Scott,

Thanks very much for your response. I was aware that Bank Swallows had
been seen regularly over the years at the Corkindale powerline
crossing; in fact, I have looked for them there in the past without
success. However, with the number of birds present near Concrete
yesterday, I would be surprised if they aren't nesting, or attempting
to nest, somewhere nearby.

Around Vancouver, BC, we have a very few June records of Bank
Swallows, and one record of a bird entering a burrow on Sea Island
several years ago, but no positive recent breeding records. Campbell
et al. in "The Birds of B.C.", Vol. 3 (1997) report two breeding
records from the Lower Fraser Valley in B.C., but these are poorly
documented (e.g., no observers' names provided) and, in my opinion,
somewhat questionable. Otherwise, Bank Swallows have not been proven
to breed west of the Coast and Cascade Ranges in B.C., and they are
known at Vancouver mainly as an uncommon to rare spring and fall
migrant (most records for May and September).

Wayne C. Weber
Delta, BC
contopus at telus.net


----- Original Message -----
From: Scott Atkinson <scottratkinson at hotmail.com>
To: <contopus at telus.net>; <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Cc: <garybletsch at yahoo.com>; <lynnandstan at earthlink.net>
Sent: Wednesday, June 25, 2003 8:21 AM
Subject: Re: Skagit County Birding-- Martins, Bank Swallows, etc.


Wayne:

Your count of 25 Bank Swallows sets a new high for any site in Skagit.
Also, Concrete has not been the main site of observations in years
past,
although there have been previous sightings near here. However, up to
a
dozen birds at a time have been seen in recent years during nesting
season
near the Corkindale powerline crossing to the east (between Rockport
and
Marblemount) and birds have been seen in a number of locations near
Rockport, such as a the Howard Miller Steelhead Park there. I don't
believe
anyone has yet reported a nest despite this, but I did see birds going
into
a barn (atypical nest site) off the south side of the Corkindale site
several years ago and it is clear to me that birds somewhere in the
vicinity. In addition to the central county records, single birds or
small
flocks (highs are 4 and 10) have been documented in recent years on
Fir
Island in Aug-Sept, but I had also had a bird that stayed for several
days
in early July last year at Jensen.

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