Subject: English Birder
Date: Sep 7 13:18:33 2001
From: David Allan - dave.allan at ukonline.co.uk


Hi Tweeters

I'm an English Birder who will be visiting Washington State during the last week of October (20th-28th), for just 1 week's vacation....2 nights in Seattle then we pick up a car for sightseeing / birding.

My wife is a teacher, so vacation times are pretty inflexible, and she isn't a birder either, but she's ok about my birding...up to a point.

I've tried to do my birding homework by viewing your postings for a couple of months, and by buying some books from the ABA...'A Bird Finding Guide to Washington'; 'North West birds in Winter' and 'A birders Guide to Ocean Shores'. Great Info from the postings and Great books.

One thing's certain...I'm not going to be able to do justice to either the State or the birds in that time, so I would appreciate a bit of local knowledge to upgrade my chances of a few life birds.

I'll resist the temptation to throw a longish list of birds at you, and just ask for a bit of help with these guys:

ROCK SANDPIPER: This is one fine peep that I'd like to get my peepers on. We aim to be in Ocean Shores ( if that's the best site) around pm of Monday 22 Oct / Tues 23. I don't know the tides, so maybe you can help me if tides are a factor. Are there better sites?

BARROW'S GOLDENEYE: I see that these guys can be abundant in winter, but the books show them returning to the West of the Cascades at the beginning of Nov. Will I be too early?? Are there permanent sites East of the Cascades?

VARIED THRUSH: On paper this guy does not look too difficult to find, but the more you want 'em, the more they seem to hide.

TOWNSENDS SOLITAIRE: The books have got me all confused!....'NW Birds in Winter' suggests that these birds are to be found in winter east of the Cascades. 'A guide to Bird Finding in Washington' has a bar chart showing them as rare to absent in the State in winter, whilst its section on birds by region and habitat has them wintering west of the Cascades. ???

You can mail me direct at dave.allan at ukonline.co.uk

Yours hoping,

Dave Allan