Subject: [Tweeters] No Mountain Quail this morning (Grays Harbor Co.)
Date: Jun 15 13:59:46 2008
From: Tim O'Brien - kertim7179 at yahoo.com


I was out early this morning before dawn driving the Weyerhaeuser logging roads off of Newman Creek Road looking for quail. No luck on the quail this morning so the year list is still blank for these elusive birds. My usual spot on top of the A-2300 hasn't produced any yet so I am starting to look elsewhere near younger clearcuts with a good amount of salal. I did see and hear plenty of other birds in the hills. Here's the list:

Red-tailed Hawk
Band-tailed Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Common Nighthawk
Rufous Hummingbird
Red-breasted Sapsucker
Northern Flicker
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Willow Flycatcher
Pacific-slope Flycatcher
Warbling Vireo
Steller's Jay
Tree Swallow
American Robin
Cedar Waxwing
Orange-crowned Warbler
Black-throated Gray Warbler (see note)
Common Yellowthroat
Wilson's Warbler
Western Tanager
Spotted Towhee
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Black-headed Grosbeak
Red-winged Blackbird
Purple Finch

A note about the Black-throated Gray Warblers that I saw today...two times now in the same location I have encountered at least 4 singing warblers that sound very much like Black-throated Grays. Today, one sang the perfect song for that species, but I am hearing a different type of song too. Also, call notes that sound like a hyper-speed typewriter clicking and clicking. These birds do not allow visual looks because they seem to be hiding on the backsides or near the main stem of the coniferous trees I find them in. They have me a bit confused due to the odd sounds I am hearing. Perhaps this is in the range of their song, but I just wanted to mention it since others might have some input.

At home this afternoon in Elma, I have had several flocks of Red Crossbills in the tops of our fir trees. I have heard a few Evening Grosbeaks as well. Also, new for the yard is a heard only Warbling Vireo.

Good birding,

Tim O'Brien
Elma, WA
mailto: kertim7179 at yahoo dot com