Hi Tweets,

I'll put a few thoughts into one post; sorry if it makes the message too =
busy...


Tim Shelmerdine wrote:

>Very interesting. Last week I had the first Lincoln's Sparrow that I =
have
had at my house down here in the Willamette Valley. My brother in =
Olympia
had one last week as well. Anyone else notice an increase during
migration?

This year, I mist-netted a Lincoln's sparrow here in west Olympia on 29 =
April. It had no brood patch or cloacal protuberence, so I could not =
determine sex (is it sex, or gender?). There was a lot of abdominal fat =
on (in) this bird, and I assume it was a migrant. I usually get one or =
two each year, and this is the time that they're going through. The =
timing's not much different from what I was seeing when I was netting =
down in the Salem area.


Brian Price wrote:
>Tweeters--At Grass Lake, Olympia on Tuesday AM were yellow-rumped=20
Audubon's and Myrtle warblers in the lakeside willows. Though adult =
males=20
and females were easy to see, I'm pretty sure, by virtue of lack of=20
streaking on breasts, and also by the attentions paid to the adults, =
that=20
several were juveniles. I guess I wasn't expecting fledglings so soon.=20


I, too, thought this was kind of early, so I pulled out my trusty "Birds =
of Washington" (Jewett et al.) Dawson reported a nesting "Audubon =
Myrtle Warbler" from Tacoma on April 9, 1905, with the eggs half =
incubated. Incubation period for these birds is about 12-13 days, so =
they might have hatched around the 15th-18th of April. The young remain =
in the nest about 12-14 days as well, so they would have fledged about =
the first of May. With the fairly mild winter we had, it's certainly =
likely that you're seeing Yellow-rumped fledglings.

Finally, I had to comment on the contact lens/glasses and birding =
thread. I held off getting glasses for my myopia long beyond the point =
where their need was apparent. I got glasses first, and was amazed at =
how nice it was to actually *see* the birds, again. Birding with =
glasses, though was less than wonderful. Here in the liquid sunshine =
region, my glasses would either fog over or be be-splattered with =
raindrops. When I was using a spotting scope all day long, I found =
myself taking off my glasses to look through the spotting scope, =
replacing them to write down the field notes, taking them off again to =
look again, replacing them..... When it dawned on me that I was =
handling the darned things *hundreds* of times a day, I figured enough =
was enough, bit the bullet and went in for contacts. I've never been =
happier, and would never willingly return to birding with glasses. I =
don't have to flip the little rubber eyepiece guards up and down on the =
binocs, don't constantly whack the lenses with against the eyepiece of =
my scope, and don't have to constantly wipe dew/rain from the glasses =
each time I look up into the November sky. =20

Jon. Anderson
Olympia, Washington
festuca at olywa.net