Subject: swifts, sapsucker
Date: Jun 22 19:11:47 2003
From: Scott Atkinson - scottratkinson at hotmail.com


Tweeters:

With the onset of dreary weather we had two BLACK and five VAUX'S SWIFTS
over the place today, and close to dawn I heard an unknown sapsucker, sp.
tapping rythyms on metal somewhere in the distance. More intriguing, on
Friday eve, June 20 at about 6 pm, while sitting at the traffic light on
41st Street and Evergreen in south Everett near the Safeway, I had an
unknown Chaetura swift fly right in front of the car and then alongside at
point-blank range, passing the car southbound; unfortunately in the traffic
flow I was in no position to turn around easily and was late for a
Marysville appointment anyway. For those interested, the bird did look
darker than Vaux's below (in fact it was dark throughout) and looked
longer-tailed and about VG Swallow-sized, too small to be a Black, nor did
the flight pattern "gizz" seem right for Black. Unfortunately, the sighting
was brief, and I was of course unable to listen to any vocalizations.
Still, it gave me pause....

Among the regulars at our feeder these days there are two nearly all-black,
recently-fledged Spotted Towhees, not often one encounters this plumage.
The Black-headed Grosbeak pair was joined by a third bird today, a 1st-yr
male, that took food from the parents. And a Warbling Vireo has been heard
repeatedly this June, suggesting local breeding.

Scott Atkinson
Lake Stevens
mail to: scottratkinson at hotmail.com

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