To add on to this discussion:

In the last couple weeks in my yard, I have had a couple nice surprises. On July 28, I was able to confirm that 3 olive-sided flycatchers were present in the forest behind my yard! (One of them began to sing as I was typing the preceding sentence.) And on the evening of August 3, I counted 9 young black-headed grosbeaks on or near my feeders! I am wondering if these numbers are from local breeding for some of the grosbeaks or, especially in the case of the flycatchers, if it involves post-breeding dispersal.

Tonight I'll be listening for nocturnal migrants in my yard and hopefully seeing some Perseid meteors!

Good birding, Joshua Glant



> On Aug 8, 2016, at 12:18 PM, Tucker, Trileigh <TRI at seattleu.edu> wrote:
>
> Dennis and Tweets,
>
> Having moved my study downstairs to yard level, where I have three feeders (hummingbird, sunflower, and suet) and a birdbath right outside the window, along with a view of the adjacent woods, I?ve been astonished at the number of species I've seen on a regular basis in recent weeks. They include only a few migrants, but tons of local juveniles. Twenty who show up from every day to occasionally:
> Daily or most days:
> Black-headed Grosbeaks, at least two, I believe a juvenile and a female, who?ve been showing up multiple times a day for a couple of weeks or more
> House Finches ? up to 8-9 at a time, almost all juvenile, making a racket. This morning Dad Finch was trying to feed three begging children simultaneously on a nearby branch.
> Pine Siskins
> Black-capped Chickadees
> Chestnut-backed Chickadees
> Towhees, a couple of juveniles and an adult
> Hairy Woodpecker on suet
> Anna?s Hummingbirds, up to three
> Bushtits
> Steller?s Jays
> Northern Flickers on suet
> Pacific-slope Flycatchers in the woods, seem to be a couple battling for territory
> American Robins including juveniles
> Song Sparrows, including several juveniles
> Red-breasted Nuthatches
> American? Crows
> Occasionally to once:
> Brown Creepers, in woods
> Rufous Hummingbirds (female stopped by just yesterday)
> Bewick?s Wrens
> Wilson?s Warbler (showed up once a couple of days ago)
> Band-tailed Pigeon (heard nearby a couple of days ago)
>
> From: Dennis Paulson <dennispaulson at comcast.net>
> Date: Sunday, August 7, 2016 at 2:16 PM
> To: "tweeters at u.washington.edu" <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
> Subject: [Tweeters] I love the migrants
>
> Getting the fountain in the back yard to flow profusely brought in hordes of birds, including the unbelievable numbers of both species of chickadees and young juncos, also House Finches, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Spotted Towhee, Black-headed Grosbeaks (4 in the yard this afternoon, have been here for a few days), a Golden-crowned Kinglet and a Yellow Warbler. The last three species are absent here as breeders, so all pretty early migrants.
>
> Every year we get small numbers of immature Black-headed Grosbeaks at our feeders in August. They stay for days or even weeks, then are gone. They?re not the same birds, as they are young, so why such a mass. Do they migrate in groups? Any other people have the same phenomenon?
>
> -----
> Dennis Paulson
> 1724 NE 98 St.
> Seattle, WA 98115
>
>
>
>
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