Hi all,

I've been studying bushtits in SE Arizona for the last 28 years and am now moving my project to western Washington. Too few bushtits down there now and too many drug-runners :-( My immediate interests while I am here in WA for the next 2 months or so are to:

1. find nests in the building stage that I can gather data on (no need to harm the nests or the birds! I don't even need to band them), and

2. (most importantly) find a good site for a long-term (>5 years) study on the social behaviors of bushtits in WA. For this I need a large peice of public land (bushtit flocks have large homeranges and dealing with private owners is difficult) and a good population of bushtits --- which means good bushtit habitat.

So, if you know of a nest if the building stage that I could come watch, please let me know. And if you know of a large public area with suitable bushtit habitat where you reliably see bushtits, that would be wonderful.

Thanks in advance!
Sarah Sloane