Subject: [Tweeters] Fate of nesting pied-billed grebes in the Arboretum
Date: Jul 1 12:27:40 2008
From: Megan M. Matthews - gavigan at u.washington.edu


I talked with one of the professors here who is in charge of leading restoration efforts at UBNA. He said he wasn't sure what happened, but one explanation may be that lack of oxygen could have eliminated fish from the reach after Ravenna Creek flowed into the Slough. The grebes may have deserted the area if the fish declined. I'm not sure whether anyone is actively studying what effects the slough spill had, but I hope so.

Meg Matthews
Communications Assistant
UW Botanic Gardens
206-543-2608
gavigan at u dot washington dot edu


-----Original Message-----
From: tweeters-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu [mailto:tweeters-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of tweeters-request at mailman1.u.washington.edu
Sent: Tuesday, July 01, 2008 12:01 PM
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Subject: Tweeters Digest, Vol 47, Issue 1

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Today's Topics:

1. Fate of nesting pied-billed grebes in the Arboretum (Tina Blade)
2. RED KNOT-orange leg flagged band-tulalip bay (michael bacon)
3. Birds in the News and more (links) (Devorah Bennu)
4. Re: RED KNOT-orange leg flagged band-tulalip bay (Joe Buchanan)
5. a most likely incorrectly IDed possible Alder Flycatcher at
Nisqually, but probably not (wheelermombi at comcast.net)
6. Image for Washington Birds - OFF TOPIC POST
(johntubbs at comcast.net)
7. Barred Owls (J. Acker)
8. Re: Willow/Alder Flycatche (Mike Patterson)
9. Okanogan BIRD REPORT and chicken fever!!! (Khanh Tran)
10. 26 June posting re. "banded hummingbird" (Mark Myers)
11. Recent photos: WT ptarmigan, Spruce and Dusky grouse (adult
and chicks) (Khanh Tran)
12. out of season sparrow (Hill)
13. FW: [Tweeters] Fate of nesting pied-billed grebes in the
Arboretum (Eric Kowalczyk)
14. FYI (William Kaufman)
15. Re: Fate of nesting pied-billed grebes in the Arboretum
(notcalm at comcast.net)
16. Re: Fate of nesting pied-billed grebes in the Arboretum
(Gene Bullock)
17. july 2008 calendar (travelGirl)
18. Re: Fate of nesting pied-billed grebes in the Arboretum
(Marc Hoffman)


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:39:30 -0700
From: "Tina Blade" <tinablade at comcast.net>
Subject: [Tweeters] Fate of nesting pied-billed grebes in the
Arboretum
To: "'Tweeters'" <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Message-ID: <002201c8daf1$65c3e690$6900a8c0 at Tina2>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Hi Tweets,
I'm wondering whether any of you can explain what's happened to the many
Pied-Billed Grebes who were nesting in the Arboretum this spring.

About a month or so ago, I saw many of them nesting there, and eagerly
awaited the arrival of their babies. I've gone back several times since, and
have not seen any Pied-Billed mamas with babies either in tow or on their
backs.

I'm wondering if they couldn't handle the stress of the human traffic in the
area.

Thanks,

Tina Blade
Kirkland, WA
mailto:tinablade at comcast.net



------------------------------

Message: 2
Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:42:53 -0500
From: "michael bacon" <baconmf at verizonmail.com>
Subject: [Tweeters] RED KNOT-orange leg flagged band-tulalip bay
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Cc: SGMlod at aol.com
Message-ID: <20080630224253.D648A83BFA at ws3-1.us4.outblaze.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

hi tweeters-today at the spit on tulalip bay , at 2:30p.m ,tide coming in
quickly, there were 18 basic plumage BLACK BELLIED PLOVERS-with them was
a single breeding plumaged REDKNOT w/ a bright orange flag/band on its
left leg-i was about 35 yds. away,w/ binocs ,no scope + couldn't see any
#s on it-anyone who knows how to determine origin, please let me know-as
well there were about 35-40 WESTERN SANDPIPERS, many still in breeding
plumage-in contrast , at the same time + place yesterday ,there
were only 15 BBPL .-there are ~5 adult MARBLED MURRELETS+2 RHINOCEROUS
AUKLETS in the channel+~2 dozen PIGEON GUILLEMOTS on the s. side of
mission beach,flying to + from their cliff nest holes.-cheers,maxine
reid---tulalip bay,wa-mail to:baconmf at verizonmail.com

