwalk (FOY) It was also a good day for animals, with Eastern Gray Squirrel, American Beaver, Muskrat (FOY), Eastern Cottontail, River Otter, and Pacific Tree Frog (heard pre-dawn). The beaver sighting was cool; we first saw it swimming painfully slowly upstream, just below the weir. It then climbed out on the weir and waded ponderously across. They may be great at felling trees, but they are not graceful. Misses today included Ring-necked Duck, Hooded Merganser, and Short-billed and Ring-billed Gull (though we did have one black wing-tipped gull that was almost certainly one of those). We had a clean sweep of all of the expected passerines. For the day, 57 species. For the year, adding three, we're up to 71 species, I believe. = 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 Feb 5 17:28:55 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Nancy Morrison via Tweeters) Date: Thu Feb 5 17:29:10 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Leucistic Fox Sparrow Message-ID: I need some ID help. I found what I think is a leucistic Fox Sparrow at Magnuson Park, but because of the leucism, I am not sure of the ID. I could use some help. https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10242641480354595&set=pcb.10242641488434797 Thank you - Nancy Morrison -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Thu Feb 5 17:35:23 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Dan Reiff via Tweeters) Date: Thu Feb 5 17:35:48 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Hawaii Birding RFI In-Reply-To: <2072155713.820991.1770322770744@mail.yahoo.com> References: <2072155713.820991.1770322770744@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <0F950015-81A4-4534-B916-BC62484EBAE7@gmail.com> Very neat photos, Peter. I look forward to seeing them someday. Also, thanks for sharing the information about their breeding season. Are there many pairs that or only a few? Dan Sent from my iPhone > On Feb 5, 2026, at 12:19?PM, Peter Relson via Tweeters wrote: > > ? > If you enjoy white terns and if you'll be there in their nesting season, you might check out > www.whiteterns.org > > Peter Relson > > > _______________________________________________ > 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 Feb 5 17:38:26 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Dennis Paulson via Tweeters) Date: Thu Feb 5 17:38:32 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Leucistic Fox Sparrow In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <1BF4FC22-EDC6-41C7-A43C-85A1FBC7C97A@comcast.net> Nancy, I would say that you are certainly correct. Dennis Paulson Seattle > On Feb 5, 2026, at 5:28 PM, Nancy Morrison via Tweeters wrote: > > I need some ID help. I found what I think is a leucistic Fox Sparrow at Magnuson Park, but because of the leucism, I am not sure of the ID. I could use some help. > > https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10242641480354595&set=pcb.10242641488434797 > > Thank you - 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 Thu Feb 5 20:25:47 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Hank Heiberg via Tweeters) Date: Thu Feb 5 20:26:02 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Juanita Bobcat References: Message-ID: <491B9E79-52C4-459C-9B13-CCF85E065C4A@gmail.com> ?Today we birded at Juanita Bay Park. The animal of the day was a bobcat, not a bird. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ljcouple/55080922320/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/ljcouple/55080761533/in/photostream/ Crows gathered above the bobcat, but didn?t start their predator harassment activity. To see the bird photos from today at Juanita scroll right from the bobcat photos. Hank & Karen Heiberg Issaquah, WA hankdotheiberggmail -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Fri Feb 6 11:17:14 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Gary Bletsch via Tweeters) Date: Fri Feb 6 11:17:18 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Nancy Morrison's leucistic Fox Sparrow References: <1912332474.5975.1770405434067.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <1912332474.5975.1770405434067@mail.yahoo.com> Dear Nancy and Tweeters, That is a nice photo of a leucistic Fox Sparrow, taken by Nancy Morrison. Cool-looking bird! >From what I've seen, leucism occurs in Fox Sparrows more than any other species of Washington State bird that I can think of. I have been keeping track of this for a long time. Here are statistics of observations of leucistic species. Fox Sparrow, 8 leucistic out of 1797 observations, or 0.445%; Dark-eyed Junco, 26 leucistic out of 10,150 observations, or 0.256%; *Red-tailed Hawk, 16 leucistic (?) out of 9255 observations, or 0.173%, but this one does not count, because I think a lot of my early observations of?what I thought were leucistic Red-tails were actually light-morph Harlan's Hawks, and many of these 16 sightings were repeats?of the same bird; Red-winged Blackbird, 21 leucistic out of 12,201 observations, or 0.172%; several of these were the spectacular birds that I like to? ? ? call "Giant American Redstarts"; *Bald Eagle, 10 leucistic out of 7899 observations, or 0.1265%, but this one does not count, since most of the observations were of? ? ? ?repeats of the same bird; American Crow, 21 leucistic out of 18,521 observations, or 0.11%; most of these were the crows with what I call "Willet-wings", a? ? ? ? ? ?variation depicted in the Sibley guide; House Sparrow, 10 leucistic out of 10,780 observations, or 0.0927%; Canada Goose, 6 leucistic out of 6698 observations, or 0.0896%; American Robin, 14 leucistic out of 20,668 observations, or 0.0677%;? European Starling, 9 leucistic out of 19,866 observations, or 0.0302%; Brewer's Blackbird, 13 leucistic out of 5720 observations, or 0.0174%; Song Sparrow, 2 leucistic out of 14,993 observations, or 0.0133%. In all, I've noticed leucism in 45 species of birds, but most of those were just one observation in a particular species. It seems to be a rather rare phenomenon, except in certain groups, such as New World Sparrows, Icterines, and waterfowl.? Probably the coolest one I've seen was a Cream-winged Cinclodes, way up in the Andes. The guide and the other birders in the group were mystified for quite some time as to the identity of that bird, which sported an all-white head! Thanks to Marv Breece for getting me squared away on the light-morph Harlan's. Yours truly, Gary Bletsch PS Now I've been in Western New York for almost three and a half years, and have still not observed any leucistic Red Fox Sparrows. Then again, Fox Sparrows here are a rather uncommon species, unlike in Western Washington, where there seems to be one in every blackberry tangle in wintertime. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Fri Feb 6 12:05:55 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Dennis Paulson via Tweeters) Date: Fri Feb 6 12:05:59 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Nancy Morrison's leucistic Fox Sparrow In-Reply-To: <1912332474.5975.1770405434067@mail.yahoo.com> References: <1912332474.5975.1770405434067.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <1912332474.5975.1770405434067@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <3C872B83-6CE3-4FC3-AFAC-3A77BCB6A22D@comcast.net> Gary, thanks for all the info, very interesting. While not quantified, I think I have seen more leucistic Black-capped Chickadees than any other species, with Dark-eyed Juncos in second place. But like you, I?ve seen leucistic individuals of quite a few species over the years. Leucism has been a genetic factor in our black-caps over the years, and I have never seen a leucistic Chestnut-backed, just as common at our feeders. And of the small birds, I suspect we are biased toward species that come to feeders. Dennis Paulson Seattle > On Feb 6, 2026, at 11:17 AM, Gary Bletsch via Tweeters wrote: > > Dear Nancy and Tweeters, > > That is a nice photo of a leucistic Fox Sparrow, taken by Nancy Morrison. Cool-looking bird! > > From what I've seen, leucism occurs in Fox Sparrows more than any other species of Washington State bird that I can think of. I have been keeping track of this for a long time. Here are statistics of observations of leucistic species. > > Fox Sparrow, 8 leucistic out of 1797 observations, or 0.445%; > > Dark-eyed Junco, 26 leucistic out of 10,150 observations, or 0.256%; > > *Red-tailed Hawk, 16 leucistic (?) out of 9255 observations, or 0.173%, but this one does not count, because I think a lot of my early observations of what I thought were leucistic Red-tails were actually light-morph Harlan's Hawks, and many of these 16 sightings were repeats of the same bird; > > Red-winged Blackbird, 21 leucistic out of 12,201 observations, or 0.172%; several of these were the spectacular birds that I like to call "Giant American Redstarts"; > > *Bald Eagle, 10 leucistic out of 7899 observations, or 0.1265%, but this one does not count, since most of the observations were of > repeats of the same bird; > > American Crow, 21 leucistic out of 18,521 observations, or 0.11%; most of these were the crows with what I call "Willet-wings", a variation depicted in the Sibley guide; > > House Sparrow, 10 leucistic out of 10,780 observations, or 0.0927%; > > Canada Goose, 6 leucistic out of 6698 observations, or 0.0896%; > > American Robin, 14 leucistic out of 20,668 observations, or 0.0677%; > > European Starling, 9 leucistic out of 19,866 observations, or 0.0302%; > > Brewer's Blackbird, 13 leucistic out of 5720 observations, or 0.0174%; > > Song Sparrow, 2 leucistic out of 14,993 observations, or 0.0133%. > > > In all, I've noticed leucism in 45 species of birds, but most of those were just one observation in a particular species. It seems to be a rather rare phenomenon, except in certain groups, such as New World Sparrows, Icterines, and waterfowl. > > Probably the coolest one I've seen was a Cream-winged Cinclodes, way up in the Andes. The guide and the other birders in the group were mystified for quite some time as to the identity of that bird, which sported an all-white head! > > Thanks to Marv Breece for getting me squared away on the light-morph Harlan's. > > Yours truly, > > Gary Bletsch > > PS Now I've been in Western New York for almost three and a half years, and have still not observed any leucistic Red Fox Sparrows. Then again, Fox Sparrows here are a rather uncommon species, unlike in Western Washington, where there seems to be one in every blackberry tangle in wintertime. > _______________________________________________ > 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 Feb 6 12:14:12 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Dennis Paulson via Tweeters) Date: Fri Feb 6 12:14:19 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] sunbathing, or I mean bathing in the sun Message-ID: <474BB74B-F6F0-4DB5-B53E-05B140111FDC@comcast.net> Hello tweets, An interesting thing I have noted recently is how much birds like the sun to be shining on their bathtub. Yesterday, just as the sun hit the edge of our pond in the back yard, juncos appeared and started bathing in the sun. They are in the yard all day long (we must have at least 25 this winter), feeding and just sitting around, but seem to delay bathing until that time. Yesterday the pond was in the sun for an hour, and there was never a time when one, two, three or even four juncos weren?t taking a lengthy bath, usually at least 10 inches apart. As soon as the sun left the pond, no more