Subject: [Tweeters] Purple Finch
Date: Jul 3 17:10:38 2009
From: David Hutchinson - flora.fauna at live.com



Thanks for the response Michael. The BNA acct for PUFI mentions riparian as one of their preferred associations. There seems to be a fair amount of that at Marymoor, whereas almost zilch at Discovery. There is almost no cottonwood, the Oregon Ash is pretty scattered, and while we have both willow and alder, they are usually not together. I personally think their presence has something to do with forest maturation and amount of edge available.But I am interested to hear what other observer's experience is. I really brought the matter up, partly to test if my observations are correct.Also PUFI was one of the species mentioned in the National Audubon Society research article about global warming, suggesting that their populations are occurring year round further north. DH

--
David Hutchinson, Owner
Flora & Fauna: Nature Books
Discovery Gardens: Native Plants
3212 W.Government Way
Seattle,WA.98199
http://www.ffbooks.net/
206-623-4727




From: birdmarymoor at verizon.net
To: flora.fauna at live.com
Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Purple Finch
Date: Fri, 3 Jul 2009 14:16:12 -0700










I don't know why Purple Finch wouldn't nest at
Discovery. We've had enough detections at Marymoor throughout the summers
(30-45% of visits each week throughout June-July) to suggest that they breed
there. Almost all detections are of singing birds, so the drop-off in
detections in early August may have more to do with the cessation of
singing. Once the Oregon Ash seeds ripen in fall, we begin to see them
regularly again.

In terms of habitat, at all season they seem to be
associated with the Cottonwood/Oregon Ash forested areas. Occasionally,
they're in Willow/Alder areas. We have essentially no maples at the park,
so I can't say whether they avoid them. We almost never hear them in
the conifers around the mansion.

As I write this, a Purple Finch is singing in my
backyard...

== Michael Hobbs
== Kirkland, WA
== http://www.marymoor.org/birding.htm
==
http://www.marymoor.org/BirdBlog.htm
==
birdmarymoor at verizon.net

----- Original Message -----
From:
David
Hutchinson
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Sent: Friday, July 03, 2009 10:43
AM
Subject: [Tweeters] Purple Finch

Discovery Park's Bird Checklist describes Purple Finch as Rare
in summer and records the species as a non-breeder. Between late May and early
July I have heard approx 5 singing male PUFI in the Park. While it might be
easy to say:"oh, another case of global warming", one also might consider
habit change. I always think of PNW PUFI as being birds of mature coniferous
forests or "woodsy" outer suburbs of Greater Seattle. However it is likely
that Discovery Park has also become more woodsy. Certainly the conifer forests
are more mature and the amount of mixed forest with clearings has also
increased due to the activity of park staff and many volunteers.
Is anyone
else noting PUFI breeding activity? DH
--
David Hutchinson,
Owner
Flora & Fauna: Nature Books
Discovery Gardens: Native
Plants
3212 W.Government
Way
Seattle,WA.98199
http://www.ffbooks.net/
206-623-4727





Insert movie times and more without leaving Hotmail?. See how.





_______________________________________________
Tweeters mailing
list
Tweeters at u.washington.edu
http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters

_________________________________________________________________
Hotmail? has ever-growing storage! Don?t worry about storage limits.
http://windowslive.com/Tutorial/Hotmail/Storage?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_HM_Tutorial_Storage_062009