I've seen flocks of Pine Siskins and Red Crossbills on US 2 near Steven's
Pass, during winter. I've also seen what I thought was unusual bevavior of
"winter finches" under bridges. A pair of Evening Grosbeaks were totally
absorbed in eating the dirt under the Indian Creek bridge, US 12, near
Rimrock, a couple of summers ago. I approached very close and they paid no
mind to me at all. Also on US 12, this past spring, a flock of Red
Crossbills gathered under the Cora bridge on the Cowlitz River and pecked
around among the rocks under the bridge. I think that Richard Carlson is
probably correct that these attractions to particular patches of what
appears to be gravel or bare dirt is salt-seeking behavior. I wonder if the
roadside patches that Christy saw the birds frequenting might have been some
kind of stockpile locations for gravel mixed with salt or maybe they were
places where run-off water, laden with salt, pooled up and evaporated. There
are some interesting dynamics here that I'd like to better understand.



Kelly McAllister

Olympia, Washington



_____

From: tweeters-bounces at mailman2.u.washington.edu
[mailto:tweeters-bounces at mailman2.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of
notcalm at comcast.net
Sent: Monday, July 19, 2010 12:23 AM
To: Christy RJ
Cc: Tweeters
Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Evening Grosbeaks ubiquitous near Wenatchee
NationalForest area



Hello Christy,



Sounds like a great experience. I look forward to seeing photos. Is it
possible they were picking up grit? I have seen some species including mixed
flocks of Swallows using a favorite gravel site, sometimes near a road or
parking area. Steven's pass has a parking area that is sometimes used by
flocks of Grosbeaks for grit. On the other hand, maybe there is some special
food source available right now. I have often found that my photos or video
often provide detail and answers not readily seen in the field. Thanks for
posting.



Dan Reiff

MI





----- Original Message -----
From: "Christy RJ" <christyrj at hotmail.com>
To: "Tweeters" <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Sunday, July 18, 2010 11:30:31 PM
Subject: [Tweeters] Evening Grosbeaks ubiquitous near Wenatchee National
Forest area

Hi Tweets,

I joined a group of folks for a hike yesterday in the Teanaway and, deciding
to take advantage of being in the area, stayed over an extra day to do some
birding.

Man did I get lucky with the EVENING GROSBEAKS! I encountered several flocks
in several different locations. At one spot, I had them literally almost
flying through my open car windows while I photographed from inside, and at
another location they were flying all around overhead and even nearly
landing on my car (I was not in the car that time but rather down the road a
bit with the camera).

My first lucky spot was on the road to Red Top Mountain, about 1.2 miles in,
in an open clearing where they were feeding (on insects, I assume?) in a
grassless "dug up" looking area near the left side of the road. They seemed
to sometimes be pulling with their beaks at a small mound (which blocked my
photographic interests until I later pulled the car forward a bit more).
They went back and forth from the feeding area to a nearby pine tree. I sat
in my car and watched and photographed for over an hour. They got so used to
my being there that, when they would spook for whatever reason and fly off
en masse, several times they headed my direction and that's when I
half-expected a few to come right through my car windows, they were that low
and close. I also got buzzed several times by a curious Hummingbird while I
was sitting there. :)

Another lucky spot was when, on a lark on my way home today, I followed the
signs on Hwy 97 to the little historic town of Liberty. I drove through the
town and just beyond to a large open "turnaround" area that forks off into
two smaller unpaved roads. That clearing happened to be FULL of EVENING
GROSBEAKS, as well as PURPLE FINCH and PINE SISKIN. They were, again,
feeding in groups on the ground (this time in a mix of the three species),
in a shady spot amongst all the broken shale or whatever it was that covered
the roadway. Again I'm very curious to know what they were finding to eat
there (?). I watched and photographed for nearly an hour, though there was a
surprising amount of vehicle traffic that kept spooking the birds (and
choking me with road dust). The birds were once again alternating between
the feeding spot and one particular nearby pine tree, as well as flying
about to other surrounding trees. I used my point & shoot camera for a
little video to capture the fun of all their buzzing calls to one another.

My last big notable encounter was also on Hwy 97, at the Mineral Springs
Resort area. A flock of Grosbeaks was once again feeding on the ground in a
shady spot just to the right of the highway near the "general store" or
whatever it was (I was too busy looking at the birds to note what the
building was :). The flock was coming in to feed and then flying back across
the highway to trees in the Mineral Springs campground.

I haven't had much experience with Evening Grosbeaks prior to this weekend,
so all of this was particularly exciting for me. :) I filled the memory card
on my camera. If I got any decent shots, I'll try to remember to post a link
here.

Cheers,

~Christy Jobe
christyRJ at hotmail dot com
Kenmore, WA

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