Hey tweets, let's never make fun of non-birders, we were all non-birders once,
and for that matter let's not make fun of birders like me who bird for 36
years and never become experts. By the way, I'm very interested in reports of
Bald Eagles preying on gulls, although I haven't gone so far as to write down
the reports I've heard.
Delia & I have been down in the NM bootheel and participating in two
Christmas counts in the area, the Portal AZ and Peloncillo NM counts, like we
always do. After the best ever sparrow year last year we went to the worst
ever, with 6000 Brewers last year and less than 10% of that number this year
for example, with all sparrows scarcer than usual except the resident rufous
crowns. Lots of Coatis everywhere. My best bird of the year was supposed to
be a violet crowned hummer but the feeder we were supposed to see it at was
being guarded by a blue throated hummer, which is a trash bird around here,
and much higher on the hummer pecking order.
On the Peloncillo count along with 3 Montezuma Quail (everybody breathed a
sigh of relief they're hanging on in this part of the Peloncillos) we had 400
mountain bluebirds massing to drink in a creek. As they flew from creek to
agaves and pinyon pines and back, the features of the landscape they landed on
would turn from their normal color to bright sky blue, then back again. Since
it was Sunday, it made it no contest that Mountain Bluebird has to be my bird
last year.
--Ed Newbold, Beacon Hill Seattle, WA newboldwildlife at netscape.net


____________________________________________________________________
Get your own FREE, personal Netscape WebMail account today at http://home.netscape.com/webmail