Hi all;
I've been watching anxiously for our Snowy Owl to appear over here in the Methow, but
as yet to no avail. Perhaps they're here and we just can't see them- it's white as the driven
snow outside. We have a few winter residents of interest; Bald Eagles have been
returning to the valley in increasing numbers over the past 15 years to feast on road-killed
deer and calf placenta (ah, the joys of a naturally functioning ecosystem....). The winter
population is approximately 50; the first report of one was October 20. Ravens rule the
airspace here in winter, Red-tailed Hawks are common, Rough-legged Hawks are not
uncommon (some with remarkably white heads), a few Golden Eagles are resident. Also
seen recently: two large flocks of Rosy Finches, one flock of 50 Snow Buntings, and a
Northern Shrike.
Otherwise we just sit around and watch the chickadees. All 4 of Washington's species
can be found here, Black-capped, Mountain, Boreal and Chestnut-backed. Susan Smith
says in her book "The Black-capped Chickadee" that the North American parids (genus
Parus) are all descended from Eurasian lineages that crossed the Bering land bridge
during the Pleistocene." Wouldn't that indicate that the Black-capped, Mountain,
Carolina and Mexican (between which there is still some interbreeding) all speciated in
the last 50,000 years, and isn't that a rather rapid radiation? Just wondering.......

Dana Visalli
dvisalli at igc.apc.org

"Whatever your cause, it's a lost cause without population stabilization."