Hi Tweeters,

I had just finished reading Narrative of a Journey Across the Rocky
Mountains to the Columbia River by John Kirk Townsend, when a warbler
of his namesake appeared three feet away in our grape arbor. The bird
adorns the cover of the paperback edition, which I had just put down.
What a beautiful little bird! Sandi and I spent a half an hour
following its journeys through the blueberries, crab apple, firs and
cedars.

We live across from David Rodgers Park on the north end of Queen Anne
hill. Our next-door neighbor?s Arbutus menziesii seems to be an
attractant for numerous species. Recently we?ve observed in the tree
both races of Yellow-rumped Warblers, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Wilson?s
Warblers, Bush Tits, Anna?s Hummingbird, Stellar?s Jays, Black-capped
Chickadees, Red-breasted Nuthatches, Red-breasted Sapsuckers, Downy
Woodpeckers, Northern Flickers, White and Golden-crowned Sparrows, and
House Finches. A pair of crows have their nest in the top of the
Madrone, so we are amused by their antics of washing their food in our
birdbath.

A mixed flock of House Sparrows, Chickadees, Robins, and House Finches
were foraging in the grassy area along side of the Himalaya
blackberries in Rodgers Park. While observing their behavior, a robin
gave its distinctive warning call. All of the birds immediately
disappeared in the brambles of blackberries. Over my right shoulder a
Merlin flashed by and landed in a fir tree above the grassy area where
the birds had been foraging. The Merlin sat on the branch for a
minute, with no prey in sight and then flew off in the direction it had
come. The altruistic behavior of the robin, which gave the warning
call, was of intraspecific benefit for all of the other robins and I
suppose interspecific benefit for all of the other species, which
heeded its warning call.

The moral of the story is that if you live in an urban setting the
drama of nature is still all around you.

Don McVay
dmcvay at cmc.net
Queen Anne





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