Subject: [Tweeters] RE: PAWS rehab injured birds
Date: Jul 21 21:33:20 2009
From: Shep Thorp - tanwaxlake at comcast.net


Ruth and Tweets,

PAWS in Washington may be best resource for finding folks who are licensed
in rehabilitation of wild birds. You can check them out on line. Good
luck!

Shep

Shep Thorp, VMD
Member, LLC
The Animal Emergency Clinic
Puget Sound Veterinary Referral Center, PLLC
Tacoma, WA 98409
253-474-0791 ~ fax 253-474-6057
http://www.theaec.com/

mailto:sthorp at theaec.com
mailto:tanwaxlake at comcast.net
cell #: 253-370-3742

-----Original Message-----
From: tweeters-bounces at mailman2.u.washington.edu
[mailto:tweeters-bounces at mailman2.u.washington.edu]On Behalf Of
tweeters-request at mailman2.u.washington.edu
Sent: Tuesday, July 21, 2009 12:01 PM
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Subject: Tweeters Digest, Vol 59, Issue 21

Send Tweeters mailing list submissions to
tweeters at u.washington.edu

To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters
or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
tweeters-request at mailman2.u.washington.edu

You can reach the person managing the list at
tweeters-owner at mailman2.u.washington.edu

When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
than "Re: Contents of Tweeters digest..."


Today's Topics:

1. barred owl, whidbey (David Armstrong)
2. Re: Subject: Good info on Caspian Terns (John Riegsecker)
3. Re: Good info on Caspian Terns (Hans-Joachim Feddern)
4. Montlake Fill dowitchers (Connie Sidles)
5. RE: Purple Martin in TOKELAND!!!!!!!!! (Grad, Andrea E.)
6. Re: Re: Red Fox (Kevin Purcell)
7. Re: Light Brown Crow (notcalm at comcast.net)
8. Jetty island area (Zuckerbond)
9. Cedar Waxwings continue nesting in lower Columbia Basin
(Dennis Rockwell)
10. please I need help for an injured BIRD, (Ruth Sullivan)
11. Black River, Thurston Co. (Douglas Canning)


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Mon, 20 Jul 2009 12:16:48 -0700
From: "David Armstrong" <davearm at u.washington.edu>
Subject: [Tweeters] barred owl, whidbey
To: <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Message-ID: <1B45CDF78C5147748F1E6FB2758DDE0B at davidslaptop>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
reply-type=original

Was hiking in South Whidbey State park yesterday, Sunday, about 7:30 AM when
a barred owl moved along the deep ravine on the south end of the "loop
trail". Very pretty and gave lots of views as it perched in several limbs
before leaving the area.

david armstrong
davearm at u.washington.edu



------------------------------

Message: 2
Date: Mon, 20 Jul 2009 12:22:49 -0700
From: John Riegsecker <jriegsecker at pobox.com>
Subject: [Tweeters] Re: Subject: Good info on Caspian Terns
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Message-ID: <4A64C409.1090504 at pobox.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

All,

My first post to the list.

It was very interesting to learn about the Caspian Terns that nested at
Bremerton. I have been seeing Caspian Terns at Theler Wetlands, which
is in Belfair, about 12 miles distant. On July 11 I took several
pictures of a Caspian Tern with a fish it had pulled from the water.
Here is a link:

http://skygardener.zenfolio.com/p369020681/h1f569ef1#h1f569ef1

Would this be an indication there is a nest near by?

John Riegsecker, Gig Harbor, jriegsecker at pobox dot com

--
John R.


------------------------------

Message: 3
Date: Mon, 20 Jul 2009 12:51:37 -0700
From: Hans-Joachim Feddern <thefedderns at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Good info on Caspian Terns
To: David Hutchinson <flora.fauna at live.com>
Cc: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Message-ID:
<8c3d3c130907201251v6db1de80nf5a81c692c74bc1f at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1252"

Dave, Dan and Tweeters,

Great information! As I posted earlier, I observed several fish-carrying
CASPIAN TERNS at Browns Point on July 4th. They were all heading in the
direction of the Port of Tacoma. It is very likely ,that they were feeding
young and that there is a remnant of the once large Commence Bay population.
Maybe somebody out there knows where?