--
--
you at usa.com
is available and 170 other free domains.
Sign up at www.mail.com

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Message: 3
Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2008 16:06:49 -0700 (PDT)
From: Devorah Bennu <birdologist at yahoo.com>
Subject: [Tweeters] Birds in the News and more (links)
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Message-ID: <781172.25088.qm at web50411.mail.re2.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Hello tweeties,

this week's edition of Birds in the News is now available for you to read and enjoy. This edition features a lovely image of a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Regulus calendula, courtesy of my friend, Dave Rintoul, and it includes a lot of stories about Birds in Science that you will want to read!

http://scienceblogs.com/grrlscientist/2008/06/bird_sin_the_news_137.php

I also just wrote up an important piece about parrot smuggling in Indonesia and how you can help stop it;

http://scienceblogs.com/grrlscientist/2008/06/help_profauna_stop_indonesian.php

let's all unite in our effort to protect the birds we all love so much!

cheers,

GrrlScientist
Devorah
http://scienceblogs.com/grrlscientist/
Roosting high up a tree somewhere in Central Park, NYC





------------------------------

Message: 4
Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2008 16:08:52 -0700
From: "Joe Buchanan" <BUCHAJBB at DFW.WA.GOV>
Subject: Re: [Tweeters] RED KNOT-orange leg flagged band-tulalip bay
To: <tweeters at u.washington.edu>, <baconmf at verizonmail.com>
Cc: SGMlod at aol.com
Message-ID: <s8690536.073 at dfw.wa.gov>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII

Michael-

Red Knots were banded at Guerrero Negro, Baja, Mexico, in autumn 2006
and 2007, and in spring 2008. More than 400 knots have been banded and
marked. Each banded knot has a yellow band (the bands have a tab or
"flag", each with a numerical code) on the upper left leg and a single
red band on the lower left leg. Roughly 30 banded birds were observed
on the outer coast during northward migration this year (compared to 4
last year); I believe your observation is the first of a banded bird in
Puget Sound. Seeing the band number allows one to identify the
individual bird, but seeing the flag only is also valuable because it
indicates a bird from Mexico visited Tulalip Bay.

Joe Buchanan
buchajbb at dfw.wa.gov
Olympia, Washington




------------------------------

Message: 5
Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2008 23:41:38 +0000
From: wheelermombi at comcast.net
Subject: [Tweeters] a most likely incorrectly IDed possible Alder
Flycatcher at Nisqually, but probably not
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu (Tweeters)
Message-ID:
<063020082341.12078.48696F3200079B6B00002F2E2207003201070D0301039D0A040A0A0899 at comcast.net>

Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Hi Tweeters,

OK, before you read this post, I just want to warn the more excitable Tweeters subscribers that I will be the first to admit that this is a very questionable ID. While at Nisqually today, unsuccessfully trying to locate the Barn Owl mentioned by Dave in his post yesterday, I heard a bird just before the primitive trail as one is walking from the river look-out, on the inner dike side (around 12:45). The best that I can describe it is that it sounded to me like a burry "right here!", with the initial sound drawn out a little and trilled. It definitely was not a 'fitz bew' Willow Flycatcher call, which could be heard all around the refuge today. It took about 5 minutes before I could locate it visually, first by eye, then by binoculars, and finally with my scope. It was perhaps 40' away and maybe 25' off of the ground, perched on a branch. Visually, it looked just like a Willow Flycatcher to me, including the light lower mandible contrasting with the darker upper mandibl!
e, ligh
t colored throat, slightly darker neck region, and light breast, with weakly off-white wing bars, and no discernable eye ring, but it called several more times while I had it in the scope, each time with the "right here" call. I have only heard Alder Flycatchers on tape and from the Cornell Lab web site, and I know how subjective sound interpretation can be. Has this species ever been recorded in this part of Washington before? While I wouldn't make a special trip to Nisqually just for this bird, if any of you happen to be out there over the next few days, keep your ears open for this call.