bathing. It was really striking. Dennis Paulson Seattle From tweeters at u.washington.edu Fri Feb 6 18:25:22 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Hans-Joachim Feddern via Tweeters) Date: Fri Feb 6 18:25:35 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] sunbathing, or I mean bathing in the sun In-Reply-To: <474BB74B-F6F0-4DB5-B53E-05B140111FDC@comcast.net> References: <474BB74B-F6F0-4DB5-B53E-05B140111FDC@comcast.net> Message-ID: Dennis, Maybe the clean living little buggers like to dry faster in the sunshine?? We had two of our resident three coots in one of our lakes taking an extensive bath - in the sunshine today! They were really enjoying themselves! Now the third was nowhere to be seen! Dirty bugger! Good birding ! Hans *Hans Feddern* Twin Lakes/Federal Way, WA thefedderns@gmail.com On Fri, Feb 6, 2026 at 12:14?PM Dennis Paulson via Tweeters < tweeters@u.washington.edu> wrote: > Hello tweets, > > An interesting thing I have noted recently is how much birds like the sun > to be shining on their bathtub. Yesterday, just as the sun hit the edge of > our pond in the back yard, juncos appeared and started bathing in the sun. > They are in the yard all day long (we must have at least 25 this winter), > feeding and just sitting around, but seem to delay bathing until that time. > > Yesterday the pond was in the sun for an hour, and there was never a time > when one, two, three or even four juncos weren?t taking a lengthy bath, > usually at least 10 inches apart. As soon as the sun left the pond, no more > bathing. It was really striking. > > Dennis Paulson > 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 Sat Feb 7 07:18:09 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Dan Reiff via Tweeters) Date: Sat Feb 7 07:18:33 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Where does one park to best access the Kent Ponds? Message-ID: <95010FF7-9920-4749-A393-37C3B78E8A60@gmail.com> Hello Tweeters, Where does one park to best access the Kent Ponds area in order to search for the Red-shoulder hawk? Thank you, Dan Reiff Dan W. Reiff, PhD, LMHC, MPH, FAED, PLLC Licensed Mental Health Counselor Private Practice 3040 78th Avenue Southeast, #259 Mercer Island, WA 98040 E-mail is not a totally confidential means of communication. Please consider this fact when you communicate with me via e-mail. I will make a reasonable effort to keep what is written private, however, I recommend that very personal information be communicated by a different means. CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail message, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information protected by law. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the original message. Sent from my iPhone -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sat Feb 7 09:04:34 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Dennis Paulson via Tweeters) Date: Sat Feb 7 09:04:40 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] sunbathing, or I mean bathing in the sun In-Reply-To: References: <474BB74B-F6F0-4DB5-B53E-05B140111FDC@comcast.net> Message-ID: Hans, indeed you?re probably right. But yesterday, with exactly the same conditions, I watched in vain while only a couple of juncos bathed during that hour of sunshine. So what I saw the day before may have been a ?first day of sunshine after days of clouds? phenomenon. Maybe they don?t bathe every day. I?ll admit I haven?t done a literature search to see how often a bird actually does bathe! They are very different from mammals, not sweating and with that coat of feathers, so maybe the occasional bath is sufficient for cleaning out debris from the feathers. And you would think that water birds are bathing all the time, but bathing requires opening up the feather coat, the opposite of what they do to stay warm and dry while they?re in the water. Dennis Paulson Seattle > On Feb 6, 2026, at 6:25 PM, Hans-Joachim Feddern wrote: > > Dennis, > Maybe the clean living little buggers like to dry faster in the sunshine?? We had two of our resident three coots in one of our lakes taking an extensive bath - in the sunshine today! They were really enjoying themselves! Now the third was nowhere to be seen! Dirty bugger! > > Good birding ! > > Hans > > > Hans Feddern > Twin Lakes/Federal Way, WA > thefedderns@gmail.com > > > On Fri, Feb 6, 2026 at 12:14?PM Dennis Paulson via Tweeters > wrote: > Hello tweets, > > An interesting thing I have noted recently is how much birds like the sun to be shining on their bathtub. Yesterday, just as the sun hit the edge of our pond in the back yard, juncos appeared and started bathing in the sun. They are in the yard all day long (we must have at least 25 this winter), feeding and just sitting around, but seem to delay bathing until that time. > > Yesterday the pond was in the sun for an hour, and there was never a time when one, two, three or even four juncos weren?t taking a lengthy bath, usually at least 10 inches apart. As soon as the sun left the pond, no more bathing. It was really striking. > > Dennis Paulson > 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 Sat Feb 7 12:54:19 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Jane Hadley via Tweeters) Date: Sat Feb 7 12:54:32 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Where does one park to best access the Kent Ponds? Message-ID: Dan Rieff asked where does one park to best access the Kent Ponds in order to search for the Red-shouldered Hawk. The GRNA has both public trails and trails that are closed to the public. A bird survey, which is conducted once a month, has permission to use the closed trails for the survey. I can't tell you exactly where the Red-shouldered Hawk was seen at Kent Ponds (aka Green River Natural Area or GRNA), but I can tell you of two parking areas that are close to the public trails. The main, largest parking area is at Van Doren's Landing Park. You can get directions to it by typing this address into Google Maps: 22230 Russell Rd, Kent, WA 98032 There is only one way to get to this parking area and that is by taking Russell Road off of Veteran's Drive, aka S. 228th Street. The second parking area I know of at GRNA is a small informal parking area that can accommodate two to four cars. You then take a trail heading north that hooks up with the public Puget Power Trail. This parking area is at the northwest corner of 64th Ave S. and South 226th Street. Type this into Google Maps to see its location: 47.400492, -122.255176 Bruce LaBar and Marcus Roening reported seeing the Red-shouldered Hawk yesterday (Friday, Feb. 6), so you might contact them to ask where they saw it. Jane Hadley Seattle, WA hadleyj1725@gmail.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sat Feb 7 19:36:24 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Dan Reiff via Tweeters) Date: Sat Feb 7 19:36:48 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Request to help my friends find Recommended guides in Costa Rica Message-ID: <8DEBAD65-9D5A-462C-ADF0-5EA097B23A1D@gmail.com> Hello Tweeters, I am trying to help friends that are planning a trip to Costa Rica for the first time. They plan on being there in April. The following is the information and questions that they provided me: ?Our First part of trip is in Arenal observatory lodge by Arenal volcano in Fortuna - second part of trip in Guanacaste, looking at staying in playa hermosa or coco - also known interested to look into palo verde national park and potential guides there. We would like to find birding guides for both daytime and nighttime.? Tweeters, Please email me directly. I will then forward the information to them. Thank you very much! Dan Reiff Sent from my iPhone -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sun Feb 8 12:28:59 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (RW Hamlyn via Tweeters) Date: Sun Feb 8 12:29:13 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Video of Sharp-tailed Grouse Lek Message-ID: <2D9594FA-534D-40A2-8C9F-D12242363CD7@comcast.net> On a trip to Northern Nebraska last March, we visited a Lek or dance ground for competing male Sharp-tailed Grouse. The video we put together includes the most aggressive fight we have seen in lekking birds, starting around the two minute mark. The fight is shown in slow motion. The slide show at the end of the video include photos of the blind we used to observe the grouse as well as some of the interaction between the birds. Sharp-tailed Grouse Lek https://youtu.be/pi0r0sSra1Y Ray & Dory Hamlyn -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sun Feb 8 12:56:53 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Carla Conway via Tweeters) Date: Sun Feb 8 12:57:08 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Video of Sharp-tailed Grouse Lek In-Reply-To: <2D9594FA-534D-40A2-8C9F-D12242363CD7@comcast.net> References: <2D9594FA-534D-40A2-8C9F-D12242363CD7@comcast.net> Message-ID: Very nice, thank you for sharing! ? On Sun, Feb 8, 2026 at 12:29?PM RW Hamlyn via Tweeters < tweeters@u.washington.edu> wrote: > On a trip to Northern Nebraska last March, we visited a Lek or dance > ground for competing male Sharp-tailed Grouse. The video we put together > includes the most aggressive fight we have seen in lekking birds, starting > around the two minute mark. The fight is shown in slow motion. The slide > show at the end of the video include photos of the blind we used to observe > the grouse as well as some of the interaction between the birds. > > Sharp-tailed Grouse Lek https://youtu.be/pi0r0sSra1Y > > Ray & Dory Hamlyn > _______________________________________________ > 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 Feb 8 14:19:34 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Dennis Paulson via Tweeters) Date: Sun Feb 8 14:19:40 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Video of Sharp-tailed Grouse Lek In-Reply-To: <2D9594FA-534D-40A2-8C9F-D12242363CD7@comcast.net> References: <2D9594FA-534D-40A2-8C9F-D12242363CD7@comcast.net> Message-ID: <348622A2-40DE-4BDD-A122-83EAE14DD0B0@comcast.net> Ray and Dory, that was really fine. I?ve visited a couple of their leks, but never that close and with all that wonderful behavior. Dennis Paulson Seattle > On Feb 8, 2026, at 12:28 PM, RW Hamlyn via Tweeters wrote: > > On a trip to Northern Nebraska last March, we visited a Lek or dance ground for competing male Sharp-tailed Grouse. The video we put together includes the most aggressive fight we have seen in lekking birds, starting around the two minute mark. The fight is shown in slow motion. The slide show at the end of the video include photos of the blind we used to observe the grouse as well as some of the interaction between the birds. > > Sharp-tailed Grouse Lek https://youtu.be/pi0r0sSra1Y > > Ray & Dory Hamlyn > _______________________________________________ > 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 Feb 8 14:28:11 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Douglas Will via Tweeters) Date: Sun Feb 8 14:28:25 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Hear Birds Again Message-ID: This App no longer appears available from the iPhone AppStore. Claim is it?s no longer available in the USA. Does anyone know the full story? Doug Will -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sun Feb 8 16:51:22 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (JACK NOLAN via Tweeters) Date: Sun Feb 8 16:51:39 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] SEO on SJI References: <37C26506-663A-4EC8-816D-B7B57CD2BDDE.ref@comcast.net> Message-ID: <37C26506-663A-4EC8-816D-B7B57CD2BDDE@comcast.net> A friend of mine who?s visiting the island said she saw eight short eared owls down at cattle point today. Jack Nolan Shoreline WA Sent from my iPhone. Pardon my brevity and typos. From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sun Feb 8 18:12:43 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Dan Reiff via Tweeters) Date: Sun Feb 8 18:13:07 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Great clydesdale and baby Bird commercial on the Super Bowl Message-ID: Sent from my iPhone From tweeters at u.washington.edu Mon Feb 9 08:00:00 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Kathleen Snyder via Tweeters) Date: Mon Feb 9 08:01:52 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] =?utf-8?q?Monitoring_Birds_from_Olympia_to_Borneo_?