Hans Feddern
Federal Way, WA.

On Sun, Jul 19, 2009 at 4:41 PM, David Hutchinson
<flora.fauna at live.com>wrote:

> Am forwarding a fascinating email from a customer of F&F via the Pacific
> Seabird Group. My only comment would be whether having breeding colonies
> expand in our area is a good thing or not. What impact would they have,
for
> example, on young salmon stocks locally, from April through July? 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
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
> Date: Fri, 17 Jul 2009 11:17:18 -0700
> Subject: Re: CATES
> From: daniel.roby at oregonstate.edu
> To: flora.fauna at live.com
> CC: Jessica.Adkins at oregonstate.edu; daniel.roby at oregonstate.edu
>
> David,
>
> Thanks for clarifying your key questions and sorry for not responding
> earlier to your original email.
>
> It is very likely that Caspian terns transporting fish in their bills in
> Puget Sound during early May were doing so for the purpose of providing
> courtship meals to their prospective mates. We have never seen Caspian
terns
> feeding chicks that early in the season at other colonies that we have
> monitored in coastal Washington. This may or may not mean that there is an
> incipient colony nearby; some courtship meals are transported at least 50
km
> from where they are caught to where the mate is roosting or prospecting
for
> a nest site. Sometimes courtship meal are exchanged at sites where there
is
> no suitable nesting habitat, and I would assume that these terns are
seeking
> to form a pair bond before selecting a site to dig a nest scrap and lay
> their eggs. At the Caspian tern colony at Dungeness Spit, for example, the
> first egg was seen on the colony on May 10 in 2004 and on May 8 in 2005.
In
> most years the majority of egg-laying by Caspian terns nesting on colonies
> in coastal Washington occurs in late May, but some late nesters or
> re-nesters can lay as late as July.
>
> Assuming, for the sake of argument, that the Caspian terns that you saw
> transporting courtship meals were intending to nest at their destination,
> there may have been an incipient Caspian tern colony on a warehouse
rooftop
> on Harbor Island. During our aerial survey of Puget Sound on July 2, no
> Caspian tern colony was found on a warehouse rooftop on Harbor Island.
> Although a few Caspian terns were seen loafing on rooftops on Harbor
Island,
> and there are some gulls nesting on rooftops there, no Caspian tern
breeding
> colony was found, and it was too early for young to have fledged and left
a
> rooftop colony. This does not prove that there isnt a tern colony on
Harbor
> Island (a small colony further from the coastline might have been missed),
> nor does it prove that no colony existed there earlier this season and
> failed. There is quite a history of Caspian terns nesting on warehouse
> rooftops in the Puget Sound Region, including Bremerton Naval Shipyard,
> Tacoma Yacht Club, Bellingham Cold Storage, and Seattle Pier 90. We have
> been told by USDA-Wildlife Services that the large Caspian tern colony
> (several hundred nesting pairs) that was formerly spread over the rooftops
> of 3 adjacent warehouses in the Bremerton Shipyard has been eliminated by
> hazing the birds, and no Caspian tern nesting has occurred there in 2008
or
> 2009. The terns that nested at this former colony likely dispersed to
> alternative colony sites in the Puget Sound Region, and may have been the
> source of the Caspian terns that you observed. If a colony did form this
> season on a warehouse rooftop on Harbor Island, it is also possible that
the
> owners of the property either hazed the birds themselves or hired Wildlife
> Services to do it.
>
> In addition to the Caspian terns that formerly nested at the Bremerton
> Naval Shipyard, some of the terns you observed may have been from the
large
> breeding colony on Dungeness Spit in Dungeness NWR. This colony, which
> originally formed in 2003, has experienced increasing predation pressure
> from terrestrial mammals, especially coyotes, which have been observed on
