Hello, tweets.

Within the last week all of my wintering birds have gone. The Varied Thrushes left a couple of weeks ago, and this week the three species of warblers and all but a breeding pair (I think) of juncos have gone. A Fox Sparrow showed up a few days ago after a two-week absence, but it may have been a migrant. A (Puget Sound) White-crowned Sparrow appeared just for one day last week. The yard really seems empty without the hordes of juncos that were around all winter, and the absence of the warblers is strongly felt. Yet where have they gone? The mountains and much higher latitudes are certainly not appropriate places for them this early in the season. The juncos at least can find seeds if it?s too early for insects wherever they have gone, and I guess the Varied Thrushes can dig in the snow.

But the Myrtle Warbler should be heading for Alaska, the Townsend?s for Alaska or up in the mountains if farther south. The Orange-crowned was a local bird so could just have hightailed it for the boonies (as if my yard didn?t have insects!). I suspect some birds just begin moving around as their hormones start to signal MIGRATE.

Dennis
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Dennis Paulson
1724 NE 98 St.
Seattle, WA 98115
206-528-1382
dennispaulson at comcast.net