= =?utf-8?q?=E2=80=93_Thursday_Feb_12th_7_p=2Em=2E?= Message-ID: Dr. Styring, PhD at The Evergreen State College, centered her graduate studies around woodpecker ecology and their response to logging in Malaysia. That work culminated in long-term relationships with researchers working in that part of the world. She continues to collaborate with that research team primarily in Sarawak, East Malaysia, on the island of Borneo. In this talk, Styring will review some of the work that she has done both in Evergreen?s campus forest and in Borneo, including acoustic monitoring of birds with small programmable recorders that can be left in the field. There are two ways to enjoy this program. You can come to Temple Beth Hatfiloh (201 8th Ave. SE, Olympia) to hear Dr Styring live and to enjoy the company of others *OR* you can register below to watch from home via Zoom. Social time at the Temple starts at 6:30. This is a free program from South Sound Bird Alliance (formerly Black Hills Audubon). *https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/WCZ4hTTkRQGgTJ9RsiLGGA* -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Mon Feb 9 08:29:42 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (David B. Williams via Tweeters) Date: Mon Feb 9 08:30:09 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] mosquitos In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <3E7737FD-2B98-4BA1-A522-7DB8046A0E27@seanet.com> Has anyone else noticed mosquitos out and about? I got bit by one this morning in Seattle. Thanks kindly, David ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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 Feb 10 02:56:33 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Dan Reiff via Tweeters) Date: Tue Feb 10 02:56:58 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] =?utf-8?q?Good_news=3A_=E2=80=9CCongress_Advances_Key_?= =?utf-8?q?Conservation_Priorities_in_FY26_Funding_Package_=7C_Audubon?= =?utf-8?b?4oCd?= Message-ID: ? https://www.audubon.org/news/congress-advances-key-conservation-priorities-fy26-funding-package Sent from my iPhone From tweeters at u.washington.edu Tue Feb 10 06:45:42 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Mike Wagenbach via Tweeters) Date: Tue Feb 10 06:46:03 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Dates for Samish SEOW? Message-ID: Refresh my faulty memory, please: Are Short-Eared Owls at the Samish East 90 seasonal, or fairly constant during the year? I was there briefly last week and had one cooperative owl, two harriers, a Red-Tailed Hawk, a group of 20 or so swans in the corn field and around ten Bald Eagles in trees in the distance, so a pretty good day. I'd like to go back with my adult child and a better camera. Mike Wagenbach Seattle -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Tue Feb 10 07:50:32 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Zora Monster via Tweeters) Date: Tue Feb 10 07:50:47 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Dates for Samish SEOW? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <9B0DAA15-B488-46F0-8BDF-F381FC20084A@mac.com> I haven?t visited this year, but with all of the flooding in December I would not expect to find them. They eat mostly mice and voles. The floods most likely decimated their food source. Normally you?d expect to see them this time of the year. Zora Dermer Seattle Sent from my iPhone > On Feb 10, 2026, at 6:46?AM, Mike Wagenbach via Tweeters wrote: > > ? > Refresh my faulty memory, please: Are Short-Eared Owls at the Samish East 90 seasonal, or fairly constant during the year? > > I was there briefly last week and had one cooperative owl, two harriers, a Red-Tailed Hawk, a group of 20 or so swans in the corn field and around ten Bald Eagles in trees in the distance, so a pretty good day. I'd like to go back with my adult child and a better camera. > > Mike Wagenbach > 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 Tue Feb 10 10:53:37 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Constance Sidles via Tweeters) Date: Tue Feb 10 10:53:52 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Latest on Montlake Fill parking Message-ID: Hey tweets, a bit of a fiasco yesterday during the Zoom meeting on Montlake Fill parking fees, set up by the UW's Transportation Services. Transportation neglected to publicize the fact that you needed a password to join the Zoom meeting, despite the fact that UBNA had raised this as an issue. One person emailed me and said she contacted Transportation directly and got the passcode. Another person emailed me and said that about 10 minutes into the meeting, Transportation opened the Zoom site to everyone, without a passcode. Of course by then, many people had just givem up. For those of you who still want to make your voice heard, however, you can submit written comments. Here is the UR: tsadmin@uw.edu I hope many of you will do this - in fact, I am asking you to do this - as I believe it will have a positive effect. Transportation (and the UW) need to know how adversely a parking fee will affect many people who come to Montlake Fill for only an hour or two to bird, commune with nature, gain some peace of mind, walk the dog, exercise, etc. Please do what you can to spread the word. I think we have until March 2. - Connie -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Tue Feb 10 11:22:22 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Ronda Stark via Tweeters) Date: Tue Feb 10 11:22:36 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Latest on Montlake Fill parking In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Hello Connie, Open meetings law may require that a second open meeting be scheduled if this one did not fully comply with notice requirements, etc. The fact that UBNA raised this issue in advance suggests that UW Transportation was aware of the problem and failed to provide an adequate remedy. Do you know how many people had an opportunity to speak? How many people were not able to speak given the limited time frame? Thank you, Ronda On Tue, Feb 10, 2026 at 10:54?AM Constance Sidles via Tweeters < tweeters@u.washington.edu> wrote: > Hey tweets, a bit of a fiasco yesterday during the Zoom meeting on > Montlake Fill parking fees, set up by the UW's Transportation Services. > Transportation neglected to publicize the fact that you needed a password > to join the Zoom meeting, despite the fact that UBNA had raised this as an > issue. > > One person emailed me and said she contacted Transportation directly and > got the passcode. Another person emailed me and said that about 10 minutes > into the meeting, Transportation opened the Zoom site to everyone, without > a passcode. > > Of course by then, many people had just givem up. > > For those of you who still want to make your voice heard, however, you can > submit written comments. Here is the UR: > > tsadmin@uw.edu > > I hope many of you will do this - in fact, I am asking you to do this - as > I believe it will have a positive effect. Transportation (and the UW) need > to know how adversely a parking fee will affect many people who come to > Montlake Fill for only an hour or two to bird, commune with nature, gain > some peace of mind, walk the dog, exercise, etc. Please do what you can to > spread the word. > > I think we have until March 2. - Connie > _______________________________________________ > 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 Tue Feb 10 12:52:36 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Neil Zimmerman via Tweeters) Date: Tue Feb 10 12:52:53 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] SEOW Message-ID: <69CE6ADE-FC4E-4587-BE8C-F5C114A10B25@comcast.net> We were at the E 90 last Friday and there were 4 SEOWs putting on a good show. About 4:30. The lighting was spectacular. Sent from my iPhone From tweeters at u.washington.edu Tue Feb 10 13:17:41 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Ed Dominguez via Tweeters) Date: Tue Feb 10 13:18:16 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] SEOW In-Reply-To: <69CE6ADE-FC4E-4587-BE8C-F5C114A10B25@comcast.net> References: <69CE6ADE-FC4E-4587-BE8C-F5C114A10B25@comcast.net> Message-ID: I was with Neil and Roniq, it was a fabulous display in late afternoon sunlight! Ed Dominguez On Tue, Feb 10, 2026 at 12:53?PM Neil Zimmerman via Tweeters < tweeters@u.washington.edu> wrote: > We were at the E 90 last Friday and there were 4 SEOWs putting on a good > show. About 4:30. The lighting was spectacular. > 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 Tue Feb 10 17:36:37 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Jim Betz via Tweeters) Date: Tue Feb 10 17:36:43 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Dates for Samish SEOW? ... and the Skagit White Birds of Winter In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <3cfa4276-c349-4e7a-9cc7-f79e01050428@jimbetz.com> Mike, ? The SEOWs at the East 90 are definitely present and you can see them "every day" with the hours from 2:00pm to sunset being the best.? I live in Skagit County and visit the East 90 several times a week.? Today was no exception. ? They are here "pretty much from Mid-December to about the 1st of April" but are not usually seen at other times of the year. ? The recent floods in Skagit County were no where near the East 90 and had very little effect.? The rains this year have left lots of puddles in the fields in Skagit - such as the Samish Flats, Butler Flats, and Skagit Flats - that dry up and then get 'refreshed' in the next rain.? Those puddles have resulted in lots of ducks (mostly Mallards which is typical). ? There are -lots- of Trumpeter Swans this year - probably 20% more than in the recent past.? We are not seeing large flocks of Snow Geese here in Skagit County this year - however they may still gather/rest here in prep for the move North. ? There are increased numbers of both Northern Harrier and Great Blue Herons.? Other notables such as Rough-legged Hawks, Sharpies and such are down this year. ? There are lots of Bald Eagles this year and most nests have pairs that are hanging out near the nest but they haven't started to "sit" ... yet.? And there are some new BAEA nests.? And lots of juvenile BAEA (usually without either white patch). ? There is snow forecast for Monday and beyond - so if you get up here before that it would be better.? BTW - there have been close to 20 photographers at the East 90 every week day and at least twice as many on the weekends - just look for the line of cars and trucks parked along the road. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? - Jim in Skagit From tweeters at u.washington.edu Tue Feb 10 19:56:47 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Mike Wagenbach via Tweeters) Date: Tue Feb 10 19:57:08 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Dates for Samish SEOW? In-Reply-To: <9B0DAA15-B488-46F0-8BDF-F381FC20084A@mac.com> References: <9B0DAA15-B488-46F0-8BDF-F381FC20084A@mac.com> Message-ID: I'm not certain that transient flooding of the fields would have been crippling to the population of prey animals. I base this guess on a time when I was kayaking with a group in the Stillaguamish River delta on a day with a "spring" tide: a very low tide in late morning and a very high tide in early evening. As we were about to start back south to Kayak Point Park to finish the day, we stopped on a salt-marsh island northeast of the village of Warm Beach. As we sat on a rotting drift log, it became apparent that the tide was actually over-topping the island and water was infiltrating the low vegetation. The first sign of this was that several voles appeared, scrambled up the sides of the log, and disappeared into cracks and holes in the wood. A few minutes later, as we prepared to leave I found that one had hopped into the cockpit of my boat, from which it would have found it hard to escape due to the slippery plastic. I was able to scoop it out and it also scampered across the vegetation and on the log refuge. I think it was probably Microtus townsendii, but I wouldn't bet much on that. My point is that the animals may be more capable of dealing with a brief flooding event than might be expected from their small size. Admittedly, tidal flooding is only going to be for a few hours, and only during the highest tides which occur only three or four days per month. Flooding of the fields during the heavy rains would have been of longer duration. But these animals are likely to have experience with this (evolutionarily, if not personally) and may have strategies for escaping to higher ground and/or vegetation. I'm sure this would be a profound stress, but maybe not a true hecatombe. I don't have any expertise in the ecology of rodents, so if this is your specialty, correct me. Mike Wagenbach Seattle On Tue, Feb 10, 2026 at 7:50?AM Zora Monster wrote: > I haven?t visited this year, but with all of the flooding in December I > would not expect to find them. They eat mostly mice and voles. The floods > most likely decimated their food source. > > Normally you?d expect to see them this time of the year. > > Zora Dermer > Seattle > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Tue Feb 10 20:22:16 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Ann Kramer via Tweeters) Date: Tue Feb 10 20:22:56 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Dates for Samish SEOW? ... and the Skagit White Birds of Winter In-Reply-To: <3cfa4276-c349-4e7a-9cc7-f79e01050428@jimbetz.com> References: <3cfa4276-c349-4e7a-9cc7-f79e01050428@jimbetz.com> Message-ID: I saw a perched Rough-legged Hawk on Sunday off Chuckanut Drive. Got a nice pic. On Tue, Feb 10, 2026 at 5:36?PM Jim Betz via Tweeters < tweeters@u.washington.edu> wrote: > Mike, > > The SEOWs at the East 90 are definitely present and you can see them > "every day" with > the hours from 2:00pm to sunset being the best. I live in Skagit County > and visit the East 90 > several times a week. Today was no exception. > They are here "pretty much from Mid-December to about the 1st of > April" but are not > usually seen at other times of the year. > > The recent floods in Skagit County were no where near the East 90 and > had very little > effect. The rains this year have left lots of puddles in the fields in > Skagit - such as the > Samish Flats, Butler Flats, and Skagit Flats - that dry up and then get > 'refreshed' in the > next rain. Those puddles have resulted in lots of ducks (mostly > Mallards which is typical). > > There are -lots- of Trumpeter Swans this year - probably 20% more > than in the recent > past. We are not seeing large flocks of Snow Geese here in Skagit > County this year - > however they may still gather/rest here in prep for the move North. > > There are increased numbers of both Northern Harrier and Great Blue > Herons. Other > notables such as Rough-legged Hawks, Sharpies and such are down this year. > There are lots of Bald Eagles this year and most nests have pairs > that are hanging out > near the nest but they haven't started to "sit" ... yet. And there are > some new BAEA > nests. And lots of juvenile BAEA (usually without either white patch). > > There is snow forecast for Monday and beyond - so if you get up here > before that > it would be better. BTW - there have been close to 20 photographers at > the East 90 > every week day and at least twice as many on the weekends - just look > for the line of > cars and trucks parked along the road. > - Jim in Skagit > _______________________________________________ > 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 Feb 11 08:45:45 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Brian Zinke via Tweeters) Date: Wed Feb 11 08:46:00 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Online program (2/12): Conserving the threatened seabird community of the Juan Fernandez Islands, Chile Message-ID: Hi Tweets, Please consider yourselves invited to our monthly program on Thursday, Feb. 12 at 7pm (online via Zoom). Find the Zoom registration link on our website: https://www.pilchuckaudubon.org/monthly-programs *Conserving the threatened seabird community of the Juan Fernandez Islands, Chile* Guest speaker: Peter Hodum The Juan Fernandez Islands are a remote oceanic archipelago located about 400 miles off the central coast of Chile. The islands are globally recognized for their unique biodiversity, having been designated a UNESCO International Biosphere Reserve and a Chilean National Park. Included in the rich biodiversity of the islands is a seabird community comprised of 6 breeding species, 4 of which are endemic to Chile, including 2 endemic to a single island, Isla Alejandro Selkirk. All four of the species endemic to Chile are also listed globally as Vulnerable. In this talk, Peter will share an overview of the islands and the long-term conservation efforts that he and his colleagues have taken alongside the local community to improve the conservation status of these globally threatened seabirds. Dr. Hodum is a professor in the Biology Department and the Environmental Policy and Decision-Making Program at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington and the Chile Program Director for Oikonos Ecosystem Knowledge, a conservation nonprofit organization. His research focuses primarily on the conservation and ecology of threatened seabirds and island ecosystems in Chile and Washington State. His work also has a strong focus on community-based conservation, including how communities can be more effectively and authentically involved in conservation. -- [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 Wed Feb 11 18:05:27 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Alice Rubin via Tweeters) Date: Wed Feb 11 18:05:41 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Please decode your acronyms Message-ID: Not every person here is in the know of jargon and acronyms. Today's daily compiled newsletter is full of SEOW. It's not really helpful. I have no idea what that means. While I am at it I kindly request you not include the previous message when replying. It is so frustrating when reading the daily summary newsletter to scroll through the same thing in an email chain. It can also take up so much space in the daily summary. Thank you. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Wed Feb 11 21:37:50 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Shep Thorp via Tweeters) Date: Wed Feb 11 21:38:06 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Wednesday Walk at Billy Frank Jr Nisqually NWR for 2/11/2026 Message-ID: Dear Tweets, Approximately 30 of us had a beautiful day at the Refuge with mostly sunny skies and temperatures in the 40's to 50's degrees Fahrenheit. There was a High 11'6" Tide at 11:43am and we followed our regular route. Highlights included WILSON SNIPE in both the flooded field just north of the old McAllister Creek Access Road and from the Twin Barns Overlook, AMERICAN KESTREL in the surge plain, HORNED GREBE in McAllister Creek, EURASIAN WIGEON from the Puget Sound Observation Platform, WESTERN MEADOWLARK in the grass fields adjacent to the freshwater marsh along the Nisqually Estuary Trail, and COOPERS HAWK catching a Little Brown Bat on the Twin Barns Loop Trail near the Twin Barns cut-off. For the day, we observed 70 species. With FOY DARK-EYED JUNCO and WESTERN GULL, we have now observed 87 species this year. See our eBird report below for more details. 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 Feb 11, 2026 7:48 AM - 5:06 PM Protocol: Traveling 3.074 mile(s) Checklist Comments: Wednesday Walk. Mostly Sunny with temperatures in the 40?s to 50?s degrees Fahrenheit. There was a high Low 9?11? Tide at 8:11am and a High 11?6? Tide at 11:43am. Others seen Muskrat, Columbian Black-tailed Deer, Red-legged Frog, River Otter, Harbor Seal, Little Brown Bat, and Red-eared Slider. 70 species (+5 other taxa) Brant (Black) 15 Puget Sound Viewing Platform. Cackling Goose 300 Cackling Goose (minima) 300 Canada Goose (moffitti/maxima) 3 Northern Shoveler 75 Gadwall 10 Eurasian Wigeon 1 Puget Sound Viewing Platform. American Wigeon 1000 Eurasian x American Wigeon (hybrid) 1 Flooded field south of Twin Barns. Mallard 150 Northern Pintail 200 Green-winged Teal (American) 225 Ring-necked Duck 4 Visitor Center Pond. Surf Scoter 50 White-winged Scoter 15 Off Luhr Beach seen from Puget Sound Viewing Platform. Bufflehead 125 Common Goldeneye 75 Hooded Merganser 2 Visitor Center. Common Merganser 2 Nisqually River Overlook. Red-breasted Merganser 10 McAllister Creek. Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 30 Anna's Hummingbird 2 Orchard and Dike. Virginia Rail 2 Freshwater marsh. American Coot (Red-shielded) 100 Wilson's Snipe 9 Two spotted by Danielle in flooded field just north of McAllister Creek Access Road. Seven spotted by Pete from Twin Barns Overlook. Spotted Sandpiper 1 West side of McAllister Creek. Greater Yellowlegs 20 Dunlin 700 Least Sandpiper 40 Short-billed Gull 100 Ring-billed Gull 50 Western Gull 1 Spotted by Antony from the Nisqually Estuary Boardwalk Trail. Western x Glaucous-winged Gull (hybrid) 1 Western/Glaucous-winged Gull 15 Larus sp. 250 Pied-billed Grebe 1 Freshwater Marsh Horned Grebe 10 Common Loon 4 Brandt's Cormorant 8 Double-crested Cormorant 30 Great Blue Heron (Great Blue) 40 Cooper's Hawk 1 Seen in the afternoon on the north section of the Twin Barns Loop Trail capturing a Little Brown Bat. Northern Harrier 2 Bald Eagle 8 Red-tailed Hawk 2 Belted Kingfisher 2 Red-breasted Sapsucker 1 Ed center. Downy Woodpecker (Pacific) 2 Hairy Woodpecker 1 Spotted by Tom along the Twin Barns Loop Trail. Northern Flicker (Red-shafted) 3 American Kestrel 2 Peregrine Falcon 1 Hutton's Vireo 1 Spotted by Janel along the Access Road south of the west side parking lot. American Crow 75 Common Raven 3 Black-capped Chickadee 10 Chestnut-backed Chickadee 3 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 3 Golden-crowned Kinglet 20 Brown Creeper 4 Pacific Wren (Pacific) 4 Marsh Wren 6 Bewick's Wren 2 European Starling 75 American Robin (migratorius Group) 39 Fox Sparrow (Sooty) 1 Orchard. Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon) 1 Education Center. White-crowned Sparrow (pugetensis) 2 Golden-crowned Sparrow 50 Song Sparrow (rufina Group) 20 Lincoln's Sparrow 2 Nisqually Estuary Trail or new dike. Spotted Towhee (oregonus Group) 6 Western Meadowlark 1 Grassy areas adjacent to freshwater marsh from Nisqually Estuary Trail. Red-winged Blackbird (Red-winged) 40 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's) 6 View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S299666210 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Thu Feb 12 06:14:46 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Mike Wagenbach via Tweeters) Date: Thu Feb 12 06:15:08 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] SEO on SJI Message-ID: >A friend of mine who?s visiting the island said she saw eight short eared owls down at cattle >point today. >Jack Nolan >Shoreline WA Do you know the time of day? Was that near the parking area closest to the lighthouse, or more west along the hillside toward South Beach? I visit Cattle Point a half-dozen times a year or so, and have not been lucky enough to see SEOWs, but I most often go in the morning. Mike Wagenbach Seattle -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Thu Feb 12 06:45:20 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Richard Anderson via Tweeters) Date: Thu Feb 12 06:45:36 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] SEO on SJI In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <738451EA-3A30-438D-9F48-E10D0F5ED5A1@yahoo.com> At least four SEOW in meadow just before south beach parking lot last night Sent from my iPhone > On Feb 12, 2026, at 6:16?AM, Mike Wagenbach via Tweeters wrote: > > ? > >A friend of mine who?s visiting the island said she saw eight short eared owls down at cattle >point today. > > >Jack Nolan > >Shoreline WA > > Do you know the time of day? Was that near the parking area closest to the lighthouse, or more west along the hillside toward South Beach? > > I visit Cattle Point a half-dozen times a year or so, and have not been lucky enough to see SEOWs, but I most often go in the morning. > > Mike Wagenbach > 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 Thu Feb 12 07:45:24 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Rose Stoudt via Tweeters) Date: Thu Feb 12 07:45:30 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] SEOW at East 90 References: <1586710057.1808058.1770911124837.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <1586710057.1808058.1770911124837@mail.yahoo.com> Are the SEOW's males doing their mating sky dance?? Is that the display that has been mentioned here? Thank you, Rose StoudtSeattle -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Thu Feb 12 07:56:03 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Philomena O'Neill via Tweeters) Date: Thu Feb 12 07:56:19 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Latest on Montlake Fill parking In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <51EB4CED-7CB9-41E9-9016-767BC7F5B718@comcast.net> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Thu Feb 12 10:05:32 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Mike Wagenbach via Tweeters) Date: Thu Feb 12 10:05:55 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] SEO on SJI In-Reply-To: <738451EA-3A30-438D-9F48-E10D0F5ED5A1@yahoo.com> References: <738451EA-3A30-438D-9F48-E10D0F5ED5A1@yahoo.com> Message-ID: Excellent, thanks! On Thu, Feb 12, 2026 at 6:45?AM Richard Anderson < richardanderson59@yahoo.com> wrote: > ZjQcmQRYFpfptBannerEnd > At least four SEOW in meadow just before south beach parking lot last night > > > Mike Wagenbach > Seattle > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Thu Feb 12 11:01:34 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Tom Benedict via Tweeters) Date: Thu Feb 12 11:01:50 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Please decode your acronyms In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <141B926F-0618-47D7-835A-41E5C24E91AB@comcast.net> Hi Alice, Here?s a link to a document which includes the codes for bird names. I find that these codes are a great shorthand, but agree that it could be more meaningful when posting in tweeters if at least the first reference were spelled out fully with the common name (and maybe scientific name too?). Or maybe in the subject line. One challenge with common names is that they change from time to time. Right now a significant change is underway around eponymous bird names . As far as I know, the 4 letter codes will not be changing. So using the code is unambiguous and a link to past common names. As far as including the previous message in replies, I kinda like to have them included so as to provide some context to better understand a reply. I know some email apps include a ?thread? feature which automatically collects all the prior messages, so I can see how having to wade through those cluttered replies might become tedious. The tweeters admins may have some guidelines on posting etiquette. > On Feb 11, 2026, at 18:05, Alice Rubin via Tweeters wrote: > > Not every person here is in the know of jargon and acronyms. Today's daily compiled newsletter is full of SEOW. It's not really helpful. I have no idea what that means. > > While I am at it I kindly request you not include the previous message when replying. It is so frustrating when reading the daily summary newsletter to scroll through the same thing in an email chain. It can also take up so much space in the daily summary. > HTH, Tom Benedict Seahurst, WA -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Thu Feb 12 12:28:10 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Jr Mikulec via Tweeters) Date: Thu Feb 12 12:28:24 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Please decode your acronyms In-Reply-To: <141B926F-0618-47D7-835A-41E5C24E91AB@comcast.net> References: <141B926F-0618-47D7-835A-41E5C24E91AB@comcast.net> Message-ID: An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Thu Feb 12 12:42:16 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Stephen Elston via Tweeters) Date: Thu Feb 12 12:42:32 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Please decode your acronyms In-Reply-To: References: <141B926F-0618-47D7-835A-41E5C24E91AB@comcast.net> Message-ID: Hi Alice, If it is any consolation, I found the banding codes confusing when I first started to get seriously interested in birding. I have some other suggestions for resources. 1. The Wikipedia article (among other places) has a good description of the rules used to determine these codes. It is helpful to understand the system. Alas, as Tom points out, changing common names breaks the system. 2. I use the PEFA app on my phone to look up codes I don't remember. Very happy birding! Steve On Thu, Feb 12, 2026 at 12:28?PM Jr Mikulec via Tweeters < tweeters@u.washington.edu> wrote: > To add to this, on all bird apps and I know of (Merlin, sibley, ebird) > searching the 4 letter code will bring up the species along with its full > name. > > On Feb 12, 2026, at 11:02?AM, Tom Benedict via Tweeters < > tweeters@u.washington.edu> wrote: > > ?Hi Alice, > > Here?s a link to a document > which includes > the codes for bird names. I find that these codes are a great shorthand, > but agree that it could be more meaningful when posting in tweeters if at > least the first reference were spelled out fully with the common name (and > maybe scientific name too?). Or maybe in the subject line. > > One challenge with common names is that they change from time to time. > Right now a significant change is underway around eponymous bird names > . As far as I > know, the 4 letter codes will not be changing. So using the code is > unambiguous and a link to past common names. > > As far as including the previous message in replies, I kinda like to have > them included so as to provide some context to better understand a reply. I > know some email apps include a ?thread? feature which automatically > collects all the prior messages, so I can see how having to wade through > those cluttered replies might become tedious. The tweeters admins may have > some guidelines on posting etiquette. > > On Feb 11, 2026, at 18:05, Alice Rubin via Tweeters < > tweeters@u.washington.edu> wrote: > > Not every person here is in the know of jargon and acronyms. Today's daily > compiled newsletter is full of SEOW. It's not really helpful. I have no > idea what that means. > > While I am at it I kindly request you not include the previous message > when replying. It is so frustrating when reading the daily summary > newsletter to scroll through the same thing in an email chain. It can also > take up so much space in the daily summary. > > > HTH, > > Tom Benedict > Seahurst, WA > _______________________________________________ > 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 Feb 12 13:23:59 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Chuq Von Rospach via Tweeters) Date: Thu Feb 12 13:24:02 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Please decode your acronyms In-Reply-To: References: <141B926F-0618-47D7-835A-41E5C24E91AB@comcast.net> Message-ID: > > If it is any consolation, I found the banding codes confusing when I first > started to get seriously interested in birding. > As do basically all newer birders. As someone who?s worked with newer birders a lot over the years (I ran the Santa Clara County version of tweeters for over a decade, among other things) I?ve talked to and worked a lot with our less senior partners, and when two senior birders start chattering in this shorthand, it tends to make them feel excluded and intimidated. It?s not a welcoming thing to birders trying to grow into their adult feathers. Because of that, I stopped using the acronyms in casual communications where the new birders will be looking in long ago (or I?m careful to always put the term in context in the note) and I generally discouraged random use of them in open forums like this. And I think, if you want new birders to feel part of our community and grow up to be more senior birders along with us, that we do so as well. Chuq --------------------------------------- Chuq Von Rospach (http://www.chuq.me) Silverdale, Washington Birder, Nature and Wildlife Photographer Email me at: chuqvr@gmail.com Mastodon: @chuqvr@fosstodon.org Stay Updated with what I'm doing: https://www.chuq.me/6fps/ My latest e-book: https://www.chuq.me/ebooks Warning: I have opinions -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Thu Feb 12 13:37:09 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Michael Hobbs via Tweeters) Date: Thu Feb 12 13:37:24 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Marymoor Park (Redmond, King Co.) 2026-02-12 Message-ID: Tweets - Today started with just a hit of frost and a hint of fog. The thin overcast burned thinner all morning, giving us more and more sunshine and warmth. Starting right around 32 degrees, it was 47 degrees when we were done. So much singing today! Highlights: Great Blue Heron - 75+ at the heronry, plus a few others Cooper's Hawk - One, near the southwest edge of the Dog Meadow, was our first in 4 weeks Four woodpecker day - Downies, at least 1 Hairy, 2 Pileateds (very noisy and obvious), and a horde of extremely vocal Northern Flickers Hutton's Vireo - One singing from across the slough near the windmill SWAMP SPARROW - One(or maybe two?), west side of the slough a little south of the Dog Area. Our first since 2022. First of Year (FOY) Singing birds comprised