Subject: Cow Birds and Pine Siskins
Date: Aug 5 20:38:23 2003
From: Don McVay - dmcvay at cmc.net


Hi Tweeters,

At Deer Harbor we?ve had flocks of Red Crossbills and Pine Siskins with
many juvenile birds of both species. There is also a bumper crop of
Chestnut-backed Chickadees and Dark-eyed Juncos. The only problem was a
juvenile Brown-headed Cow Bird with a Pine Siskin foster parent. We
have not seen adult Cow Birds this summer, so were surprised to see the
juvenile begging for food and the Siskin obliging. Actually the
Cowbird begged for food if any other species came near, but the Siskin
was the only one to oblige. Has any one had experience with Cowbirds
parasitizing Siskins?

There have been numerous Marbled Murrelets returning within the last
few days. In addition many Pigeon Guillemots have been seen feeding
below the cliffs west of Deer Harbor. They have been flying into the
crevices in the cliff and may have been nesting, but no fledglings have
been observed.

Turkey Vultures are seen every day and a dead Turkey Vulture was found
on a beach on the west side of Reef Island. We had pulled our kayaks
up on the beach at high tide and found some feathers sticking out from
a hollow log next to the bank. We suspect a mink had found the dead
vulture on the beach and pulled it into the hollow log for a quiet
feast. There was an almost complete Vulture skeleton and a pair of
fully feathered wings still attached. Why the Vulture died is unknown.

Don and Sandi McVay
Deer Harbor, WA
dmcvay at cmc.net