Lonnie Somer
Olympia, WA
wheelermombi at comcast.net
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Message: 6
Date: Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:07:50 +0000
From: johntubbs at comcast.net
Subject: [Tweeters] Image for Washington Birds - OFF TOPIC POST
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu, buchajbb at dfw.wa.gov
Message-ID:
<070120080007.27116.48697556000F0086000069EC22155612649C0D0D9A9B02080106 at comcast.net>

Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Joe,

I have tried e-mailing you several times about the image you wanted for the Washington Birds shot, and I believe my e-mails might be blocked by your server. I have no other contact info, so if you are still interested in the image, please forward other means of contact info. I thought sending this through Tweeters might reach you.

Thanks,

John Tubbs
Snoqualmie, WA
johntubbs at comcast.net
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Message: 7
Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:14:56 -0700
From: "J. Acker" <owler at sounddsl.com>
Subject: [Tweeters] Barred Owls
To: <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Message-ID:
<mailman.6.1214938839.32558.tweeters at mailman1.u.washington.edu>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Went out Friday night/Saturday morning to start my annual Barred Owl census
of the Island. I was out for six hours, and found 22 Barred Owls and one
Barn Owl. I don't think I have ever had so many in a single outing before.

I am up to 65 Barred Owls on the Island now, with 5 previously successful
pairs not yet checked. Last year was an all time high with 61.



J. Acker

Bainbridge Island, WA

Owler at sounddsl.com



A voice unspoken (or unwritten) is a voice unheard.

Be heard!



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Message: 8
Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:25:59 -0800
From: Mike Patterson <celata at pacifier.com>
Subject: [Tweeters] Re: Willow/Alder Flycatche
To: Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Message-ID: <4869877A.6831AFF7 at pacifier.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Willow Flycatchers say much more than "fitz-bew" and the call
you describe sounds like a typical Willow "zwee-oo" call.

But you don't have to take my word for it...
http://www.appliedbioacoustics/Repertoires/Passeriformes/Tyrannidae/wiflalfl.html

--
Mike Patterson
Astoria, OR
celata at pacifier.com

In Praise of Urtica
http://www.surfbirds.com/blogs/mbalame/archives/2008/06/urtica20080622.html


------------------------------

Message: 9
Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2008 18:01:02 -0700 (PDT)
From: Khanh Tran <fsprucegrouse at yahoo.com>
Subject: [Tweeters] Okanogan BIRD REPORT and chicken fever!!!
To: Tweeters at u.washington.edu
Message-ID: <378964.71978.qm at web57314.mail.re1.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Hi Tweeters,

Despite the extreme hot temperatures, I had a successful trip to Okanogan area. My main focus was to find and photograph grouse species but as a nice surprise, other neat birds came en route.

Yes, I have "CHICKEN FEVER" but the simple cure is seeing other interesting birds, animals, and fine scenery. Grouse always fascinate me because they are easy to study, photograph, and their modes of display, and variable seasonal plumages is quite interesting.

HART'S PASS:

The most productive and birdy spot prior to the afternoon scourching heat. There were several deep patches of snow along the last 3 miles heading up to Slate Peak. Even with 4WD, I had to hike the remaining 2.7 or so miles to the top of the tower. No snowshoes were required. The weather was glorious and it was bug free.

Many birds congregated along the gravel roads feeding on the fine grit, vegetation, or bug life. During my hike, I had one PINE GROSBEAK who briefly and curiously checked me out as if I was a Gray Jay. Several immature WHITE WINGED CROSSBILLS were feeding up high at cone laden trees. I also had two adult birds mixed in with Pine Siskins. It is good to see that some remained in the area since Steve Nord and I last saw them, last fall.

A couple of BOREAL CHICKADEES made a brief appearance not far from the Ranger Station. RED CROSSBILLS (adults and immatures), EVENING GROSBEAKS, and PINE SISKINS were quite conspicous along with the main expected birds (Fox sparrows, Cassin's finches, Rufous hummingbirds, 3 Toe Woodpeckers, Hermit Thrush, and Mountain Chickadees).

Closer to the top of Slate Peak, I had several sets of GRAY CROWNED ROSYFINCHES. My main target of affection was one male WHITE TAILED PTARMIGAN. He was about 80% white. As I studied him for several minutes, I then realized there was the highly cryptic female, four feet from him! She was very beautiful and blended in so well. It was interesting to note, that the male molts into summer plumage much later than hers and strong sexual dimorphism is evident during this time of year. It was very fun to study them for almost an hour as both were oblivious to my presence.