Anna's Hummingbird, Hutton's Vireo, Black-capped Chickadee, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Marsh Wren, Bewick's Wren, American Robin, House Finch, Purple Finch, Fox Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Song Sparrow, Spotted Towhee, Western Meadowlark, and Red-winged Blackbird! Misses today included Ring-necked Duck; and Short-billed, Ring-billed, and Glaucous-winged Gulls (though we did have two larus sp., one of which had black wingtips). For the day, 53 species (counting gull sp.). For the year, adding the SWAMP SPARROW, we're at 72 species. = Michael Hobbs = BirdMarymoor@gmail.com = www.marymoor.org/birding.htm -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Fri Feb 13 14:11:59 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Ted Ryan via Tweeters) Date: Fri Feb 13 14:12:50 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Please decode your acronyms Message-ID: <26736eaa-ce22-4a33-899d-bd2017a045df@app.fastmail.com> I think there is a balance here to consider. On the one hand, we don't want to make it overly burdensome for a new birder to participate. On the other hand, I don't think new folks to a hobby should expect no barriers with regards to nomenclature. All hobbies have acronyms and words that we have to learn. That's part of the hobby, that's part of the experience and it's inescapable. I think the OP will find that learning the acronyms will aid in your enjoyment. Besides, If we remove such things than all birds are just LBJ's and where does that get us? Ted Ryan South Kitsap, WA > As do basically all newer birders. As someone who?s worked with newer > birders a lot over the years (I ran the Santa Clara County version of > tweeters for over a decade, among other things) I?ve talked to and worked a > lot with our less senior partners, and when two senior birders start > chattering in this shorthand, it tends to make them feel excluded and > intimidated. It?s not a welcoming thing to birders trying to grow into > their adult feathers. > > Because of that, I stopped using the acronyms in casual communications > where the new birders will be looking in long ago (or I?m careful to > always put the term in context in the note) and I generally discouraged > random use of them in open forums like this. And I think, if you want new > birders to feel part of our community and grow up to be more senior birders > along with us, that we do so as well. > > Chuq -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Fri Feb 13 14:42:36 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Steve Loitz via Tweeters) Date: Fri Feb 13 14:42:51 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Please decode your acronyms In-Reply-To: <26736eaa-ce22-4a33-899d-bd2017a045df@app.fastmail.com> References: <26736eaa-ce22-4a33-899d-bd2017a045df@app.fastmail.com> Message-ID: Are you referring to 4-letter Alpha Codes? If so, IME, Alpha Codes can be part of the fun for a new birder, and for some it may actually enhance learning. We have a couple new birders in our local chapter who enjoy calling out "AMKE," "TUVU," "AMGO," etc. on our field trips. I refer them to this: https://www.birdpop.org/docs/misc/Alpha_codes_eng.pdf Steve Loitz Ellensburg On Fri, Feb 13, 2026 at 2:12?PM Ted Ryan via Tweeters < tweeters@u.washington.edu> wrote: > I think there is a balance here to consider. On the one hand, we don't > want to make it overly burdensome for a new birder to participate. On the > other hand, I don't think new folks to a hobby should expect no barriers > with regards to nomenclature. All hobbies have acronyms and words that we > have to learn. That's part of the hobby, that's part of the experience and > it's inescapable. I think the OP will find that learning the acronyms will > aid in your enjoyment. > > Besides, If we remove such things than all birds are just LBJ's and where > does that get us? > > Ted Ryan > South Kitsap, WA > > > As do basically all newer birders. As someone who?s worked with newer > birders a lot over the years (I ran the Santa Clara County version of > tweeters for over a decade, among other things) I?ve talked to and worked a > lot with our less senior partners, and when two senior birders start > chattering in this shorthand, it tends to make them feel excluded and > intimidated. It?s not a welcoming thing to birders trying to grow into > their adult feathers. > > Because of that, I stopped using the acronyms in casual communications > where the new birders will be looking in long ago (or I?m careful to > always put the term in context in the note) and I generally discouraged > random use of them in open forums like this. And I think, if you want new > birders to feel part of our community and grow up to be more senior birders > along with us, that we do so as well. > > Chuq > > > > _______________________________________________ > Tweeters mailing list > Tweeters@u.washington.edu > http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters > -- Steve Loitz Ellensburg, WA steveloitz@gmail.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Fri Feb 13 17:08:09 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (qblater via Tweeters) Date: Fri Feb 13 17:08:34 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Please decode your acronyms In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Fri Feb 13 18:18:09 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Dennis Paulson via Tweeters) Date: Fri Feb 13 18:18:14 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Please decode your acronyms In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <36B8F1B7-5C5C-4946-8CC1-EAA415905330@comcast.net> Just to clarify a little more, the Eurasian Goshawk is now Astur gentilis, and our Cooper?s Hawk is Astur cooperii. There are other species of Astur and Accipiter scattered around the world, as genetic work probed into the classification and found that there were two groups of accipiters that warranted being in two different genera. And I?m all for using the four-letter codes, as long as people are introduced to them, as others have said, so as not to be confusing. Writing Short-eared Owl (SEOW), then going on to use the acronym in further writing, seems a fine way to go. I have to add that I?m used to common and scientific names changing, but when four-letter codes change, I come up with a few four-letter words myself! Think of years of field notes taken using the four-letter codes. Dennis Paulson Seattle dennispaulson at comcast dot net > On Feb 13, 2026, at 5:08 PM, qblater via Tweeters wrote: > > 4 letter codes are also a way to keep current on your classification > For example > > AMGO is no more > Now > > > > American Goldfinch AGOL* Spinus tristis SPITRI > American Goshawk AGOS* Astur atricapillus ASTATR > Why? > > > July of this year, the American Ornithological Society decided to go along with the overwhelming evidence that most goshawks in North America are not closely related to most goshawks in Europe and Asia, voting to split the Northern Goshawk into the American Goshawk and the Eurasian Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis).N > > Clarice Clark > >> On Feb 13, 2026, at 2:43?PM, Steve Loitz via Tweeters wrote: >> >> ? >> Are you referring to 4-letter Alpha Codes? If so, IME, Alpha Codes can be part of the fun for a new birder, and for some it may actually enhance learning. We have a couple new birders in our local chapter who enjoy calling out "AMKE," "TUVU," "AMGO," etc. on our field trips. I refer them to this: https://www.birdpop.org/docs/misc/Alpha_codes_eng.pdf >> >> Steve Loitz >> Ellensburg >> >> >> >> On Fri, Feb 13, 2026 at 2:12?PM Ted Ryan via Tweeters > wrote: >> I think there is a balance here to consider. On the one hand, we don't want to make it overly burdensome for a new birder to participate. On the other hand, I don't think new folks to a hobby should expect no barriers with regards to nomenclature. All hobbies have acronyms and words that we have to learn. That's part of the hobby, that's part of the experience and it's inescapable. I think the OP will find that learning the acronyms will aid in your enjoyment. >> >> Besides, If we remove such things than all birds are just LBJ's and where does that get us? >> >> Ted Ryan >> South Kitsap, WA >> >> >>> As do basically all newer birders. As someone who?s worked with newer >>> birders a lot over the years (I ran the Santa Clara County version of >>> tweeters for over a decade, among other things) I?ve talked to and worked a >>> lot with our less senior partners, and when two senior birders start >>> chattering in this shorthand, it tends to make them feel excluded and >>> intimidated. It?s not a welcoming thing to birders trying to grow into >>> their adult feathers. >>> >>> Because of that, I stopped using the acronyms in casual communications >>> where the new birders will be looking in long ago (or I?m careful to >>> always put the term in context in the note) and I generally discouraged >>> random use of them in open forums like this. And I think, if you want new >>> birders to feel part of our community and grow up to be more senior birders >>> along with us, that we do so as well. >>> >>> Chuq >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Tweeters mailing list >> Tweeters@u.washington.edu >> http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters >> >> >> -- >> Steve Loitz >> Ellensburg, WA >> steveloitz@gmail.com _______________________________________________ >> 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 Feb 13 18:26:58 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (HAL MICHAEL via Tweeters) Date: Fri Feb 13 18:27:03 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Please decode your acronyms In-Reply-To: <36B8F1B7-5C5C-4946-8CC1-EAA415905330@comcast.net> References: <36B8F1B7-5C5C-4946-8CC1-EAA415905330@comcast.net> Message-ID: <699614728.1230048.1771036018729@connect.xfinity.com> My Dad used to say that you could tell how long someone had been birding by what you called something. Just run through the old (really old) such as first edition Peterson and earlier and see what things were called. Change always makes life "fun". Hal Michael Board of Directors, Ecologists Without Borders http://ecowb.org/ Olympia WA 360-459-4005 360-791-7702 (C) ucd880@comcast.net > On 02/13/2026 6:18 PM PST Dennis Paulson via Tweeters wrote: > > > Just to clarify a little more, the Eurasian Goshawk is now Astur gentilis, and our Cooper?s Hawk is Astur cooperii. There are other species of Astur and Accipiter scattered around the world, as genetic work probed into the classification and found that there were two groups of accipiters that warranted being in two different genera. > > And I?m all for using the four-letter codes, as long as people are introduced to them, as others have said, so as not to be confusing. Writing Short-eared Owl (SEOW), then going on to use the acronym in further writing, seems a fine way to go. > > I have to add that I?m used to common and scientific names changing, but when four-letter codes change, I come up with a few four-letter words myself! Think of years of field notes taken using the four-letter codes. > > Dennis Paulson > Seattle > dennispaulson at comcast dot net > > > > > On Feb 13, 2026, at 5:08 PM, qblater via Tweeters wrote: > > 4 letter codes are also a way to keep current on your classification > > For example > > > > AMGO is no more > > Now > > > > > > > > American Goldfinch AGOL* Spinus tristis SPITRI > > American Goshawk AGOS* Astur