SEPTEMBER 2014 MEETING REPORT: CROSSBILLS!

Professor Julie Smith of PLU took us all back to college on the evening of September 29th. She described the projects she and her students have worked on, and we all kind of wished to be those students. Her doctoral advisor had taken the work of earlier studies starting with Lack in 1944 and continuing on through Groth, Benkman, and his own work, which established the “types” of red crossbills according to foods, bill depth, seed husking groove, calls, and type of tree/cone used, and he hypothesized the presence of a distinct crossbill type in the lodgepole pine variety found in a particular area of southern Idaho that did not have Red Squirrels called the South Hills. Dr. Smith went there to find out if such a type existed and discovered it! She continues to study the South Hills Crossbill (type 9 of 10), and expects that eventually this “type” will be recognized as a full species, as well as several of the other types, although probably not all 10 as separate species. She is currently doing the frustrating work of collecting song recordings from crossbills, who sing only when breeding, and breeding can be any time the cone crop is just right, although maybe more predictable with the South Hill type since they are more sedentary than other more irruptive types. The songs are long and improvisational, and we were treated to an example as well as to sonograms. Females are attracted by voice more than bill structure, so this is an important facet. Dr. Smith’s work will be followed closely by a number of us in the years to come. She was very accommodating in answering our many questions, as well.

PHOTOS: Click to enlarge. Be sure to notice Jerry Broadus’ banding shirt featuring a red crossbill applying a band to a kingfisher’s leg!

VAUX SWIFT FALL MIGRATION SUMMARY, as seen by Diane Yorgason-Quinn and Adam Trent

JBLM SWIFT CHIMNEY: We had a good local team of counters this fall. I made several personal visits starting August 26 and finishing September 21, most with excellent weather, but our last few counters are now experiencing that changeable fall weather, and counts are falling as expected. We had an informal field trip there on September 14th, only open to those with base access and their friends/relatives, but there were 15 of us! See forthcoming write-up in The Towhee. It was a nice warm evening with lots of swifts.

SELLECK CHIMNEY: After the disappointing no-show of the swifts last year, we held the field trip earlier this year on August 31, and we were not disappointed, with about 700 birds seen on a wonderful late summer evening.

MONROE SWIFT FESTIVAL: Adam and I attended the festival on Sept 13th, where we bumped into Susan Boyington and about a thousand other swifters! The turnout was fabulous, the most I’ve ever seen! The swifts pleased the crowd, most of them not knowing that 2600 swifts was far from a big night for Monroe. Applause ensued.

SEDRO-WOOLLEY: The Old Northwest Hospital field trip, hosted by Skagit Audubon, was on September 18th. Adam and I made our annual trek up there. When we met the group it was raining, and hopes were low. However, as we drove up the palatial driveway of the facility, now a Job Corps center, there were swifts pouring into the chimney in the rain. When we parked, the rain started to let up, and then the swifts put on their show! Several thousand, unknown total due to the stream of birds who had already entered. A nice crowd from Skagit Audubon also was nice, although we always wonder why there is no one out there watching from the Job Corps. Maybe they watch on other nights. Thanks, Tim Manns, for arranging this great field trip!

EUGENE, OREGON: On September 22nd, Adam and I found the UofO campus and the chimney at Agate Hall. School wouldn’t start for another week, so parking wasn’t bad. The lot at Agate Hall is enforced for those with parking passes only until 6 PM, so swifters get in free after that. We had first found it around 4:10 PM, and swifts were already going in the chimney in light sprinkles of rain. We came back at 5:45 and found swifts still, or again, entering the chimney. This continued sporadically until we saw a Merlin zoom by, but it never came back, probably because of constant crow and Cooper’s Hawk attention to the chimney after that. Although a crow did land on the chimney, it later became clear that it was mainly trying to keep the Coop from doing so. The Coop then managed 2 nice meals from sacrificial swifts before departing well after dark. Meanwhile, a Chimney Swift was detected by those more savvy than I, although Adam did hear its different vocalization! Then thousands upon thousands of swifts lined up in circles in the sky to get into bed, not finishing until about 6:40 in rainy very dark conditions. Check out a video we made and a few other shots at: 76552838@N03/sets/72157647623276170/” >https://www.flickr.com/photos/76552838@N03/sets/72157647623276170/ The video was made in the dark, but you can still see the frenzy. This was the high count for us personally this season with over 10,000 birds in spite of the drizzle, and lots of drama!

