Tweeters:
It was gloriously warm and sunny this morning. The birds distracted me from going to
my class, and I'm glad I played hookey. At 9:00 there was a small flock of RED
CROSSBILLS in a Douglas fir with lots of fir cones in my neighborhood. Nine of them
were perched in the top of the tree. I heard a larger flock fly overhead a little
later. Both flocks were calling jip, jip. I haven't seen these birds around here
for at least a year. They promptly left, but I will continue to look for more of
them this month.
ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD males seem to be everywhere. A few of them are again making their
dives w/ the loud chirp. Stokes Western Field Guide to Birds says these hummers can
have 1-2 broods. Maybe they can around here, because I rarely see a Rufous
Hummingbird in Des Moines. I had to go to Nisqually NWR w/ Phil Kelley's group last
week to see my first and only Rufous.
A big miss today in Des Moines was Yellow-rumped Warblers. We have had moderate
numbers of them here this spring. A few remained all winter. Today, nothing. On
Sat, down along the Green River on Frager Rd north of the golf course, Yellow Rumps
were almost at every 100 ft. They were fly-catching down there. All I could see
were Audubon's.
Yours, Carol Schulz
Des Moines, WA
linusq at att.net