Hi, tweeters.

Spent 2 hours walking around the N end of Spencer Island this afternoon
(1/13/02). Pretty dead for passerines, and we only saw/heard 35 species,
but two were of interest. On the E side well north of the cross dike there
was a flock of finches, about 70 birds - about 40 Common Redpolls and 30
Pine Siskins. Many of them dropped down into the shrubbery right in front of
us, so we got wonderful looks at the redpolls, perhaps the best I've ever
had outside the Arctic. These birds should have been a bit farther north,
but then we saw some other birds that should have been *much* farther south.
A flock of 15 BARN SWALLOWS was feeding over the water at the north end, and
I got to count them and look at every bird in the flock when they all
wheeled over us a bit later on the W side. Is this global warming or just
confused swallows? It's hard to believe there are enough flying insects
around to support these birds, yet there they were. The only insect I saw
was one small fungus gnat, but I assume the swallows have much better eyes
for their diet than I do, just as I probably notice Thai restaurants more
readily than the swallows do.

Dennis Paulson
--
Netta Smith and Dennis Paulson
1724 NE 98 St.
Seattle, WA 98115