Subject: [Tweeters] Am. Redstart and Lazuli Buntings at Stillwater Unit,
Date: Jun 17 18:27:17 2012
From: geopandion at aol.com - geopandion at aol.com
Tweeters,
Mary Anne Rossing and I birded the Carnation Valley yesterday afternoon (Sat. June 16th) and found a male Am. Redstart. We parked at the north entrance to the Stillwater Unit of the Snoqualmie Valley Wildlife Area. This is the same area that the Redstarts have nested in for the past three years. Jamie Acker and I visited the area on May 28th and had NO Redstarts. The male bird responded to my imitation of a N. Pygmy-Owl. It was NOT singing and did not act territorial, but it was at the exact same location as in the previous years, across the field from the parking lot, across the metal bridge, and several hundred yards of wading through tall grass to the trees on the northwest corner of the field. The Reed Canary Grass is 7+ feet high, so it is EASY to get disoriented, as we did. Contact me directly if you need more explicit directions (geopandion at gmail.com). Also present were 3 singing Lazuli Buntings and a singing Red-eyed Vireo that came into a tall Cottonwood Tree for a quick view against the gray skies. At the bridge over Sikes Lake near the Carnation Farm there were 6 Bank Swallows along with Cliff, Barn, Tree, and Violet-green Swallows.
George Gerdts
Bainbridge Island, WA
geopandion at gmail.com
206-842-8138