CONCONULLY:

On route to Salmon Meadows along Conconully Rd, I found several CHUKARS and LEWIS WOODPECKERS. I had one male BOBOLINK on Limebelt Rd. Ascending to higher elevation, I had fleeting looks at one NORTHERN GOSHAWK.

Hoping to find spruce grouse, I walked along the campground and looked in one direction about 10 feet off the trail and luckily spotted a female SPRUCE GROUSE. She sat very still like a rock and as I watched her for a couple of minutes. I then noticed her feathers under her belly were moving. All of a sudden, three heads popped out, and then six!! They were 2-3 day old chicks that just hatched. I was so thrilled!! They were adorable and so richly marked with bright yellow and rich rufous markings.

The proud mother attentively watched her chicks and when they strayed momentarily out of her sight, she would make various calls to summon them. The chicks would communicate with her as well with high peeping noises. Calls were of different tones from the mother suggesting for them when to come to her, or freeze.

Other than that, the place was very quiet except for several AMERICAN 3 TOE, WILLIAMSON SAPSUCKER, and one magnificent PILEATED WOODPECKER. On my way out, I had three SHARP TAILED GROUSE near the intersection of HAPPY HILL RD. It was a nice way to end a busy day.

TIFFANY MOUNTAIN AND ROGER LAKE:

In hopes of finding more ptarmigans on Tiffany Mountain, I endured an extremely buggy environment en route to the 3 mile hike to the summit. About 500 feet from the top, I had to come back down since I was no match for the aggressive bugs. For my troubles, I found several AMERICAN 3 TOES, one probable BLACK BACKED WOODPECKER (heard it call and got a brief 3 second look at it's dark back), and a skittish DUSKY GROUSE. I had one female SPRUCE GROUSE at the beginning of the hike in the early morning. Also, saw one big Black Bear along the drive to Tiffany Campground.

The views are very spectacular towards the top. I recommend the hike but it is a quick 1645 feet gain in the first two miles.

Near Roger Lake, I spotted a pair of birders; Randy Hill and Teri Pieper. Always good to put names on some nice faces. I kept hearing the NORTHERN GOSHAWK calling at a distance that Randy heard earlier and pointed out but never saw it. Possible nests near by. Very quiet otherwise except for some LINCOLN SPARROWS and vocal SNIPES.

WINTHROP AND TWISP AREAS:

Near the Sun Lodge in Winthrop, several broods of DUSKY GROUSE were out and about. I had one female AMERICAN REDSTART along the Chickadee Trailhead. Plenty of Red naped Sapsuckers, Vesper Sparrows, Cedar Waxwings, and a couple of GRAY CATBIRDS were also in the area.

Along Twisp River Rd, I saw one pair of HARLEQUIN DUCKS along the rough waves. Did hear one RED EYED VIREO, VEERY, and aYELLOW BREASTED CHAT along the 12 mile stretch. Excellent road for many passerines.

I had a great time!! That is it for now, I will post photos soon.

Khanh Tran (Portland, Oregon)










------------------------------

Message: 10
Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2008 18:03:05 -0700
From: "Mark Myers" <myers5448 at gmail.com>
Subject: [Tweeters] 26 June posting re. "banded hummingbird"
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Message-ID:
<2ee50e4e0806301803q16dc7471yd0db8e2dafa41091 at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

I'm catching up on past tweeters and wanted to offer some clarification on
Chuck Reinsch's posting on 26 June. Bob Sargent was quoted:

"By the way, our banding associate Mr. Mark Myers who lives over in Bothell
has been banding them this year at a couple of sites on Whidbey Island. He
and
his wife Colleen are hummingbird crazy. Mark is the Curator of Birds (and
some mammals) at the Woodland Park Zoo. I think that is the correct name
of the
zoo. Martha and I visited and banded with him last summer. We banded
Rufous, Calliope and Broad-tailed and Black-chinned while we were operating
out of
their home. These a nice folks and were great trainees many years ago.
Mark is a longtime Master Bander and a member of our banding crew at Fort
Morgan, Alabama on our gulf coast."

During Bob and Martha Sargent's visit last year, we banded ANHU and RUHU in
the Seattle area. Fellow bander Dan Harville was kind enough to let us join
him at a favored site in Cle Elum, and that is where we focused on banding
large numbers of CAHU and RUHU. Following their visit, Bob and
Martha headed east to band with other banders in our group (Hummer/Bird
Study Group), where they were banding Broad-taileds and Black-chinneds. I
think the two areas blended into one in Bob's email.

