Subject: Re: Methow Birds
Date: Oct 12 18:38:27 1996
From: dvisalli at igc.apc.org - dvisalli at igc.apc.org


Hi Tweeters;
Here are a few bits and pieces from the Methow on the dry east slope:
The most interesting bird sighting for me in the past week was the
little dead one that a friend brought to my door after finding it in
her zucchini patch. It proved to be a juvenile Sora. It was found
in fresh condition on Oct 6; in consulting our local
bible-replacement ("Birds of the Okanogan"), we see that they aren't
too often seen in October. It was, of course, a magnificent little
creation. Hard to know what it was doing in a zucchini patch, or
what killed it. Perhaps a zucchini put on a growth spurt as the
young bird sauntered by, hit it on the head and killed it. More
likely the neighbor's cat is the culprit.

RE migrating ravens: A local naturalist, George Brady, has been
patagelling (sp?) (marking) nestling ravens on the Waterville Plateau
for a number of years. He has had reports of sightings from 600
miles north in northern BC by late summer the year of marking;
apparently these remarkable creatures like to move around.

I floated the Methow today from Winthrop to Twisp (about 12 miles of
river) to observe spawning 'summer chinook' salmon. There were more
birds than salmon: 8 Mallards, 8+ Common Mergansers, 4 Green Winged
Teal (?), 4 Canada Geese, 2 Red-tailed Hawks, 1 Swainson's Hawk (?),
2 Northern Flickers, 1 Downy WP, 1 Hairy WP, 1 Great Blue Heron, 4
Belted Kingfishers, 7 American Dippers, 2 Spotted Sandpipers, 4
Black-billed Magpies, 1 Common Raven, 1 American Robin, 5 American
Goldfinches, 2 Clark's Nutcrackers. It's interesting how the Clark's
Nutcrackers seem to move downslope in the fall; they are common in
the 'lower' valley in October, but seemingly less so the rest of the
year.

The salmon, by the way, are not faring well. We saw 10 redds and a
few fish; oldtimers tell of the time when you could 'walk across the
river' of the backs of fish, they were so numerous. In a less poetic
accounting, the 10-year average for summer chinook is 2767 over Wells
Dam (the last of 9 dams between here and the ocean, and the last of
any with fish ladders on the Columbia), this year 2240 passed the dam.
The 10 year average for spring chinook is 1489, this year 335
returned. Both runs are sliding towards extinction.

On the local valley lakes, American Coots, Ring-necked Ducks,
Mallards, and Ruddy Ducks are abundant right now. Pied-billed
Grebes are common; I also spied 2 Western Grebes and 2 Greater Scaups
(?) (Twin Lakes, 10/9).

I wish Congress had mandated a longer summer, but fall is
beautiful...

Dana Visalli