> several occasions in the colony consuming tern eggs. This year, the
Caspian
> tern colony at Dungeness Spit appears to have completely failed due to
nest
> predation late in the incubation period (latter part of June). In 2007,
this
> colony supported more than 1,100 nesting pairs, the second largest
breeding
> colony of Caspian terns on the Pacific Coast. It is not clear where these
> terns will try to nest next year.
>
> A warehouse rooftop in the Elliott Bay area is certainly a potential site
> for a Caspian tern colony to form, if not this year, then perhaps in 2010.
I
> guess the site would only be inappropriate if the owners of the warehouse
> are determined not to have their warehouse used as a seabird nesting site.
> Usually, Caspian terns take their cues on potential colony sites from
where
> gulls are nesting, so rooftops where gulls have nested in the past are
sites
> that warrant the most searching for nesting Caspian terns. Following terns
> that are transporting courtship meals might be the best way to locate an
> incipient tern colony; if adults are observed carrying fish in their bills
> in late June or July, that would likely indicate a tern colony where at
> least some eggs had hatched and adults were feeding young.
>
> In my view, it would be optimal if an old flat-roofed, gravel-topped
> warehouse somewhere on the Seattle waterfront were identified as an
> appropriate site for colonial waterbirds, like Caspian terns and
> glaucous-winged gulls, to nest. The owners of the warehouse would
obviously
> need to agree to this, and not allow people to access the rooftop to haze
> the birds. If such a warehouse could be identified, then social attraction
> (decoys, sound system) could be employed to encourage Caspian terns to
nest
> on the rooftop. Our group could loan the use of the decoys and sound
systems
> for this purpose, if folks in the Seattle area can secure the site. This
> would presumably help solve the dilemma for Caspian terns that formerly
> nested at Bremerton Naval Shipyard and Dungeness Spit.
>
> Hope this helps,
>
> Dan
>
>
> Daniel D. Roby, Professor
> Oregon Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
> Department of Fisheries and Wildlife
> 104 Nash Hall
> Oregon State University
> Corvallis, Oregon 97331-3803
> Phone: 541-737-1955
> Fax: 541-737-3590
> Email: daniel.roby at oregonstate.edu
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On 7/15/09 9:27 PM, "David Hutchinson" <flora.fauna at live.com> wrote:
>
> Dan, I hate to bug you, but I also don't want our observations to get lost
> in the shuffle. Regarding my previous email about CATES on Puget Sound,
the
> key question for us is : what does it mean when the terns are seen flying
> several miles with fish in their bills in the first days of May? Are they
> feeding young? Is it courtship feeding for a Seattle colony? Does
courtship
> feeding begin some weeks before nesting and they fly elsewhere than
Elliott
> Bay to nest? Could it be attempted breeding at an inappropriate location?
I
> know this is all rather hypothetical, but the answers would be educational
> for a bunch of local observers. Thanks, Dave
>
> --
> 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
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
> Lauren found her dream laptop. Find the PC thats right for you.
>
<http://www.microsoft.com/windows/choosepc/?ocid=ftp_val_wl_290><http://www.
microsoft.com/windows/choosepc/?ocid=ftp_val_wl_290>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
> Bing brings you maps, menus, and reviews organized in one place. Try it
>
now.<http://www.bing.com/search?q=restaurants&form=MLOGEN&publ=WLHMTAG&crea=
TXT_MLOGEN_Local_Local_Restaurants_1x1>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Tweeters mailing list
> Tweeters at u.washington.edu
> http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL:
https://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/private/tweeters/attachments/20090
720/961aa8d9/attachment-0001.html

