Gary,
Perhaps related:
Finches have for years gathered at a spot on the Maloy dirt road to
Barbecue Flats where the old Bass driveway cuts off not far from Wenas
Creek. It's a place where I've guessed that the plow / road salting trucks
turn around, and I suspect spill salt and calcium chloride & grit & such. I
like to stand there and watch the finches getting whatever they get. They
gather similarly at the junction of Maloy, Audubon, & North Wenas Roads.
The finches aren't always as concentrated there. There's more room for the
plow trucks to turn around there.
Just my entertaining theory.
Good Birding,
https://www.aba.org/aba-code-of-birding-ethics/
Kevin Lucas
Yakima County, WA
Sent with AquaMail for Android
http://www.aqua-mail.com
On October 7, 2021 5:05:27 PM Gary Bletsch <
garybletsch at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
Dear Tweeters,
>
Today, the seventh of October, birding was relatively slow in the Upper
>
Skagit Valley. It was a beautiful day, though, and there were several spots
>
where one could view large numbers of spawning sockeye salmon. Here and
>
there, Corvids and Glaucous-winged Gulls were feeding on the carcasses.
>
At Ranger Station Road, I was treated to a flock of Pine Siskins and Red
>
Crossbills. Most of these birds were at a salt lick. In the more northerly
>
of the two mule pastures, there is a trough, fed by a continually dripping
>
hydrant. I think that the dripping is intentional, but am not sure if
>
that's what the NPS had in mind. This is north of the Ranger Station
>
itself, next to an area where old, discarded equipment is stored.
>
Beside the trough is one of those plastic, bucket-like holders, made to
>
hold a mineral block or salt lick. It looked as if quite a few large
>
tongues had worked over this salt lick over the past few months. The
>
Siskins and Redpolls spent little to no time on or near the mineral block
>
itself. However, they crowded around the ground at the base of the holder,
>
where there was some standing water. I was not sure if the birds were
>
drinking the salty water, or perhaps gleaning little bits of mineral that
>
might have fallen away from the block. The birds allowed me to approach
>
within four meters, as I took partial cover behind a gate.
>
I use similar mineral blocks for my goats, and I don't remember ever seeing
>
birds showing any interest in them--not even my chickens. I have seen
>
finches foraging on old fire pits, apparently eating charcoal, but I cannot
>
remember ever seeing them at a salt lick before.
>
Yours truly,
>
Gary Bletsch
>
>
>
----------
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