Okay, Tweets. Here goes another 2 cents...

Scott Richardson wrote:

>Dennis Paulson's response to the structural-differences thread was right
>on. All this excitement about curlews among the Whimbrels reminds me of
>just the opposite occurrence: the thrill of finding a Whimbrel at Midway
>Atoll in a flock of bristle-thigheds. Structurally, the Whimbrel fit right
>in; I had to concentrate on the plumage when describing the differences
>between the two species because I couldn't find any difference in form.
>
>A little "negative data" for the Washington curlew scene: [snip]

I, too, enjoyed Dennis's posts -- his joy of discovery, coupled with
scientific questioning/investigation. I suspect we are all a bit more
complicated than we'd sometimes like to think, exhibiting varied behaviors
and thought processes at different times. Yes, I'm not immune to twitching
and always keep lists (Western Tanager new for my yard list this morning!).
Generally I lean to the philosophy that it's best to learn your local birds
well, and enjoy the rarities if they pop up in your neighborhood. I believe
in Teresa Michelsen's concept of seeing a bird in its usual habitat.
However, if a bird is reasonably close at hand and not on my life list, I
*will* make a run for it (Brown Booby). The farthest I've gone for a lifer
was the Common Eider in Vancouver -- but then, I'm a sucker for sea ducks
and wanted to glimpse some of Michael Price's neighborhood.

I've been drooling over the curlew reports, but reluctant to drive so far
to see birds that might leave before I got there. Instead, I've been
keeping an eye out locally, and can thus add to Scott's "negative data"
thread:

I spend a fair amount of time on the Strait of Juan de Fuca. It's not
exactly a shorebird mecca, but for some reason we do get Whimbrels
regularly during migration. So in lieu of burning the gasoline, I've been
taking a closer look at these local guys, hoping a Bristle-thighed might
show up with them (one can always dream). Two days ago there was a flock of
31, spooky as ever. They've become very difficult to approach closely
(unleashed dogs? too many people strolling by?), and a scope is the only
real chance of seeing them well. I tried my darndest to make any one of
them out to be even slightly different structurally from all the rest, but
it just wouldn't work -- all I could see were very subtle differences
between individual Whimbrels. The clincher was when they flew away: as they
banked into a turn, it was easy to see that all were the same solid brown
on the back, not a buffy rump among them. Phooey.

But I'll keep looking. At the very least, I might learn a bit more about
Whimbrels.

And I'm waiting for a BCTU report from Tofino...

-- Janet Hardin
Port Townsend, WA
wings at olympus.net