Hi All,

This morning (Sunday) around 7:30, Trisha and I arrived at Stillwater - this time with cameras in hand - to try for the AMERICAN REDSTART (AMRE) and YELLOW BREASTED CHAT (YBCH). We met two other birders - Eric and Bob - already there and then first tried for the AMRE.

The AMRE was about 75 yards past the second bridge to the south (left) of the main Stillwater parking lot, as noted previously. He was still doing everything possible to wear out his voice, singing every five seconds or so. However, unlike other visits, he was staying at the far side of a thicket to the left (east) of the trail and was not viewable. I played a recording of an AMRE and within seconds he was out of the thicket, heading right toward me and landed within 10 feet of the trail in a tree. Three cameras went to work but the bird was adept at not staying anywhere for more than a second. After a brief stay near the trail it was back into the thicket again. This scenario repeated itself once more whereupon we headed back to the lot. Perhaps one of the other photographers got usable images, but I did not - all were too backlit or out of focus. However, shortly after this, a WESTERN WOOD PEWEE landed close to the trail, and some excellent images were obtained, cl!
early s
howing the 'vest' and other field marks. A link to one of the images is at http://www.tubbsphoto.com/-/tubbsphoto/detail.asp?photoID=3957914&cat=38984.

As we walked out, we stopped north of the second bridge in from the parking lot where the chat has been seen. We heard it immediately, and a brief scan showed it perched between 150-200 yards away, on the top of a small snag branch out in the morning sun unobscured. With the scope on him, we had extremely good views of the bird for several minutes.

On the way back to the lot, we met several other groups of birders heading in to see the AMRE and YBCH - hopefully they had equally good luck in getting looks.

Another highlight happened at the pond north of the parking lot. We were discussing how common WOOD DUCK (WODU) are in the sloughs and ponds near Stillwater when we saw a female WODU followed by a LARGE group of ducklings. How large is large? Check the following link at http://www.tubbsphoto.com/-/tubbsphoto/detail.asp?photoID=3957915&cat=38974 and count carefully. You will find TWENTY FIVE ducklings following mom. One would presume from this huge number that this must have been a case of brood dumping by another female, rather than this particular bird successfully incubating that many eggs. Anyone else ever seen this many ducklings in one group?

All in all, another very nice morning!

John Tubbs
johntubbs at comcast.net
www.tubbsphoto.com