Subject: [Tweeters] Birds in Discovery - Seattle Purple Finch population
Date: May 5 14:09:13 2011
From: Stewart Wechsler - ecostewart at quidnunc.net


Dave and all,

You indicate that Purple Finches are noteworthy in Discovery Park /
Seattle. A few years ago I started noting Purple Finches at Camp Long
then in Lincoln Park in West Seattle. This season I started noting
what I'm fairly sure is their song again at Lincoln. Prior to this I
had not noted a Purple Finch in Seattle for many years, though was
impressed with their abundance in parts of Thurston County. I had heard
them (then saw them) maybe 10 years ago in coniferous woods in Olympia
when I went for a job interview and was curious why they were common in
the area I was in, but seemingly absent from Seattle. When I hear them
now, I often think I know what I am hearing, but would often feel more
confident with a visual confirmation. Between them spending most of
their time towards the tops of the conifers and my having lost my better
binoculars, I am often slow to take the time to get a good look to
confirm, but I'm pretty sure that I am now hearing them on every recent
visit to Lincoln Park and that they are almost surely now nesting at
Lincoln. I will need to double check if I am still hearing them at Camp
Long and as usual I might want to take the trouble to look at one.

My challenge with birding by ear is that I need to spend more time
reviewing many of the vocalizations that I had previously known well to
keep current. It is always a challenge as a naturalist, I believe
especially as I get older, that I need to continually review the
diagnostic features of the organisms I have learned to continue to
recognize them. It may be more of a challenge for me as I work to keep
up with the full range of macroscopic organisms of the Puget Trough.

-Stewart.

Stewart Wechsler

Sharing Knowledge and Enthusiasm for Plants, Animals and Fungi and the
mutually supportive local communities that we humans share with them

Nature walks and adventures for all ages and levels:
child to grandchild, novice to old professor

West Seattle

206 932-7225

On 11:59 AM, David Hutchinson wrote:
> There was a flock of about 40 Golden-crowned Sparrows to-day on a
> freezing morning, feeding around dandelions. Also a small group of
> Wilson's Warblers on the margins of the South Meadow. Several Purple
> Finches, a somewhat uncommon bird here, were singing behind Bird
> Alley. A few occur in migration and they may have nested recently,but
> there seem to be no recent records. For the gentleman who inquired
> about Common Yellowthroats in the park, the North Beach Trail has them
> very occasionally and they have been heard singing in the brush east
> of the Lighthouse in June. This could indicate nesting, but again
> there are no records.
>
> --
> 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
>
>


--