Hi Dennis and Tweets

We have had at least one female Slate-colored Junco at Marymoor for at least three weeks now. We usually have one or two around during the late fall/winter, but Michael Hobbs can probably give us more detailed information on their occurrence (both this fall and over the years) at Marymoor.

Brian H. Bell
Woodinville WA
mail to bell asoc at iso media dot com
----- Original Message -----
From: Dennis Paulson
To: Tweeters
Sent: Friday, November 28, 2008 10:39 AM
Subject: [Tweeters] Slate-colored absence


Something that just dawned on me this winter is that we haven't had a (Slate-colored) Dark-eyed Junco in the yard for three winters now. We moved here in 1991, and one-two Slate-colored, with the flocks of Oregons, have visited every winter since then except for the past three years. I suppose this could be explained by random variations in bird visitation, but it is striking, now that I think of it. I'm sure there were many different individuals over that previous period, and I always enjoyed watching for them when the juncos were in the yard.


Are Slate-colored not wintering in this area as much as they used to? Do they tend to prefer more open country (our yard has grown up in trees, with all our planting, so that we no longer have wintering Golden-crowned Sparrows)? Or is this an observation with no significance?


-----
Dennis Paulson
1724 NE 98 St.
Seattle, WA 98115
206-528-1382
dennispaulson at comcast.net








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