Subject: Blue-gray Gnatcatcher....a pair does beat one of a kind!
Date: May 28 21:22:42 2002
From: M.A.D. - agrimes94 at earthlink.net


Ian and Tweeters:
I was with Ruth and Patrick Sullivan viewing the Gnatcatcher for a good
2 or 3 hours and we (patrick and I) were the first to notice him
collecting nesting material and building a nest about 10 feet or so from
the spot we had pick to sit and wait for photo opportunities. Since the
bird was moving rapidly from one end of his territory to the other, we
felt it best just to pick a spot and wait for him to come to us. It was
mere luck that we even picked that particular spot. I chose it because
it was in a slightly higher area with a good overall view with some
rocks to sit on. We could see and hear the bird vocalizing up and down
the range and I noticed him going to some tall thin bushes and peeling
off small strips of bark and carrying them back to a "sagebrush"
looking bush next to us. He repeated this behavior over and over. He
would occasionally take off again up and down the territory but he
always returned to the nest site. He didn't seem to mind us being there
at all. We never saw a female or heard another bird. I believe and I
think Patrick and Ruth Sullivan will concur that there was only one bird
on the site at that time. I'm sure if there was a female we would have
seen it. Maybe a female arrived on the 27th. but as of Sunday the 26th.,
only one bird was present. I think it would be really unlikely that
there were two birds. This bird moved extremely fast up and down it's
territory and maybe some birders assumed it must have been two.
But, Hey, I've been wrong before. ;-)
Patrick and Ruth... have you formed an opinion yet as to whether or not
there was a second bird (female) present?

arthur
agrimes94 at earthlink.net
Edmonds, Wa.98020