Dear Paul and Tweeters,

I don't have any hawthorns. I have a holly and a lot of blackberries on my property, but the tree that gets the big neotropical migrant action in my yard is a certain big birch. It always has a swarm of tiny insects from late August well into September, and the birds spend much time in it.

This year I have seen the usual influx of Orange-crowned, Yellow, Yellow-rumped, and Black-throated Grey Warblers in the tree. Oddly, this year has been very slow for Black-headed Grosbeaks around my yard; I haven't seen one in weeks. A very few Western Tanagers have visited the tree, though. Last week, a single Townsend's Warbler and a Cassin's Vireo visited. As of the last few days, it has just been Orange-crowned and Yellow-rumped, though. Juncos are arriving, so I know it's nearly fall here.

Yours truly,


Gary Bletsch ? Near Lyman, Washington (Skagit County), USA ? garybletsch at yahoo.com ? ?


--- Paul Hicks <phicks at accessgrace.org> schrieb am Mi, 10.9.2008:

> Von: Paul Hicks <phicks at accessgrace.org>
> Betreff: [Tweeters] Secretive fall warblers in my hawthorn
> An: ", tweeters" <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
> Datum: Mittwoch, 10. September 2008, 1:14
> Tweets,
>
> Monday a Yellow Warbler spent the day (from at least 1pm
> til dark) in my
> hawthorn tree. I have learned every fall to expect
> warblers, usually
> singles, visiting for most or all of the day in this
> tree--I'm wondering if
> anyone has a similar experience. [Do they gravitate to this
> prickly tree for
> safety? How do they not get skewered?] Wilson's
> Warblers are most regular,
> appearing in late July and August (this season around the
> 23rd.) for one to
> three days (not consecutively). Less regular are Yellow
> Warblers. These fall
> warblers hardly make a peep, but forage secretively though
> fairly actively.
> The only way I detect them is catching their movement or,
> as the case today,
> hearing (above the din of the main drag out front) the
> faint and frequent
> snapping of the bill on a bug. Today's bird was not
> skittish yet was
> amazingly difficult to spot. The tree isn't very large
> or dense, but it
> could take up to 5 minutes to see the bird even though I
> could hear it
> moving and eating (approx. 3 to 8 "snaps" per
> minute). Another amazing
> thing: I mowed the lawn right next to the tree, but the
> visitor (apparently)
> stayed put. (I had waited a long time until I was convinced
> it was gone, but
> apparently it was just napping.) Makes me wonder how many
> fall migrants I
> would see if I were actually home more often or did more
> yard work! Good
> birding!
>
> --Paul Hicks, Tenino, s. Thurston Co / phicks AT
> accessgrace.org
>
>
>
>
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