------------------------------

Message: 4
Date: Mon, 20 Jul 2009 13:08:25 -0700
From: Connie Sidles <constancesidles at gmail.com>
Subject: [Tweeters] Montlake Fill dowitchers
To: "Eugene and Nancy Hunn" <enhunn323 at comcast.net>
Cc: Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Message-ID: <3C1909B4-4A24-4A92-B08A-45E92DDB1BC3 at gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1252"

Hey tweets, thank goodness for photos. I agree that one of the
dowitchers the Doug photographed was probably a Long-billed, and I
should have been more ambiguous in my identification of it. The second
bird was perhaps a Long-billed as well, although I don't think so. The
third one, however, I still believe was a Short-billed. It is the one
facing the camera in Doug's shot showing two dowitchers. I am going by
the area on the breast between the foreneck and nape (going east and
west on the bird, so to speak) and between the lower neck and marginal
(or lesser) coverts where the wing starts to bend back (going north
and south on the bird). In my experience, if this area shows vertical
crescents or barring, the bird is a Long-billed. If this area shows
dots, it is a Short-billed. Oftentimes, it is difficult to determine
whether there are dots or crescents here. There is overlap between the
two species, probably due to wear and other factors. Also, sometimes
the birds scrinch up their necks and distort the markings. But if you
get a bird that shows this field mark distinctly, then I think it is
pretty safe to identify it. The bird on the right in Doug's photo
shows more of the crescents, but the bird on the left shows more of
the dots. In the field, I thought this was even more true, as the
birds paraded up and down in various postures and angles.

Another field mark that I look for is the V-shape made by the
supercilium when looking at a bird head-on. Short-billed Dowitchers
tend to have wider supercilia around the lores, so their V-shape is
wavy or more tapered. Long-billed Dowitchers have slightly narrower
supercilia in this region and look sharper and more pointy. (See Lee
and Birch's discussion of this feature and other dowitcher ID marks -
http://www.surfbirds.com/ID%20Articles/dowitchers1005/dowitchers.html)

I do agree with Gene that identifying fall adult dowitchers is tricky,
and probably many mistakes are made. Juveniles are more distinct
because of the differences in tertial marks, so I am looking forward
to their migration later in the fall.

This morning, by the way, there were three dowitchers again on the
Main Pond, along with five Least Sandpipers. All three dowitchers
were, I believe, Long-billed. They did not appear to be the same birds
as yesterday, but two of them may have been. Without name tags, it's
hard to tell. - Connie


On Jul 20, 2009, at 9:17 AM, Eugene and Nancy Hunn wrote:

> Tweets,
>
> A cautionary note on the mid-summer adult dowitcher identification
> challenge. Connie reported what were presumably the same three
> dowitchers Doug Parrott photographed yesterday at the Montlake Fill.
> She identified them as Short-billed while Doug called them Long-
> billed. Fortunately, we have two excellent photos by Doug. In my
> opinion they are Long-billed Dowitchers. The one facing right shows
> a very long bill but beyond that shows heavy barring on the sides of
> the breast rather than spotting. The bird also seems heavy bodied.
> For what its worth, these features suggest Long-billed as opposed
> to Short-billed. Neither observer mentioned vocalizations, which
> ought to be definitive but which, in my experience, are frequently
> frustratingly ambiguous or absent.
>
> I have been struggling with these late summer, somewhat worn adult
> dowitchers in King County for some time now and believe they are
> often virtually impossible to identify with perfect certainty. I
> believe that dowitchers on fresh water in King County are most
> likely Long-billed, and since we have so little salt water or
> brackish habitat in King County Short-billed Dowitchers are most
> likely very rare in the county. I did see (and it was photographed
> by Steve Caldwell) a juvenile Short-billed two years ago at KVI
> beach on Vashon Island, one of the few decent salt-water habitats in
> the county, but suspect that many reports of Short-billed are more
> likely Long-billed.
>
> 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 Doug Parrott
> Sent: Sunday, July 19, 2009 10:31 PM
> To: tweeters
> Subject: [Tweeters] Forbes Road Everett, Stillwater, Montlake Fill
> 7/19/09
>
> Hi Tweets,
> It was a full day. I was up in Everett at Forbes Road at 7:00 am
> this morning. The highlights for this location were as follows:
> American Bittern flying over the dike
> Long & Short billed Dowitchers approx 30
> Spotted Sandpipers
> Western or Least Sandpipers too far to ID
> Bullocks Oriole
> Swainsons Thrush
> Eastern Kingbird fledglings (two from nest that I have been
> monitoring for the last two months.)
>
> At around 11:30 I was at Stillwater attempting to photograph the
> elusive American Redstart. I was successful in catching the female.
> I did see the male but it was too far away and too quick for me.
> I'll be back!! This is the 5th time I've been out there and finally
> got a photo. I have however seen them on 3 other occasions. There
> was also a very curious Bewicks Wren who got to within 10 ft of me,
> gave me the Bronx Cheer, then took off. I also captured a BC
> Chickadee trying to get a sun tan. Thats a first for me.
>
> Around 2:00 pm I was home, at the Montlake Fill. To my delight there
> were three Long-billed Dowitchers and Least Sandpipers at the north
> end of the Central Pond. In addition at the Southwest Pond the
> fledged Pied-billed Grebes were putting on a trying to eat show. The
> parents caught a pretty big fish and the kids were attempting to
> gobble it up. It was pretty humorous watching them. Photos
at:http://www.flickr.com/photos/birdhouse_wa/sets/72157621718445234/
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Tweeters mailing list
> Tweeters at u.washington.edu
> http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL:
https://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/private/tweeters/attachments/20090
720/467a507a/attachment-0001.html

------------------------------

Message: 5
Date: Mon, 20 Jul 2009 13:47:51 -0700
From: "Grad, Andrea E." <agrad at helsell.com>
Subject: RE: [Tweeters] Purple Martin in TOKELAND!!!!!!!!!
To: "Ruth Sullivan" <godwit513 at msn.com>, <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Message-ID:
<BFCC644419CFED4E9234053F31443301080F2734 at helsell2.helsell.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

In early May or so (before the new Martin houses were put up), I think I
heard Purple Martins two consecutive weekends at the Tokeland Marina, but I
never got visual confirmation of any, among all the Barn Swallows and Cliff
Swallows. Since the two new houses have gone up, I have checked them out
almost every weekend (but just for a few minutes at a time), but haven't
seen
any Martins or any other birds using them.

Ruth, are you saying that Gary saw Martins there this past weekend?

Which reminds me -- I have three genuine Kevin Li Martin Gourds gathering
dust in my shed, if anyone wants them. I got them from Kevin for some
friends who live at Picnic Point, but they never put them up, and ended up
giving them back to me. They're in good shape.

Cheers,

Andrea Grad
Shoreline/Tokeland
agrad at helsell.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Ruth Sullivan [mailto:godwit513 at msn.com]
Sent: Saturday, July 18, 2009 7:45 PM
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Subject: [Tweeters] Purple Martin in TOKELAND!!!!!!!!!

Hello Tweeters,
Today I went from Bottle Beach to Tokeland.It was in late July 2007 where
Patrick and I was hanging up 2 Martin Houses up in Tokeland at the Main
Marina.Non of the Martin's bred that year ,it was to late in the season..
In 208 last year one of the houses was occupied,many birder reported
them,and there was the 2 Martin houses going,so I never who took them and
what happen with the Martin,what bred in one of the houses.After I reported
this to the Willapa
Bay Authority,there was willing to hang 2 new houses up for me.I went to
Tokeland twice since than,and saw no sign of anything.Gary Federicks who
lives in Whashougal who I run in to at Bottle Beach,seeing the male and the
female taken turns to feeding the young.We also saw the Male Martin dropping
some of the feces and dropping it in to the water.Hopeful that no one bother
the nest boxes this year.I wish that any birder is going to Tokeland looking
at this houses and would report what there observing on to tweeters,it is
unusual that Martin breeding on the Ocean

Cheers Ruth Sullivan

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


------------------------------

Message: 6
Date: Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:21:51 -0700
From: Kevin Purcell <kevinpurcell at pobox.com>
Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Re: Red Fox
To: Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Cc: Kevin Purcell <kevinpurcell at pobox.com>
Message-ID: <F19A00FB-38F1-497E-8516-91567350427B at pobox.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed; delsp=yes

On Jul 20, 2009, at 12:05 AM, Kelly McAllister wrote:

> I think it will be pretty hard to find anyone, in an official
> capacity, who will care to receive sightings of Red Fox in
> Washington. Keith Aubry of the U.S. Forest Service is likely one
> exception though.

Keith Aubry wrote a masters thesis at the UW in 1983 on the
distribution of the Red Fox in Washington. And of course his masters
raised some important issues (like no one had really though about the
distribution of "lowland" Red Foxes because they already had multiple
introductions). He later published a paper in Northwest Science that
fortunately has been scanned an put up on the web. It makes for an
interesting read (if for no other reason than using hunting and museum
data to build a picture a historical county range description).

Keith Aubry, "The Recent History and Present Distribution of the Red
Fox in Washington", Northwest Science, vol 58, no. 1, 1984

<http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/org_NWS/NWSci%20journal%20articles/1984%20files/I
ssue%201/v58%20p69%20Aubry.PDF
>
http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/org_NWS/NWSci%20journal%20articles/1984%20files/Is
sue%201/v58%20p69%20Aubry.PDF

> Personally, I believe that sightings of animals at mid-elevations of
> the Cascade Mountains (500-2,500 feet) are very important to get on
> the record. The introduced Red Fox seems to be relatively well
> established, near sea level, in western Washington. I've heard of
> many sightings in areas within several miles of marine shorelines.

People might also find this GAP Analysis Predicted Distribution Map
from UW helpful in visualizing where you *might* find Red Foxes.

<http://depts.washington.edu/natmap/maps/wa/mammals/WA_red_fox.html>
http://depts.washington.edu/natmap/maps/wa/mammals/WA_red_fox.html

But note two things:

1. it's a predicted distribution from satellite imaging identifying
particular potentially usable habitats.

2. it's a distribution for the Red Fox ... all of them regardless of
subspecies/morphs/types

This one also marks up actual records of sightings but makes no
distinction between subspecies/morphs/types in the records.

<http://wdfw.wa.gov/wlm/gap/gapdata/mammals/gifs/vuvu.gif>
http://wdfw.wa.gov/wlm/gap/gapdata/mammals/gifs/vuvu.gif

> Then, there are the apparently native animals of the subalpine
> parkland habitat in the Cascade Mountains. I have seen little or
> nothing to suggest that the introduced foxes range into the occupied
> habitat of the native foxes. I don't think there's much question
> that the animals in the high country of the Cascades are isolated
> from the introduced stock.Certainly, the predominance of the silver
> phase in these animals is consistent with the native condition.
>
> The paper that Kevin Purcell linked to suggests that red fox are
> incredibly adaptable. If so, it is difficult to explain the apparent
> long-term isolation of these two fox populations despite the many
> decades of opportunity for the introduced fox to spread and come
> into contact with the native form. As far as I can tell, the non-
> native foxes simply haven't shown that much resilience and
> adaptability in Washington. They seem to occupy a fairly specific
> niche.
>
> Kelly McAllister
> Olympia, Washington

So for those interested in a more detailed look at the "lowland" Red
Fox versus the "mountain" Red Fox the Aubry paper is worth a read.
There have been multiple introductions of Red Fox in WA so non-native
introduction is not just a matter of diffusion of Red Foxes into this
area from the East (through habitat poor for them) but deliberate
introductions starting at the beginning of the 20th century (for
hunting) and there have been escapes of farmed "Silver" and other
color morphs of the Red Fox since then too. All color phases have been
farmed here.

