Subject: [Tweeters] Marblemount Indigo Bunting
Date: Jul 17 21:49:10 2009
From: Wayne Weber - contopus at telus.net


Tweeters,

On July 14, following directions that Gary Bletsch gave me over the phone
(many thanks, Gary!!), I managed to find the INDIGO BUNTING along Corkindale
Creek just west of Marblemount in Skagit County. As previously described,
the bird was singing in a clump of Himalayan blackberry next to the creek,
just where the track along the east side of the creek, north of Highway 20,
splits and the left fork crosses the creek. I would estimate this at about
500 yards from the highway. The bird is an immature male, with a lot of
brown feathers on the abdomen, but was singing vigorously.

Knowing that buntings (Indigo and Lazuli) often sing late in the day and
late in the season, I did not leave home till about 7 AM, and arrived at the
bunting location about 9:30. This may not have been a good idea. The bird
was singing when I arrived, and gave me a good but brief view (about 20
seconds) before flying off into some trees. It returned about 5 minutes
later to the same clump of blackberries and sang again for about 2 minutes.
However, the bird then vanished and did not reappear for the 30 minutes that
I remained in the area.

Also in the area were at least 4 adult (3 male and 1 female) LAZULI
BUNTINGS, plus what looked like 2 Lazuli fledglings; an EASTERN KINGBIRD;
and at least 10 RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRDS, which appeared to be feeding from the
Himalayan blackberry flowers, among other species.

This was my first-ever INDIGO BUNTING for Washington, and a long-overdue
addition to my state list.

Ironically, on June 17th-- just 2 days before the Marblemount Indigo
Bunting was found-- I discovered a singing INDIGO BUNTING near the Dot
Ranch, about halfway between Merritt and Spences Bridge, BC. That bird was
still present a few days ago, so at least a few of these Indigos are
sticking around.

The Indigo Bunting "invasion" is not confined to Washington. Including my
sighting, there have been Indigo Buntings seen in at least 3 locations in BC
in late May and June this year, more than the usual.

Many thanks to Scott Atkinson, who first reported the Marblemount Indigo
back on June 19th, and to Eric Huston, Gary Bletsch, Steve Pink, and anyone
else who has reported this bird since. I didn't have a chance to chase the
bird until this week (let alone the one in Snoqualmie), and I greatly
appreciate the continuing updates!

Wayne C. Weber
Delta, BC
contopus at telus.net