atricapillus ASTATR > > Why? > > > > > > July of this year, the American Ornithological Society decided to go along with the overwhelming evidence that most goshawks in North America are not closely related to most goshawks in Europe and Asia, voting to split the Northern Goshawk into the American Goshawk and the Eurasian Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis).N > > > > Clarice Clark > > > > > > > On Feb 13, 2026, at 2:43?PM, Steve Loitz via Tweeters wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > Are you referring to 4-letter Alpha Codes? If so, IME, Alpha Codes can be part of the fun for a new birder, and for some it may actually enhance learning. We have a couple new birders in our local chapter who enjoy calling out "AMKE," "TUVU," "AMGO," etc. on our field trips. I refer them to this: https://www.birdpop.org/docs/misc/Alpha_codes_eng.pdf > > > > > > Steve Loitz > > > Ellensburg > > > > > > > > > > > > On Fri, Feb 13, 2026 at 2:12?PM Ted Ryan via Tweeters wrote: > > > > > > > I think there is a balance here to consider. On the one hand, we don't want to make it overly burdensome for a new birder to participate. On the other hand, I don't think new folks to a hobby should expect no barriers with regards to nomenclature. All hobbies have acronyms and words that we have to learn. That's part of the hobby, that's part of the experience and it's inescapable. I think the OP will find that learning the acronyms will aid in your enjoyment. > > > > > > > > Besides, If we remove such things than all birds are just LBJ's and where does that get us? > > > > > > > > Ted Ryan > > > > South Kitsap, WA > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > As do basically all newer birders. As someone who?s worked with newer > > > > > birders a lot over the years (I ran the Santa Clara County version of > > > > > tweeters for over a decade, among other things) I?ve talked to and worked a > > > > > lot with our less senior partners, and when two senior birders start > > > > > chattering in this shorthand, it tends to make them feel excluded and > > > > > intimidated. It?s not a welcoming thing to birders trying to grow into > > > > > their adult feathers. > > > > > > > > > > Because of that, I stopped using the acronyms in casual communications > > > > > where the new birders will be looking in long ago (or I?m careful to > > > > > always put the term in context in the note) and I generally discouraged > > > > > random use of them in open forums like this. And I think, if you want new > > > > > birders to feel part of our community and grow up to be more senior birders > > > > > along with us, that we do so as well. > > > > > > > > > > Chuq > > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > > Tweeters mailing list > > > > Tweeters@u.washington.edu mailto:Tweeters@u.washington.edu > > > > http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > > Steve Loitz > > > Ellensburg, WA > > > steveloitz@gmail.com mailto:steveloitz@gmail.com > > > _______________________________________________ > > > 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 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 Feb 14 13:29:37 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Mike Wagenbach via Tweeters) Date: Sat Feb 14 13:29:59 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Please decode your acronyms Message-ID: I should point out that in my original post asking about SEOW, I used the code in the subject line but spelled out Short-Eared Owl the first time I used it in my message body, so I don't feel too guilty. Not helpful for someone coming into the thread at a later point, though. The other request Alice made was to not include replies in your posts. While I support including one level of reply for continuity (makes it clear to whom you are replying to in a busy thread), we are starting to see the agglomeration of multiple replies in this thread, which is unnecessary. Trimming the message body to include only as much of the quoted reply as needed for clarity is polite and helpful when one gets the messages as a digest and doesn't need to scroll too far to get to the next message. And of course, replying by quoting the entire digest is a HUGE mistake, so please be aware of that if you read Tweeters as a digest. Mike Wagenbach Seattle -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sat Feb 14 13:27:21 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Jason Ferleman via Tweeters) Date: Sat Feb 14 13:35:00 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Acronyms - The Office Kevin Short Talk Message-ID: Ya?ll need to watch this episode of the office TLDR your silly abbreviations actually don?t save time overall Key Highlights of the Scene: - *The Logic:* Kevin believes that by removing unnecessary words (like "the" or "and"), he can be more efficient, comparing his new speech style to "wearing underpants" instead of a full outfit. - *The Confusion:* His coworkers are immediately confused, particularly when he says he wants to "see world." Jim has to ask if he means "see the world" or "SeaWorld," to which Kevin cryptically replies, "Oceans. Fish. Jump. China." - *The Resolution:* After Jim and Pam explain that his method actually takes *more* time because of the constant need for clarification, Kevin eventually agrees to talk normally again. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sat Feb 14 13:48:31 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (J Christian Kessler via Tweeters) Date: Sat Feb 14 13:49:11 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Acronyms - The Office Kevin Short Talk In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: when will this discussion stop? I've been a birder for 70+ years, and was an active bander for several years. I occasionally need to look up a code, just as I occasionally need to look up a location (which can be more complicated than finding a code.) can Tweeters please return to bird sightings? Chris Kessler On Sat, Feb 14, 2026 at 1:35?PM Jason Ferleman via Tweeters < tweeters@u.washington.edu> wrote: > Ya?ll need to watch this episode of the office TLDR your silly > abbreviations actually don?t save time overall > > > Key Highlights of the Scene: > > - *The Logic:* Kevin believes that by removing unnecessary words (like > "the" or "and"), he can be more efficient, comparing his new speech style > to "wearing underpants" instead of a full outfit. > - *The Confusion:* His coworkers are immediately confused, > particularly when he says he wants to "see world." Jim has to ask if he > means "see the world" or "SeaWorld," to which Kevin cryptically replies, > "Oceans. Fish. Jump. China." > - *The Resolution:* After Jim and Pam explain that his method actually > takes *more* time because of the constant need for clarification, > Kevin eventually agrees to talk normally again. > > > _______________________________________________ > Tweeters mailing list > Tweeters@u.washington.edu > http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters > -- ?Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass ? it?s about learning how to dance in the rain.? Deborah Tuck -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sat Feb 14 14:43:06 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Odette James via Tweeters) Date: Sat Feb 14 14:43:12 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] 4 letter codes References: <360010970.561760.1771108986909.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <360010970.561760.1771108986909@mail.yahoo.com> I've been birding 47 years and I've never used the 4 letter codes. They annoyed me the first time I saw them and they still annoy me. Whenever I see a message that uses one of the codes without including the name of the bird, my reaction is "WTH is that!" After a short time of annoyance, I figure it out, but WTH. Odette James, Lakeshore Retirement Community, with a gorgeous view of the Cedar River Delta (and all the storm debris now stranded on it) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sat Feb 14 15:05:08 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (J Christian Kessler via Tweeters) Date: Sat Feb 14 15:05:46 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] 4 letter codes In-Reply-To: <360010970.561760.1771108986909@mail.yahoo.com> References: <360010970.561760.1771108986909.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <360010970.561760.1771108986909@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: my reaction to some of of the place names people use.I usually figure it out, but WTH. I agree people posting should include the English name somewhere, and not all do. Solving other people hasn't worked in my lifetime, or history. Chris Kessler On Sat, Feb 14, 2026 at 2:44?PM Odette James via Tweeters < tweeters@u.washington.edu> wrote: > I've been birding 47 years and I've never used the 4 letter codes. They > annoyed me the first time I saw them and they still annoy me. Whenever I > see a message that uses one of the codes without including the name of the > bird, my reaction is "WTH is that!" After a short time of annoyance, I > figure it out, but WTH. > > Odette James, Lakeshore Retirement Community, with a gorgeous view of the > Cedar River Delta (and all the storm debris now stranded on it) > _______________________________________________ > Tweeters mailing list > Tweeters@u.washington.edu > http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters > -- ?Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass ? it?s about learning how to dance in the rain.? Deborah Tuck -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sat Feb 14 16:10:26 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Robert O'Brien via Tweeters) Date: Sat Feb 14 16:10:41 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Please decode your acronyms In-Reply-To: <699614728.1230048.1771036018729@connect.xfinity.com> References: <36B8F1B7-5C5C-4946-8CC1-EAA415905330@comcast.net> <699614728.1230048.1771036018729@connect.xfinity.com> Message-ID: Sorry to comment from another state, but I feel strongly about this. And I'll just state my position with little defense. Choose what you wish. After changing zillions of bird names (I'm not using the E-word, also exclusive) after historical figures for greater inclusion, now many are saying, in effect,* just learn 4-letter codes* is about as exclusive as I can think of. It speaks of initiation,even hazing, of people who might have some interest in birds. Learn up first, then read Tweeters. On the other hand, I'm willing to go with the suggestion of first naming the bird's English Name (which in many cases will soon change and not be recognizable, even to experienced birders. with the 4-letter code, following, all caps, in parentheses. This will help modestly interested birders know the subject of later codes, and learn it if so inclined. I see NO REASON that they should even ha have to contemplate 'learning them'. Bob OBrien Portland (Birding 73 years now and knowing all the codes). P.S. Someone in this thread, as I recall, said the 4-letter codes will NOT CHANGE. In my opinion, if true, this is the craziest thing yet, now the words will become pure memorization with no logical significance. Unless, they change, for instance, Anna's Hummingbird becomes Anomalous Hummingbird (for the male's Dive/Chirp breeding performance which I believe is unique. Even then I PREFER TO STICK WITH Anna's.......................... P.P.S Going forward, and guessing the 4-letter