So, as much as I'd like to say that I banded Broad-taileds at my home in
Bothell, I cannot. Trust me, if I'm ever that lucky, you can expect to
see a very excited posting pop up on Tweeters.....with plenty of photos and
measurements to back it up! And, of course, an invitation to check it out.

Mark Myers
Bothell, WA
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Message: 11
Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2008 18:57:28 -0700 (PDT)
From: Khanh Tran <fsprucegrouse at yahoo.com>
Subject: [Tweeters] Recent photos: WT ptarmigan, Spruce and Dusky
grouse (adult and chicks)
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Message-ID: <842040.59528.qm at web57315.mail.re1.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Hi Tweeters!

Yes, I have 'chicken fever' but had a great trip this weekend to the Okanogan (Northcentral WA) to photograph elusive alpine, boreal, and grassland grouse. Grouse are always very intriguing to me, as they are interesting in their display, possess variable plumages, and easy to study and photograph. Some require a lot of energy to get to the right habitat and find, but the rewards are worth it.

Mananged to find a nice pair of White tailed Ptarmigans, a female spruce grouse with a brood of 6 chicks that were about 3 days old, and several Dusky grouse with broods. Sharp tailed grouse were also found, but too skittish to photograph.

My favorite is the female sprucie with the chicks under her belly. They were adorable!! The sexual dimorphism in the ptarmigans is quite evident this time of year. Male is still very white.

There are some scenery shows, too...:)

http://www.pbase.com/spruce_grouse/recent_photos&page=all

Good grousin!!

Khanh Tran (Portland, Oregon)







------------------------------

Message: 12
Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2008 19:34:03 -0700
From: "Hill" <hill at smwireless.net>
Subject: [Tweeters] out of season sparrow
To: "TWEETERS" <tweeters at u.washington.edu>,
<inland-nw-birders at uidaho.edu>
Message-ID: <01cb01c8db23$2d67e120$6500a8c0 at Hill>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

I did a clockwise loop over the weekend to join the WOS field trip Saturday led by Kraig Kemper and Bob Kuntz. At some point the topic of the day will surface: what county are we in? even which side of the state are we standing on? Aside from a great field trip Saturday, on the way over Friday I had another strange sighting for the season. South of Vantage along Huntzinger Road mixed with a flock of adult and juvenile Sage Sparrows there was a single adult GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW. Didn't get a photo before it flew out of view. Couldn't find a Black-throated Sparrow but didn't have much time to search.

Randy Hill
Othello
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Message: 13
Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2008 21:19:44 -0700
From: "Eric Kowalczyk" <aceros at mindspring.com>
Subject: FW: [Tweeters] Fate of nesting pied-billed grebes in the
Arboretum
To: "tweeters" <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Message-ID: <410-2200872141944699 at mindspring.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII

Just speculation here: I was watching a pair of nesting grebes just south
of Montlake Play Field. They had a minimal nest that was very low to the
water level. One day it was gone. I would guess rising water levels from
snow melt basically flooded the nest.

Eric
Seattle

> [Original Message]
> From: Tina Blade <tinablade at comcast.net>
> To: Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
> Date: 6/30/2008 1:39:30 PM
> Subject: [Tweeters] Fate of nesting pied-billed grebes in the Arboretum
>
> Hi Tweets,
> I'm wondering whether any of you can explain what's happened to the many
> Pied-Billed Grebes who were nesting in the Arboretum this spring.
>
> About a month or so ago, I saw many of them nesting there, and eagerly
> awaited the arrival of their babies. I've gone back several times since,
and
> have not seen any Pied-Billed mamas with babies either in tow or on their
> backs.
>
> I'm wondering if they couldn't handle the stress of the human traffic in
the
> area.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Tina Blade
> Kirkland, WA
> mailto:tinablade at comcast.net
>
> _______________________________________________
> Tweeters mailing list
> Tweeters at u.washington.edu
> http://mailman1.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters




------------------------------

Message: 14
Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2008 21:59:36 -0500
From: William Kaufman <beaux at u.washington.edu>
Subject: [Tweeters] FYI
To: Tweeters <Tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Message-ID: <C48F07C8.6B53%beaux at u.washington.edu>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII



University Week, June, 26, 2008

FALCON CREST: Employees in Creative Communication have enjoyed
watching a family of peregrine falcons that is hunting from and feeding its
young on the roof of their building lately. . . . The adult birds flying up
to the roof of the building with pigeons and other smaller birds in their
talons while their offspring trailed behind screeching for their share.
. . . .The birds are banded leading Durliner to assume they are among
those being followed by the Falcon Research Group. . . . .

