> Dear Tweets:
>
> I live in Wyoming, where we have magpies, black-backed woodpeckers, rosy
> finches and lots of migrants in a hurry to get somewhere else. We are
> planning a trip to visit friends in Seattle in late May. Although
sometimes
> we are into carefully documenting local places and trends, I am not
getting
> any younger and I feel an urge to dedicate some quality time to adding to
my
> life list. The avifauna of the north Pacific Coast presents a wonderful
> opportunity to see many birds that would only be found in these parts as
the
> result of a new Ice Age or a legendary gale.
>
> Time being a scarce commodity, it seems that I will have one day to visit
> Vashon Island and Gig Harbor, one day (much too short) to visit Port
Angeles
> and Sequim, maybe a day to do a boat cruise for those pelagic critters,
and
> a day in Seattle.
>
> At the risk of inviting a flood of comments from an obviously highly
> knowledgeable group of tweet subscribers, I have two requests:
>
> 1. Is there a guide or two who could help me make the most of the
available
> time at these venues? (Paid or volunteer).
>
> 2. If you were to make the most of a day in the Port Angeles area and a
day
> in the Vashon Is. and Gig Harbor area, how would you structure your day;
> i.e., where would you go?
>
> By the way, I recall that prior to the discovery of things like genetics,
> there was a theory that insects (and perhaps other creatures) arose from
the
> mud by a process of spontaneous generation. I think that is why you are
> seeing Barn Swallows in January, 4 months ahead of when they will arrive
at
> San Juan Capistrano. Look for horse flies and box elder bugs too. And
> hummingbirds? Holy smokes, there's not an insectivorous or nectar-eating
or
> frugivorous bird within 1000 miles of here in January, (although I was
> astonished to find a Cordilleran Flycatcher here in 2000 at the CBC in
minus
> 20 F conditions). I fear it, like many of your swallows, was doomed.
>
> Thanks for your help......
>
> RT Cox
> Gillette, WY
>