Melissa,

I know you said that the birds weren't starlings but that sure is what they sound like to me. Large flocks of starlings, composed mostly of drab brown juveniles are to be expected at this time of year at Nisqually and they behave as you describe, perching on logs, the ground, flying up and descending simultaneously. I can't think of any bird that fits your description better.

Kelly McAllister
Olympia, Washington
----- Original Message -----
From: Melissa
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Sent: Monday, July 02, 2007 8:35 AM
Subject: [Tweeters] Mystery stump birds at Nisqually


Hi Tweets-
I spent the day birding with my boyfriend (who is getting good really fast J) at Nisqually NWR to get a good look at the migrants before they leave us for the south. The Swainson's Thrush, Common Yellowthroats and Yellow Warblers were outsung only by the local Song Sparrows. We also saw some adorable Wood Duck ducklings - around 12 with three adult females and two almost cuter Grebe (sp?) chicks. There were 20+ Caspian Terns actively dive-fishing and calling. Another highlight of the day was having close views of two Downy Woodpeckers and a handful of Cedar Waxwings on ! the sam e small tree.


There was a strange flock of birds we couldn't identify. Along the west side of the refuge, on the north end near the edge of the marsh area near the sound is a very large tree stump. Near the stump, a large flock of small birds shot into the air like shorebirds catching my eye. I put the scope on them and found that the entire stump was covered with small, brown birds. The surrounding grassy area was also covered with them. The flock was around 150-200 birds. The birds on the stump were flitting around giving the impression of swallows - but I could not verify wing-shape. Even with the scope, there were so far away I could not get any field marks. They were definitely not starlings - wrong body shape and were very brown. I thought of Rough-winged Swallows but just could not tell.


What's stumping me (no pun intended) is thinking of a brown, songbird-sized/shaped bird that gathers in large numbers out in open areas near the sound. Has anyone been there recently who noticed the same birds? I'll be pretty embarrassed if there is an easy answer here, but am happy to be enlightened.


Happy birding-

Melissa Willoughby
Seattle
mawilloughby1 - at - comcast.net







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