Bill Kaufman
Woodinville



------------------------------

Message: 15
Date: Tue, 01 Jul 2008 06:23:16 +0000
From: notcalm at comcast.net
Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Fate of nesting pied-billed grebes in the
Arboretum
To: "Tina Blade" <tinablade at comcast.net>, "'Tweeters'"
<tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Message-ID:
<070120080623.20587.4869CD54000BE6870000506B220922992703040E0C9B0102 at comcast.net>


Hello,

Was there any study of nesting birds during and following the sewage spill?
Some of the marshes and ponds at Montlake (UBNA) were posted as contaminated for a period of time. Are very young birds vulnerable to this type of pollution?

Dan Reiff
Mercer Island


-------------- Original message ----------------------
From: "Tina Blade" <tinablade at comcast.net>
> Hi Tweets,
> I'm wondering whether any of you can explain what's happened to the many
> Pied-Billed Grebes who were nesting in the Arboretum this spring.
>
> About a month or so ago, I saw many of them nesting there, and eagerly
> awaited the arrival of their babies. I've gone back several times since, and
> have not seen any Pied-Billed mamas with babies either in tow or on their
> backs.
>
> I'm wondering if they couldn't handle the stress of the human traffic in the
> area.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Tina Blade
> Kirkland, WA
> mailto:tinablade at comcast.net
>
> _______________________________________________
> Tweeters mailing list
> Tweeters at u.washington.edu
> http://mailman1.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters



------------------------------

Message: 16
Date: Tue, 1 Jul 2008 07:21:27 -0700
From: "Gene Bullock" <bullockg at earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Fate of nesting pied-billed grebes in the
Arboretum
To: <notcalm at comcast.net>, "Tina Blade" <tinablade at comcast.net>,
"'Tweeters'" <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Message-ID: <002301c8db85$c08cded0$6502a8c0 at GeneYes>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="Windows-1252";
reply-type=original

I've visited sewage treatment plants in the U.S. and Mexico. The birds are
drawn to them! I doubt that human fecal contamination threatens birds as
much as accumulated bird droppings on platform feeders, which can incubate
Salmonella, etc. However, human sewage is laced with household chemicals
and other bad stuff routinely flushed down the drain, and that is bad for
all living things. The major sources of harmful pollutants are stormwater
runoff from our highways and industrial chemicals that concentrate in food
stocks (fish) and make their way up the food chain.
Gene Bullock
Poulsbo
----- Original Message -----
From: <notcalm at comcast.net>
To: "Tina Blade" <tinablade at comcast.net>; "'Tweeters'"
<tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Monday, June 30, 2008 11:23 PM
Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Fate of nesting pied-billed grebes in the Arboretum


> Hello,
>
> Was there any study of nesting birds during and following the sewage
> spill?
> Some of the marshes and ponds at Montlake (UBNA) were posted as
> contaminated for a period of time. Are very young birds vulnerable to this
> type of pollution?
>
> Dan Reiff
> Mercer Island
>
>
> -------------- Original message ----------------------
> From: "Tina Blade" <tinablade at comcast.net>
>> Hi Tweets,
>> I'm wondering whether any of you can explain what's happened to the many
>> Pied-Billed Grebes who were nesting in the Arboretum this spring.
>>
>> About a month or so ago, I saw many of them nesting there, and eagerly
>> awaited the arrival of their babies. I've gone back several times since,
>> and
>> have not seen any Pied-Billed mamas with babies either in tow or on their
>> backs.
>>
>> I'm wondering if they couldn't handle the stress of the human traffic in
>> the
>> area.
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Tina Blade
>> Kirkland, WA
>> mailto:tinablade at comcast.net
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Tweeters mailing list
>> Tweeters at u.washington.edu
>> http://mailman1.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters
>
> _______________________________________________
> Tweeters mailing list
> Tweeters at u.washington.edu
> http://mailman1.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters
>



------------------------------

Message: 17
Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2008 22:46:19 -0700
From: "travelGirl" <travelgirl.fics at gmail.com>
Subject: [Tweeters] july 2008 calendar
To: "tweets" <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Message-ID: <14A40B2614FB4E0383A9C2F24B1323F9 at chirp>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

it's that time of the month again, and the 2008 July calendar page is available for free download from http://www.parkgallery.org/calendar/calendar.html ... given the weather we've had recently, it's appropriate that a bellevue demonstration garden sunflower decorate your desktop.

enjoy!

