Hi Tweeters,

It's been a very strange week of birding in my Battle Ground, Clark County
yard. A few species have shown up that I have never seen from the yard
outside of spring or fall migration as well as a few unexpected birds:

Red-eyed Vireo - FOY-yard June 21. As always in Spring, heard but never
seen although this one was calling much closer to the yard than all
previous ones.

Warbling Vireo - Several heard on both June 21st and June 23rd. Seems
kinda late for migrants but I don't think they're local breeders since they
are not singing every day.

Red-breasted Nuthatch - FOY-yard June 23. This is only the second time
I've ever SEEN a RBNU here and most records are heard onlys during fall
migration presumably from birds temporarily stopping in two Douglas Firs
that are about 100 yards from the yard. This one has been visiting the
sunflower seed feeder daily and appears to be an immature. I've never had
one of these outside of fall migration anywhere near the house or on my
neighborhood walks.

Brown Creeper - FOY-yard June 25. This is only the third one from the yard
- the first one was Oct 2, 2010 and the last one was on June 9, 2011. Like
the RBNU, timing of this one seems quite strange since I don't think I have
appropriate habitat in my neighborhood for a breeding creeper.

2 Golden-crowned Kinglets - FOY-yard June 26. This is also very strange
since the only GCKIs I've ever had here were during September and October
when they are fairly common. Again, I have no habitat for breeding GCKIs
in my neighborhood so I don't understand this one either.

Yellow-breasted Chat - FOY-yard June 28. Only my second one (previous one
on June 1, 2008). I guess this is a very late migrant.

Black-throated Gray Warbler - a single singing male on 4 of 7 days of the
week. I wonder if this is a late migrant or non-breeding young male. I've
never had one here during nesting season.

Orange-crowned Warbler - a singing bird on June 24th. Local breeder or
late migrant?

As I try to understand why the nuthatch, kinglets, and creeper have shown
up here quite unexpectedly, I wonder if they are all displaced birds from
trees that have been destroyed as a result of the wonderful governing body
of Battle Ground's Highway (Route 502) expansion project (purposeful
sarcasm). However, that makes no sense for the kinglets since they should
be nesting at a much higher elevation.

Keep your eyes and ears skyward!

Jim
--
Jim Danzenbaker
Battle Ground, WA
360-702-9395
jdanzenbaker at gmail.com
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