Hi Tweeters,

This message came from Dennis Paulson recently:

>He also said that BEWICK'S WRENS bred in the same place this summer, that
>he heard several singing and saw juveniles, last sighting about a month
>ago. They were reported north to the nearby Columbia National Wildlife
>Refuge in the Washington Breeding Bird Atlas. This is two western
>Washington birds that are colonizing the east side, probably because of
>anthropogenic alterations of the ambience.

When I moved back to Yakima in 1978, there seemed to be quite a few Bewick's
Wrens around. I looked on the spreadsheet for the entire Yakima Valley CBC
(1972-2001) to check on Bewick's Wrens.

The CBC data showed them to be quite numerous from 1972-1980, with the low
number in that period being 3 and the high being 21 (three years in a row),
and the average just over 13. They were virtually absent from 1981-1994,
with two seen in 1984 and one in 1990. From 1995 to 2001 they were seen
every year with 4 being the low total and 19 the high, with the average
being just over 10.

We will have to rely on Dennis to explain this odd trend in Bewick's Wrens
wintering in the Yakima Valley.

Denny Granstrand
Yakima, WA.

* * * * * * * * * * *
* Denny Granstrand *
* Yakima, WA *
* osprey at nwinfo.net *
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