00 caren
http://www.parkgallery.org
george davis creek, north fork
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Message: 18
Date: Tue, 01 Jul 2008 08:44:09 -0700
From: Marc Hoffman <tweeters at dartfrogmedia.com>
Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Fate of nesting pied-billed grebes in the
Arboretum
To: "Gene Bullock" <bullockg at earthlink.net>, tweeters at u.washington.edu
Message-ID:
<mailman.7.1214938841.32558.tweeters at mailman1.u.washington.edu>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

I've paddled the Arboretum frequently enough the past month to say
with confidence that there have been no Pied-Billed Grebe chicks in
the areas where I saw four nests. So the failure would be a failure
to hatch, not a failure for chicks to thrive. By the way, I still see
about the same number of adults PBGR's in the area, and assume
they're the same pairs that were nesting earlier.

I don't know if the floating nests have the ability to rise with
water levels., nor do I know if the water levels have gone up
appreciably. I do know that I've been unable to find the three nests
that were there a month ago, so a rising water level might account
for that. Anybody know where to research Lake Washington's water
levels over the past two months or so? I found data on levels at the
locks for June, and variation was about four inches. Couldn't find
data for earlier months.

On Sunday, I found a newer PBGR nest with four eggs and will try to
monitor it. Unfortunately, it's considerably more exposed to canoe
traffic than the nests that are now missing.

One thing I wonder about is predators. Nutria are said to be strict
vegetarians (can anyone confirm this?). Muskrats are primarily
herbivores but occasionally carnivorous. I imagine Great Blue Herons
and crows could be a big problem for the grebes. Predation would not
account for the disappearance of existing nests, however.

Marc Hoffman
Kirkland, WA
http://www.dartfrogmedia.com
mailto: tweeters at dartfrogmedia dot com


At 07:21 AM 7/1/2008, you wrote:
>I've visited sewage treatment plants in the U.S. and Mexico. The
>birds are drawn to them! I doubt that human fecal contamination
>threatens birds as much as accumulated bird droppings on platform
>feeders, which can incubate Salmonella, etc. However, human sewage
>is laced with household chemicals and other bad stuff routinely
>flushed down the drain, and that is bad for all living things. The
>major sources of harmful pollutants are stormwater runoff from our
>highways and industrial chemicals that concentrate in food stocks
>(fish) and make their way up the food chain.
>Gene Bullock
>Poulsbo
> ----- Original Message ----- From: <notcalm at comcast.net>
>To: "Tina Blade" <tinablade at comcast.net>; "'Tweeters'"
><tweeters at u.washington.edu>
>Sent: Monday, June 30, 2008 11:23 PM
>Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Fate of nesting pied-billed grebes in the Arboretum
>
>
>>Hello,
>>
>>Was there any study of nesting birds during and following the sewage spill?
>>Some of the marshes and ponds at Montlake (UBNA) were posted as
>>contaminated for a period of time. Are very young birds vulnerable
>>to this type of pollution?
>>
>>Dan Reiff
>>Mercer Island
>>
>>
>>-------------- Original message ----------------------
>>From: "Tina Blade" <tinablade at comcast.net>
>>>Hi Tweets,
>>>I'm wondering whether any of you can explain what's happened to the many
>>>Pied-Billed Grebes who were nesting in the Arboretum this spring.
>>>
>>>About a month or so ago, I saw many of them nesting there, and eagerly
>>>awaited the arrival of their babies. I've gone back several times since, and
>>>have not seen any Pied-Billed mamas with babies either in tow or on their
>>>backs.
>>>
>>>I'm wondering if they couldn't handle the stress of the human traffic in the
>>>area.
>>>
>>>Thanks,
>>>
>>>Tina Blade
>>>Kirkland, WA
>>>mailto:tinablade at comcast.net

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End of Tweeters Digest, Vol 47, Issue 1
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