Subject: Harlequin, etc.
Date: Mar 31 17:28:51 2000
From: Debby de Carlo - bobolink at centurytel.net


Hi Tweets;
Being new to the Pacific Northwest, I'm not sure what's unusual or
common to you. To me, so much is new, and yet I tend to assume that it
must be common for the area. I'm learning there are degrees of common,
so I will report:
On the way back from Astoria 2 weeks ago, I saw a nice flock of
canvasbacks in a NWR about 10 miles north of Chinook. I also saw a
turkey vulture about an hour north of Chinook.

Last weekend I saw a pair of harlequin ducks just off the beach at
Penrose State Park on the Key Peninsula. They were near some common
goldeneyes.

I saw a female rufous hummingbird outside my office window Tuesday, so I
put out two feeders the next day. Now we are all enjoying the show at
our office near Peninsula Garden Nursery in Gig Harbor. I also have
pine siskins at niger feeders at home and at work and a pair of towhees
and a pair of chestnut-backed chickadees at both places. I saw a
Townsend's warbler at work about a month ago, but not since. I saw a
red breasted sapsucker at friend's house last week. I have a pair of
red-breasted nuthatches at my suet feeder at home. I just put up a
large sunflower feeder and hope to see some evening grosbeaks passing
through.

I saw a coyote yesterday while walking my dog in a residential section
just off of Soundview/Olympic Dr. in Gig Harbor.

And finally, I have a strange song sparrow living near my abode. If I
leave my car in the driveway, the bird pecks incessantly at the outside
mirrors and adds a lot of white to my black car. In the morning, when
my car is in the garage, the bird starts banging my bedroom window at
daybreak (5:45 a.m. this morning!). It bangs into the window
continually for a good hour. After that, I'm not sure because I'm out
walking the dog and then to work. I assume it must eat at some point!
This has been going on for over a month. Is this an unusually
aggressive bird? A bird taken with its own good looks? Or my
grandfather re-incarnated? (he was a chauffeur; hence the fascination
with my car. ;-).

Debby de Carlo
Gig Harbor
bobolink at centurytel.net