Dear Tweeters,

Yesterday I drove up north of Hamilton (Skagit County), through the Crown Pacific gate. Way up by the Whatcom line, southwest of the Sisters along Howard Creek, there were some nice birds. A Ruffed Grouse was feeding along a logging road, just 300 yards from a group of hunters discussing where else they could go to find animals to shoot. A Northern Pygmy Owl came down to toot to me.

A couple of Red-breasted Sapsuckers engaged in some odd behaviour. One of the sapsuckers was a tiny bit bigger than the other, although their plumage was about the same. They kept making soft squeaks at one another, following each other around. They repeatedly flew to new trees, and then descended the trunk together, never more than a foot or so apart, occasionally tapping half-heartedly at the trunk, and making these soft squeaks. Then they would get down pretty low and fly up to another trunk, to repeat the process. Sometimes they would stick their beaks out toward each other, although not quite touching. I could not tell if the behaviour was friendly, sexual, or aggressive. Finally, after about 15 minutes, they locked bills and descended in a noisy spiral through the air, while connected by their bills. Then one flew across the road and made a lot of noise from a perch there, while the other disappeared.

Other birds in the low mountains there were Hairy Woodpeckers, GC Kinglets, CB Chickadees, Winter Wrens, Robins, Oregon Juncos, Song Sparrows, Steller's Jays, and Spotted Towhees. I had hoped to see Varied Thrushes, but found none.





Yours truly,

Gary Bletsch

garybletsch at yahoo.com



---------------------------------
Do you Yahoo!?
Faith Hill - Exclusive Performances, Videos, & more
faith.yahoo.com