code for a species, is pretty easy to decipher Anna's Hummingbird = ANHU ; Rough-legged Hawk = RLHA. Those who use them have it easy. Going backwards from a code is NOT SO EASY. And that's what the current problem is.Thanks to the person who objected to this. I heartily agree with her. . On Fri, Feb 13, 2026 at 6:27?PM HAL MICHAEL via Tweeters < tweeters@u.washington.edu> wrote: > My Dad used to say that you could tell how long someone had been birding > by what you called something. Just run through the old (really old) such > as first edition Peterson and earlier and see what things were called. > Change always makes life "fun". > > Hal Michael > Board of Directors, Ecologists Without Borders > Olympia WA > 360-459-4005 > 360-791-7702 (C) > ucd880@comcast.net > > > > On 02/13/2026 6:18 PM PST Dennis Paulson via Tweeters < > tweeters@u.washington.edu> wrote: > > > Just to clarify a little more, the Eurasian Goshawk is now *Astur > gentilis*, and our Cooper?s Hawk is *Astur cooperii*. There are other > species of *Astur* and *Accipiter* scattered around the world, as genetic > work probed into the classification and found that there were two groups of > accipiters that warranted being in two different genera. > > And I?m all for using the four-letter codes, as long as people are > introduced to them, as others have said, so as not to be confusing. Writing > Short-eared Owl (SEOW), then going on to use the acronym in further > writing, seems a fine way to go. > > I have to add that I?m used to common and scientific names changing, but > when four-letter codes change, I come up with a few four-letter words > myself! Think of years of field notes taken using the four-letter codes. > > Dennis Paulson > Seattle > dennispaulson at comcast dot net > > > On Feb 13, 2026, at 5:08 PM, qblater via Tweeters < > tweeters@u.washington.edu> wrote: > 4 letter codes are also a way to keep current on your classification > For example > > AMGO is no more > Now > > > > American Goldfinch AGOL* Spinus tristis SPITRI > American Goshawk AGOS* Astur atricapillus ASTATR > Why? > > > July of this year, the American Ornithological Society decided to go > along with the overwhelming evidence that most goshawks in North America > are not closely related to most goshawks in Europe and Asia, voting to > split the Northern Goshawk into the American Goshawk and the Eurasian > Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis).N > > Clarice Clark > > On Feb 13, 2026, at 2:43?PM, Steve Loitz via Tweeters < > tweeters@u.washington.edu> wrote: > > Are you referring to 4-letter Alpha Codes? If so, IME, Alpha Codes can be > part of the fun for a new birder, and for some it may actually enhance > learning. We have a couple new birders in our local chapter who enjoy > calling out "AMKE," "TUVU," "AMGO," etc. on our field trips. I refer them > to this: https://www.birdpop.org/docs/misc/Alpha_codes_eng.pdf > > Steve Loitz > Ellensburg > > > > On Fri, Feb 13, 2026 at 2:12?PM Ted Ryan via Tweeters < > tweeters@u.washington.edu> wrote: > > I think there is a balance here to consider. On the one hand, we don't > want to make it overly burdensome for a new birder to participate. On the > other hand, I don't think new folks to a hobby should expect no barriers > with regards to nomenclature. All hobbies have acronyms and words that we > have to learn. That's part of the hobby, that's part of the experience and > it's inescapable. I think the OP will find that learning the acronyms will > aid in your enjoyment. > > Besides, If we remove such things than all birds are just LBJ's and where > does that get us? > > Ted Ryan > South Kitsap, WA > > > > As do basically all newer birders. As someone who?s worked with newer > birders a lot over the years (I ran the Santa Clara County version of > tweeters for over a decade, among other things) I?ve talked to and worked > a > lot with our less senior partners, and when two senior birders start > chattering in this shorthand, it tends to make them feel excluded and > intimidated. It?s not a welcoming thing to birders trying to grow into > their adult feathers. > > Because of that, I stopped using the acronyms in casual communications > where the new birders will be looking in long ago (or I?m careful to > always put the term in context in the note) and I generally discouraged > random use of them in open forums like this. And I think, if you want new > birders to feel part of our community and grow up to be more senior > birders > along with us, that we do so as well. > > Chuq > > > > _______________________________________________ > Tweeters mailing list > Tweeters@u.washington.edu > http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters > > > > -- > Steve Loitz > Ellensburg, WA > steveloitz@gmail.com > _______________________________________________ > 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 Sat Feb 14 17:44:51 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Hans-Joachim Feddern via Tweeters) Date: Sat Feb 14 17:45:05 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Acronyms - The Office Kevin Short Talk In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Amen ! *Hans Feddern* Twin Lakes/Federal Way, WA thefedderns@gmail.com On Sat, Feb 14, 2026 at 1:49?PM J Christian Kessler via Tweeters < tweeters@u.washington.edu> wrote: > when will this discussion stop? I've been a birder for 70+ years, and was > an active bander for several years. I occasionally need to look up a code, > just as I occasionally need to look up a location (which can be more > complicated than finding a code.) > can Tweeters please return to bird sightings? > > Chris Kessler > > On Sat, Feb 14, 2026 at 1:35?PM Jason Ferleman via Tweeters < > tweeters@u.washington.edu> wrote: > >> Ya?ll need to watch this episode of the office TLDR your silly >> abbreviations actually don?t save time overall >> >> >> Key Highlights of the Scene: >> >> - *The Logic:* Kevin believes that by removing unnecessary words >> (like "the" or "and"), he can be more efficient, comparing his new speech >> style to "wearing underpants" instead of a full outfit. >> - *The Confusion:* His coworkers are immediately confused, >> particularly when he says he wants to "see world." Jim has to ask if he >> means "see the world" or "SeaWorld," to which Kevin cryptically replies, >> "Oceans. Fish. Jump. China." >> - *The Resolution:* After Jim and Pam explain that his method >> actually takes *more* time because of the constant need for >> clarification, Kevin eventually agrees to talk normally again. >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Tweeters mailing list >> Tweeters@u.washington.edu >> http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters >> > > > -- > ?Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass ? it?s about learning > how to dance in the rain.? > Deborah Tuck > _______________________________________________ > 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 Feb 14 22:24:31 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Tom Benedict via Tweeters) Date: Sat Feb 14 22:24:47 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Please decode your acronyms In-Reply-To: References: <36B8F1B7-5C5C-4946-8CC1-EAA415905330@comcast.net> <699614728.1230048.1771036018729@connect.xfinity.com> Message-ID: <00B04D65-102C-4905-ACDC-D1662DF18051@comcast.net> > On Feb 14, 2026, at 16:10, Robert O'Brien via Tweeters wrote: > > P.S. Someone in this thread, as I recall, said the 4-letter codes will NOT CHANGE. In my opinion, if true, this is the craziest thing yet, now the words will become pure memorization with no logical significance. That may have been me, but I don?t know what I based that statement on. I agree with you that name changes without code changes will ultimately lead to further obfuscation. I guess I was hoping for a unique key to link all current and historic names, but that?s really not the point of codes. Maybe scientific name? I guess those are subject to change too. Hmmm.. maybe a blockchain reference?? Back to birding,, Pretty sure there was a Red-necked Grebe (RNGR Podiceps grisegena) just offshore just before sunset at Seahurst Park. Light was not good, but it was a bit larger and had a more 'angular' head than the Horned Grebes (HOGR Podiceps auritus) that were in the area. Tom Benedict Seahurst, WA > From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sat Feb 14 22:40:45 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Robert O'Brien via Tweeters) Date: Sat Feb 14 22:40:59 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Please decode your acronyms In-Reply-To: <00B04D65-102C-4905-ACDC-D1662DF18051@comcast.net> References: <36B8F1B7-5C5C-4946-8CC1-EAA415905330@comcast.net> <699614728.1230048.1771036018729@connect.xfinity.com> <00B04D65-102C-4905-ACDC-D1662DF18051@comcast.net> Message-ID: Thanks for the clarification, Tom. Every little 'Tweet' helps. Bob OBrien On Sat, Feb 14, 2026 at 10:24?PM Tom Benedict wrote: > > > On Feb 14, 2026, at 16:10, Robert O'Brien via Tweeters < > tweeters@u.washington.edu> wrote: > > > > P.S. Someone in this thread, as I recall, said the 4-letter codes will > NOT CHANGE. In my opinion, if true, this is the craziest thing yet, now > the words will become pure memorization with no logical significance. > > That may have been me, but I don?t know what I based that statement on. I > agree with you that name changes without code changes will ultimately lead > to further obfuscation. I guess I was hoping for a unique key to link all > current and historic names, but that?s really not the point of codes. Maybe > scientific name? I guess those are subject to change too. Hmmm.. maybe a > blockchain reference?? > > Back to birding,, > > Pretty sure there was a Red-necked Grebe (RNGR Podiceps grisegena) just > offshore just before sunset at Seahurst Park. Light was not good, but it > was a bit larger and had a more 'angular' head than the Horned Grebes (HOGR > Podiceps auritus) that were in the area. > > Tom Benedict > Seahurst, WA > > > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tweeters at u.washington.edu Sun Feb 15 13:16:40 2026 From: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Mary Reese via Tweeters) Date: Sun Feb 15 13:16:52 2026 Subject: [Tweeters] Acronyms are fun! References: <375894051.487444.1771190200226.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <375894051.487444.1771190200226@mail.yahoo.com> Yes, of course everyone should spell out the entire name the first time and then the acronym thereafter. Don't be lazy, be helpful. Everyone was a beginning birder at some point. But learning acronyms, it's a basic part of the game. Just memorize the rules, and most of the time you won't have to memorize the acronym. It will jump right out at you. The standardized rules are based on the common name:? ?> One-word names use the first four letters (e.g., Merlin = MERL) > Two-word names use the first two letters of each word (e.g., Wood Thrush = WOTH) > Three-word names use the first letter of the first two words and the first two of the last word (e.g., Blue-winged Warbler = BWWA). I like to guess what the acronym is going to be. Then I type it into the Sibley app to see if I'm right. It's a fun game! We already already use so many everyday acronyms without even thinking about it, so why not add a few more? BYOB? BOGO? ROFL? TGIF? RSVPXOXO? IMHO? SOS? BRB? LOL? ETA? BFF? TLC ;-)Mary Reese Yahoo Mail: Search, Organize, Conquer -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: