Tweeters,

Yesterday (April 16), by coincidence, I was birding in Scott's home
turf of Snohomish County, and I also heard one BLACK-THROATED GRAY
WARBLER singing at the Verlot ranger station, on the Mountain Loop
Highway east of Granite Falls.

I have recently updated and edited my data on spring arrival dates of
birds at Vancouver, BC. The BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER
is the most consistent of all bird species in its arrival date; the
average
is April 20, the earliest April 11, and the latest April 29 (30
years' data).
This year, the first one was detected at Lighthouse Park in West
Vancouver on April 13. Observers in Oregon have noted some
earlier-than usual dates for B-t. Grays this year.

Wayne Campbell et al. in "The Birds of British Columbia", Volume 4,
list one March record of Black-throated Gray, but do not give details.
The earliest dates they cite are April 1 in the Victoria area and
April 3 in the Vancouver area (in 1960, prior to the 30-year span that
I've summarized).

Yes, spring is definitely on the way, even if it's much cooler this
week than
last week. If the Black-throated Grays are here, can the Wilson's,
Yellow, and MacGillivray's Warblers be far behind??

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


----- Original Message -----
From: Scott Atkinson <scottratkinson at hotmail.com>
To: <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Friday, April 16, 2004 9:12 AM
Subject: Discovery arrivals


Tweeters:

While jogging Discovery Park this a.m. I heard two singing BLACK-
THROATED GRAY WARBLERS and saw & heard two
BROWN-HEADED COWBIRDS, right in there for on-time arrivals.
First arrival Black-throated Grays seem to arrive each year in our
area April 15-21, but occasionally in the first half of the month
(for example, Marymoor birders had one April 7th). I'd need Wayne to
weigh in here but I believe there are a couple end-of-March ones too,
from Vancouver I. First migrant cowbirds seem to show from late
March-mid April around here, although of course we have the
overwinterers in open habitats, too.

I didn't run into any Cassin's Vireo or Hammond's Flycatcher, but
then I
wasn't in the area for long. Those two should be in any time now, if
they
haven't already arrived and I missed 'em.

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