Subject: [Tweeters] Short Weekend in Roy - 6-11-2006
Date: Jun 12 10:41:33 2006
From: Desilvis, Denis J - denis.j.desilvis at boeing.com


Tweeters,
A shortened weekend in Roy (just south of Ft. Lewis) yielded a couple of
surprises. On Sunday, as my wife and I were having a "gotta take a
break" drink outside, I spotted what I thought might be the local Willow
Flycatcher on top of a small Douglas-fir. I (fortunately) had bins and
found that it was a male LAZULI BUNTING, which confirmed its presence by
launching into song. (The same song I heard earlier in the day at the
front of the house, but didn't take time to track down while
weed-whacking.) The bird sang for a few minutes, then moved south to
another perch, bursting forth from there. Very nice and very unexpected.

As we walked around part of the area early Saturday evening, we spotted
a Black-capped Chickadee foraging, and keeping the food in its beak.
Where the heck was the nest? (There aren't trees big enough in that area
to have a hole-nester.) To our surprise, it appears that the chickadee
usurped one of the nest boxes from a Tree Swallow, and has a brood in
there.

Although the Purple Martin gourds have gone unclaimed by that species,
at least one pair of Tree Swallows is attempting to nest in a gourd. We
saw a female bringing in nesting material, and a pair of swallows was
copulating atop one of the cross-arms that holds the gourds. This nest
is at least three weeks behind the other Tree Swallow pairs on the
property.

The Cedar Waxwings are all around the house, now. At least a couple of
pairs were copulating.

The California Quail have 15 young still extant. The young are now able
to fly at least two feet (flying over our dry "stream-in-progress") as
they foraged near the house.

The local wandering peacock is still around and passed through the yard.

Birds seen during this weekend:
Mallard
California Quail
Turkey Vulture (Saturday, June 10 -- also saw four vultures on Friday,
June 2)
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Rufous Hummingbird
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Willow Flycatcher
Steller's Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
Tree Swallow
Violet-green Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Bewick's Wren
Marsh Wren
Swainson's Thrush
American Robin
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Yellow Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Spotted Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Black-headed Grosbeak
Lazuli Bunting
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Purple Finch
House Finch
Pine Siskin
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow

42 spp for the weekend; 73 spp YTD; 84 spp site-to-date

May all your birds be identified,

Denis DeSilvis
Seattle, WA
mailto:denis.j.desilvis at boeing.com