Joe,
Regarding bluebirds in Olympic National Park (ONP): Western Bluebirds
are very sparse nesters in the foothills leading up to ONP but are not known
to nest on Hurricane Ridge. However, a group of us found a male in the old
burn at Deer Park, ONP on 6-26. This is at the same elevation as Hurricane
Ridge to the west. We also found at the identical site a pair of Mountain
Bluebirds on 6-26. We are interested in keeping records of bluebirds in
Clallam County and Jefferson County so could you let us know the date of
your observation?
There have been two wierd what I assume are Canada Goose x domestic
goose crosses in Dungeness Harbor this summer as well as the Black Swan as
they have a lot of white on the face. I think that is what you saw rather
than an Emperor Goose. We do have aviculturists in the area and I think that
is where the some of the local records for Emperor Geese come from. I also
could not find Stumpy (the one legged Emperor Goose) at Lincoln Park in Port
Angeles the one time in late July that I looked so he could have moved over
to 3 Crabs (I personally think that one was an escapee).
Bob Norton
Joyce (near Port Angeles), WA
norton36 at olypen.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Harrington, Joseph" <jharring at ukans.edu>
To: <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, August 13, 2003 7:48 AM
Subject: thanks and bluebird query


> Dear Tweeters,
>
> Thanks so much to all who responded to my query re: birding the Olympic
> Peninsula. We just returned from a terrific trip (108 species, 34
lifers -
> most during our day at sea). There were a couple of sightings that
puzzled
> me, however.
>
> At Hurricane Ridge (picnic area 1), we saw a juvie western bluebird, then
a
> female; then we saw what was obviously a bluebird, but it was all-blue --
> neither MariaAna nor I could see any orangey or russety coloration on that
> bird at all. So: do mountain bluebirds ever hang out (or hybridize) with
> westerns? Neither of us has (had) ever seen a mountain bluebird.
>
> Secondly, near Sequim (at the Three Crabs Restaurant mudflats), I saw what
> looked for all the world like an emperor goose, in amongst some Canadas.
It
> certainly wasn't a regular Canada -- too much white on the face. Is it
> possible that this bird would be there at this time of year? There was a
> black swan nearby, so I wouldn't be surprised if the emperor (if that's
what
> it was) was an escapee. I should say I've never seen an emperor goose
> before, either -- the "ID" is strictly based on Sibley's.
>
> Anyway, any ideas on either of these would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
> again for all your help!
>
> best,
> Joe Harrington
> jharrington at ku.edu
> Kansas City, MO
>