Subject: [Tweeters] Sooty Grouse on Vashon, can they cross water?
Date: Mar 21 08:52:30 2016
From: Hal Michael - ucd880 at comcast.net
They're birds and they can fly. We often forget how far that might be. I recall reading about Wild Turkey, and how they couldn't fly more than a few hundred yards. The author mentioned watching one fly across a river in flood; way over a mile.
And, Sooties are aviary birds or at least are available.
Hal Michael
Science Outreach Director, Sustainable Fisheries Foundation
Olympia WA
360-459-4005
360-791-7702 (C)
ucd880 at comcast.net
----- Original Message -----
Jeff Adams on Vashon Island sent me a photo of a Sooty Grouse hanging out in his yard near Colvos Passage. Sooty Grouse were native on the Island and survived up into the 1950?s before becoming extirpated. So this bird is kind of surprise and it?s not like people hatch Sooty Grouse and let them escape, as often happens with bobwhite. Could it have blown over in the storm the weekend before last?
Ed Swan
Nature writer and guide
www.theswancompany.com
edswan2 at comcast.net
206.949.3545
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