Hi everyone,



Well, this week at Three Forks was a good example of the sometimes-frustrating statistical extremes that can happen when birding.? Tuesday morning I led a half-day Seattle Audubon trip to Three Forks, and we had a great day with the weather?but a slow day with the birds - barely managing 30 species for the morning.? This morning, I headed to Three Forks to sit down and do some sketching and had the opposite situation as Tuesday - today had marginal weather with spritzing rain, but tons of birds.? Near the SE corner of the dog run area as I was walking to the intersection with the Snoqualmie Valley Trail (SVT), I found a group of mostly Yellow-rumped Warblers (at least a dozen, all Audubon's that I was able to see) working through the mid to higher levels of the trees.? Shortly past that, turning left onto the SVT?for maybe fifty yards, in?a clump of bushes in the middle of the blackberry thickets, and on the other side of the trail as well, I found a very active and large mixed flock of mostly migrants that were observable within twenty yards and almost at eye level due to the elevation of the trail.? This flock, which kept me occupied watching for a good half hour, included:



Townsend's Warbler - 2 or 3

Wilson's Warbler - 1

Orange-crowned Warbler - 3+

Black-throated Gray Warbler - 2 or 3

Common Yellowthroat - 1

Yellow-rumped Warblers - 5+

RED-EYED VIREO - 1

WARBLING VIREO - 1

Black-capped Chickadee - 5+

Golden-crowned Kinglet - 1

Fox Sparrow (this guy popped up from the blackberries, probably wondering where all the warbler commotion was coming from)


Both vireos are getting toward the late end of their migration timing.? This was,?I believe, the first 6-warbler day I've had at Three Forks.





John Tubbs

Snoqualmie, WA

johntubbs at comcast.net