Subject: Re: Spencer Island Friday
Date: Jun 17 12:59:15 1996
From: Dennis Paulson - dpaulson at mirrors.ups.edu


Doug Daily wrote:

>Got to spend a little bit of time going the loop on a beautiful day.
>
>Partial list:
>
>fox sparrow
>hermit thrush (on same bush with fox sparrow, nice comparison)

I'll comment on this, assuming you may also hear from others such as Gene
or Russell or Mike Smith.

Both fox sparrow and hermit thrush would be extremely unusual (cosmic is
the next step beyond this) at Spencer Island in mid June.

Both breed well up in the Cascades, mostly on the east slope, and migrants
are long gone from the lowlands by the beginning of June. The habitat at
Spencer Island is fine winter/migrant habitat, but not at all like their
breeding habitats (closer to that of the sparrow than that of the thrush).

Don't know what else they could have been, if you got good looks and
eliminated Swainson's thrush and other sparrows, but I wanted to point out
that *they* were the rare and exceptional birds of your visit!

Dennis Paulson, Director phone 206-756-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History fax 206-756-3352
University of Puget Sound e-mail dpaulson at ups.edu
Tacoma, WA 98416