Hi John, Bonnie, Lydia et. al.

Three years ago I had a gorgeous male Northern Bobwhite walk out of the greenbelt and into my backyard. I watched and photographed him for about 15 minutes while he explored the garden, before he left. I knew a guy in Issaquah who used to raise them to train his hunting dogs. Perhaps yours John, was one of these. In any case, my understanding is that the only Bobwhites that can be considered wild in Washington, are the population at Fort Lewis. A picture that I took of one at the Muck Creek bridge appeared in WOSnews #122 (aug/sep 2009). That population is marked with a single dot in Sibley, so it must count.

Jeff Cohen

Maple Leaf (north Seattle)

kokobean2 at hotmail.com



Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2010 16:56:29 +0000
From: johntubbs at comcast.net
To: bonblock at centurytel.net
Subject: Re: [Tweeters] A Bobwhite in My Back Yard?????
CC: gizacat at mac.com; tweeters at u.washington.edu





Hi Lydia and Bonnie and Tweets,



In mid-May I had a Northern Bobwhite calling loudly in and near our back yard in Snoqualmie over the course of several days. (Then it was gone - a coyote? Didn't like the neighborhood? Wanderlust? Who knows.) I got good pictures of it. It shocked me as well, though it was nice to hear, since I grew up around them in PA. There is a small established population in the Fort Lewis area, and my/your birds could be strays from that population. However, since game birds like the bobwhite are often kept in captivity or raised for training dogs, it is also possible they are escapees. Absent any bands, there is no way to know what the origin of the birds actually is, though there are a number of folks on the list who will insist they are 'obviously' escapees, though that viewpoint is really just an opinion. Without any hard evidence, it is of course impossible to prove a negative logically so no one can really definitely say that it is 'not wild' or 'not an escapee or released'.



The recent spate of Acorn Woodpecker sightings in bizarre places provides an interesting example as well. There's really no way to prove (lacking DNA tests) that those are birds of wild origin but those records will be officially accepted because that species does have a history of 'pioneering vagrancy' whereas that is not the case with Northern Bobwhite as a species. So from an official bird records point of view, strong opinions of some aside, assessing the origin of an individual bird is an interestingly subjective exercise for which the various bird record committees earn their big bucks...!



: - )



John Tubbs

Snoqualmie, WA

johntubbs at comcast.net

www.tubbsphoto.com


----- Original Message -----
From: "Bonnie Block" <bonblock at centurytel.net>
To: "Lydia Bishop" <gizacat at mac.com>, tweeters at u.washington.edu
Sent: Thursday, July 22, 2010 9:10:01 AM
Subject: Re: [Tweeters] A Bobwhite in My Back Yard?????


Lydia,
I have been hearing the same bird in my neighborhood--and I still cannot
figure out what it is.
It always seems to be near a Swainson's Thrush. Does that bird have more
than one call?
And it does sound similar to a quail at times.
Glad you are asking!

Bonnie Block
Kingston, Wa.
www.fieldandfarmphoto.com
--------------------------------------------------
From: "Lydia Bishop" <gizacat at mac.com>
Sent: Thursday, July 22, 2010 8:56 AM
To: <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Subject: [Tweeters] A Bobwhite in My Back Yard?????

> Tweeties!
>
> I'm hearing a very strange bird on my property this morning. It sounds
> like a Bobwhite! Okay, since Bobwhites are eastern USA birds, what bird
> around here would sound like a Bobwhite? Could it be a quail with a "bad
> cold" or something?
>
> Thanks,
> Lydia Bishop
> Near Snohomish
> _______________________________________________
> Tweeters mailing list
> Tweeters at u.washington.edu
> http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters
>
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