Subject: [Tweeters] Pre-Dawn Chorus, very few choir members attended
Date: Mar 9 10:12:01 2009
From: Vicki Biltz - vickibiltz at msn.com



Hi, This morning we took out dogs on a walk before the sun started to show, hearing the Bald Eagles waking up in their nest.By the time the walk was nearly finished, the sun had begun to peek through the clouds, which were starting to produce snow. First a towhee, only one, then a couple of song sparrows started to join in, and a robin, and then two others. That was it. I don't expect much more than these species anyway, but there were so very few. (this time of year, has always had a nice number of singers this early, at least in the past) At this venture we had reached Allen York Park, where the city gave permission for 40+ year old duplexes and all their firs, maples, junipers, and shrubs to be torn down this summer. Some of the firs were well over 100 ft tall, and the Big Leaf Maples were great and wonderful trees. Not to mention the snags that are now gone. It was nearly silent, in this sobering moment, and very sad to me. This piece of Bonney Lake was cleared under protest, and now the ground lays dormant, covered with gravel and only two large condos in a corner, untouched for months. The past two summers they have done a lot of clearing around my property, last year I only had one Swainson's Thrush in the summer months, whose song was more distant than in times past. They cleared for more boat parking, so the Swainson's lost there, as well as many other birds, and wildlife. I have not seen a coyote, or a deer in a year now. No Crossbills all winter, and I only have one pair of Purple Finches that visit on rare occasions now. I think they should take out the gravel and plant the trees that they are saving in a lot down the road, who knows what they plan to do with them, they are getting root bound as it is. I will just keep doing what I want with my own property, but it can never make up for what has happened to my neighborhood.

Vicki Biltz Bonney Lake Wa.
vickibiltz at msn.com

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