ST. JOHNS THEATER/PORTLAND AREA: On the evening of September 23rd, we checked out what has become a good roost in this area, but met heavy rain starting at sunset (after the heavy traffic getting there!). We saw about 30 swifts, but only one went into the chimney, and he ended up coming back out to find out where his friends went. I hope they made it to Chapman or some other safe site in that rain! They have had hundreds of swifts there, but this wasn’t the best night for this interesting chimney!

COAST BIRDING REPORT – Sept 22, 2014 From Wayne & Margie Sladek

Highlights:

Jetty at ocean shores

A large number Brown pelicans along the beach in both juvenile and adult plumage.

4 Wandering Tattlers

6 Black turnstone

Sewage ponds-sewage

Game Range

4 American Golden Plover

2 Pacific Golden Plover

Black-bellied Plover

Western Sandpiper

Least Sandpiper

Dunlin

Marbled Godwit

2 peregrine falcons trying to get shore-bird lunch doing phenomenal, overhead, arial acrobatics. They were foiled so they took out their frustration by tag teaming a harrier until it retreated.

Gray’s Harbor airport pond

Stilt Sandpiper

LB Dowitchers

Greater Yellow legs

Midway Beach

12 Pectoral Sandpipers

2 virginia rails

1 Sora rail

Greater Yellow legs

2 American Bitterns

Hosts of savannah sparrows and American Pipits

Unfortunately no Baird’s, sharp tail, or buff-breasted sandpipers

SEPTEMBER 2014 MEETING:

Julie Smith, Associate Professor of Biology at Pacific Lutheran University, will be giving a talk on “Speciation in North American Red Crossbills” at University Place Library on Monday, September 29, at 6:45 pm.

The North American red crossbill complex is composed of ten distinct taxa referred to as call types that are distinguished by differences in their vocalizations, body size and bill morphology.

Red crossbills use their unique crossed mandibles to extract seeds from partially closed pine cones. Because bill size and palate structure influence how rapidly seeds can be removed and husked respectively, conifer species with different sized cones and seeds favor the evolution of crossed bills of different sizes. These different morphological and ecological forms exhibit high levels of reproductive isolation which have evolved recently in the last 6,000-12,000 years.

Monday, September 29 at 6:45 pm

University Place Library

3609 Market Pl W #100, University Place, WA

EASTERN WASHINGTON FT, Sept 6-8, 2014: Ten of us from the ABC club from Tacoma spent three days east of the mountains, from the Columbia, mostly closed, to Lyons Ferry. We finished with 126 species and 17 shorebirds. I was surprised, more birds were present at just about all locations as compared with two previous trips. Best shorebirding was at Perch Point, Para Ponds, and Potholes, with large numbers of Westerns at Scootney Reservoir. Bassett Park, Palouse Falls and Lyons Ferry all had loads of migrants. Unfortunately, most were Wilson’s Warblers, Warbling Vireos, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, although empids were also in good number. We managed all six empids, with 1 Least and 2 Gray. We also had 2 Hermit Thrushes, 2 Chats and a Catbird at Bassett Park. Lily Plumb who lives there met us at the park. Juvenile sparrows at Palouse Falls were challenging. Several Chipping and what we thought was a Lincoln. Surprising to see the Lincoln in juvenal migrating. Near Getty’s Landing we had a Sabine’s Gull that appeared to be still a juvenile. At Para Ponds we had an American Golden Plover that looked to be juvenile and injured. Moses Lake had several hundred Westerns, unfortunately somewhat distant, but we could pick out a Sanderling along with 2 other flybys. Of interest at Blythe’s Boat Launch were 71 Long-billed Dowitchers in various stages of molt. Most actually looked to be adults with a few juveniles. We were able to puzzle out 1 juvenile Short-billed by the bright tiger striped tertials. Really great weekend with lots of birds to look at, and meeting and chatting with Lily, thanks Lily. Ken Brown Port Orchard, Wa kennethwbrown@hotmail.com