David,



I seem to recall that Purple Finches were considerably more common in the
city thirty years ago and have been in retreat toward the outer suburbs
since. Perhaps they are simply reclaiming some lost ground as Discovery
Park.



As for habitat preferences, they do seem particularly associated with
riparian stands, black cottonwood, etc., as in the Snoqualmie River Valley,
which I believe is also their niche east of the Cascades, in sharp contrast
to Cassin's. However, they may be more flexible if given the opportunity.



Gene Hunn

18476 47th Pl NE

Lake Forest Park, WA

enhunn323 at comcast.net



From: tweeters-bounces at mailman2.u.washington.edu
[mailto:tweeters-bounces at mailman2.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of David
Hutchinson
Sent: Friday, July 03, 2009 5:11 PM
To: birdmarymoor at verizon.net; tweeters at u.washington.edu
Subject: RE: [Tweeters] Purple Finch



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 <mailto:flora.fauna at live.com>

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





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