Hello, tweets.

I have just been reading about the virtual epidemic of Western
Scrub-Jay sightings this weekend. I hadn't reported that the Seattle
Audubon Master Birders field trip last weekend saw a scrub-jay heading
south along the beach with small numbers of Steller's Jays at the
public restroom at the north end of Ocean Shores (as you drive out to
the beach) on Saturday, Oct 1. I have wondered at the southbound
movements of Steller's Jays in coastal areas of WA for many years, and
this is the first year it has become obvious to me that scrub-jays are
doing the same thing. Both of these species are considered
nonmigratory! It would certainly be nice to know (1) over how much of
the West (or Pacific coast) do these movements happen, (2) how far
these movements take the birds, (3) if there is a reverse movement in
spring (I saw this once, many years ago, at Leadbetter Point), and (4)
if both adults and young participate in it. All of these questions,
except possibly (3), seem difficult to answer without marked birds.

Dennis
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Dennis Paulson
1724 NE 98 St.
Seattle, WA 98115
206-528-1382