Hi Carol and Tweets,

I've lived here in greater Bothell (Snohomish County), on probably its
highest hill, for over 15 years. When we moved here, the skies were full
of barn, violet-green, and tree swallows plus swifts. They nested all over
the neighborhood. Now, we see a few violet-greens and that's it, but none
nest here or at the neighbors that I know of. The corvid population,
including crows and Steller's jays, has been the same all along. So has
the neighborhood cat population :-( My feeling has been since I started
noticing the decline about eight years ago, that it is a problem on the
wintering grounds involving some of the same situations that have caused
severe declines in some songbird species. Habitat destruction, etc. But
there is definitely a decline in many areas. To add to this, there is a
definite decline in the number of tanagers around this year (at this
location).

Diann MacRae
Bothell
tvulture at halcyon.com