I think there is a worthwhile research project in doing DNA work on
"native" and non-native foxes. Do they intergrade or are they isolated
from the lowland Red Fox? Are they native? How do they compare to
Boreal Red Foxes (can you guarantee those are "native"). If they are
isolated what is their current range? How large is the population? Why
are they isolated from breeding (physical separation of their habitat
or some other preference)?

Or back to Aubry's original question: "what is the range of the
"lowland" Red Fox?"

Of course, if they're the same species they should breed where habitat
overlaps especially in the Northern Cascades where Steven's Pass and
Snoqualmie pass would seem to connect lowland King Co. and highland
areas in Chelan and Kittitas counties together along with habitat
between them. Perhaps even the North Cascades Highway (though there is
a little gaps there). And in the "Southern" Cascades where lowland
foxed in Lewis county could meet with highland foxes in Cowlitz and
Yakima counties. Are there physical barriers that prevent them
interbreeding?

There is some interesting work to be done here. :-)
--
Kevin Purcell
kevinpurcell at pobox.com




------------------------------

Message: 7
Date: Mon, 20 Jul 2009 23:14:06 +0000 (UTC)
From: notcalm at comcast.net
Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Light Brown Crow
To: Kanit Cottrell <ckanitc at gmail.com>
Cc: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Message-ID:
<87052003.3588741248131646674.JavaMail.root at sz0115a.emeryville.ca.ma
il.comcast.net>

Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Hello Kanit,


Likely a Juvenile. We currently have two of these beauties exploring our
bird bath each day. Great colors!


Dan Reiff
Mercer Island

----- Original Message -----
From: "Kanit Cottrell" <ckanitc at gmail.com>
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Sent: Sunday, July 19, 2009 11:37:53 PM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific
Subject: [Tweeters] Light Brown Crow

I have recently seen a light brown crow, about the color of a B
chocolate chip cookie, always together with one or two black crows. B
The tail is even lighter, almost white. I am not sure if it is the B
American crow or Northwest crow but I think it is a young one.
This sighting is in West Seattle. Has anyone else seen this? I would B
love to hear more about it if anyone has information.

Thank you
Kanit
West Seattle

_______________________________________________
Tweeters mailing list
Tweeters at u.washington.edu
http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL:
https://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/private/tweeters/attachments/20090
720/5b740321/attachment-0001.html

------------------------------

Message: 8
Date: Mon, 20 Jul 2009 16:52:01 -0700
From: "Zuckerbond" <Zuckerbond at comcast.net>
Subject: [Tweeters] Jetty island area
To: <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Message-ID:
<mailman.3.1248202835.28691.tweeters at mailman2.u.washington.edu>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Hey Tweets,

My mother and I went up to Jetty Island on the Everett
waterfront on Monday at noon, but unfortunately the ferry times interfered
with our schedule. We still had excellent birding from the pier. First, as
usual, there was a large amount of Osprey nests with young, maybe 15 adults
total. Wading the flats were about 10 or 15 Great Blue Herons. The highlight
was a group of about 40 Common Mergansers swimming and splashing in the
channel, which was a great treat. We're glad to have them back. Then on some
logs floating in the bay were multiple flocks of 20-30 Western and Least
Sandpipers. Gulls included Glaucous-winged, California, Ring-billed and
about 10 Bonaparte's. There were also about 10 Caspian Terns out fishing.
Over on Smith Island, we drove out east on 12th Ave SE and saw a couple of
Northern Harriers patrolling the grasslands. The other species were the
usual, really. The mammal highlight was a baby seal hauled out on logs. -Ira
Zuckerman, Seattle



Full day list:

Common Merganser

Mallard

Canada Goose

Double-crested Cormorant

Great Blue Heron

Osprey

Northern Harrier

Sharp-shinned Hawk

Western Sandpiper

Least Sandpiper

Bonaparte's Gull

Ring-Billed Gull

California Gull

Glaucous-winged Gull

Caspian Tern

American Robin

American Goldfinch

American Crow

Song Sparrow

Eurasian Starling



-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL:
https://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/private/tweeters/attachments/20090
720/4f7551c6/attachment.html

------------------------------

Message: 9
Date: Mon, 20 Jul 2009 18:03:23 -0700
From: "Dennis Rockwell" <dennisrockwell at dwwireless.net>
Subject: [Tweeters] Cedar Waxwings continue nesting in lower Columbia
Basin
To: "tweeters" <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Message-ID: <008c01ca099f$0c28c910$0201a8c0 at owner72a44f786>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Saw my first juvenile Cedar Waxwing of the season in Two Rivers County Park
(Benton County on the shore of the Columbia River opposite the mouth of
Snake River) today.
These used to be considered a winter visitor here, but now they are resident
year round.

Dennis Rockwell
Kennewick, WA
dennisrockwell at dwwireless.net
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL:
https://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/private/tweeters/attachments/20090
720/654a3b7f/attachment-0001.html

------------------------------

Message: 10
Date: Mon, 20 Jul 2009 21:09:07 -0700
From: "Ruth Sullivan" <godwit513 at msn.com>
Subject: [Tweeters] please I need help for an injured BIRD,
To: <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Message-ID: <BAY105-DAV3B4C03AD63E0A2F69B812F41A0 at phx.gbl>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
reply-type=original

Hello Tweeters,
I am desperate looking for a clinic what helping injured BIRDS.
If it is possible to get a phone number to call.There supposed to be some
facility in Olympia?Any help would be so helpful and appreciated.

Cheers Ruth Sullivan



------------------------------

Message: 11
Date: Mon, 20 Jul 2009 20:15:59 -0800
From: "Douglas Canning" <dcanning at igc.org>
Subject: [Tweeters] Black River, Thurston Co.
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Message-ID: <4A64D07F.8579.49AF28 at dcanning.igc.org>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII

Tweets -

This afternoon I canoed the Black River of Thurston County from the
landing 2.0 miles south of Littlerock (RM 15.35), downriver to the old
railroad trestle at RM 14.1, then 0.35 mile up the old secondary
channel as far as possible, and return, the whole twice covering ~1.6
miles.

I was pleased to find at least 2 Green Heron and an Osprey, plus an
abundance of singing and calling Swainson's Thrush. (Full list below.)
But I missed seeing the often large numbers of Great Blue Heron, Pied-
billed Grebe, and swallows I commonly saw here in mid-summer in the
1980s and early 2000s. (The last time I was here was 2002.) On the
other hand, bird activity has recently been low at the places I
regularly visit. Now that I'm again able to do canoeing, I need to come
here regularly also.

A question: Has anyone noticed a long-term decline in summering Pied-
billed Grebe in western Washington?

This report was mailed for Doug Canning by http://birdnotes.net

Also seen: 1 muskrat. Water level about at ordinary high water.

Birds seen (in taxonomic order):

Green Heron (Butorides virescens) 2 [1]
Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) 1 [2]
Belted Kingfisher (Ceryle alcyon) 3 [3]
Common Raven (Corvus corax) 1
Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) 3 [4]
Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis) 1
Swainson's Thrush (Catharus ustulatus) 13 [5]
American Robin (Turdus migratorius) 2
Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum) 4
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) 1 [6]
American Goldfinch (Carduelis tristis) 2 [7]

Footnotes:

[1] Two seen twice or four seen.
[2] One seen twice or two seen.
[3] One pair perched in same snag, plus other individual birds.
[4] Calling.
[5] 10 singing; 3 calling.
[6] Male.
[7] Males.

Total number of species seen: 11

***************
Douglas Canning
Olympia, Wash.
***************





------------------------------

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

End of Tweeters Digest, Vol 59, Issue 21
****************************************