[Tweeters] Nuthatch dispersal

[Eric Heisey]

Apologies for my tardy reply, I have been out of service lately. Thank you to the many who have commented and contributed to the conversation, I especially want to thank Bill Tweit for his in-depth commentary on the matter. I want to add in a couple more thoughts that I omitted from my initial brief message.

In Yakima Co, I have spent a ton of time at Clear Lake over the past decade. Pygmy Nuthatches are typically quite rare here, I have only recorded them a couple of times in the past despite the presence of Ponderosa Pines, always in the second half of July. This year I have encountered small groups of PYNU at Clear Lake on at least six occasions between 27 Jul and 21 Aug, further evidence of their dispersal from the core parts of their range, at least along the east flank of the cascades. My encounter of White-breasted and Pygmy Nuthatches right along the county line in Lewis Co suggest that the fringes of westside counties, such as the far eastern edges of Whatcom, Skagit, Snohomish, or King Cos may be good areas to search for dispersing nuthatches. I would wager that we will see at least a couple of nuthatches further afield on the westside as we continue to transition into fall (though, maybe I am wrong and this will end up being the primary dispersal window and later in fall will furnish few records). 

A White-breasted Nuthatch was photographed on the Hurricane Hill Trail in Olympic NP a few days ago (Charlie & Linnea Wright, Ryan Shaw; https://ebird.org/checklist/S147728940?fbclid=IwAR3BYD3oPhH4pjZ7hwnlHbRimlbzUDP1hN6AU3v-_KaPKeVNes698AiclNk), while a Pygmy Nuthatch was reported recently (though not documented) by a reliable observer, David Bell, at Rocky Point Bird Observatory on Vancouver Island, BC. This to me suggests that there is good potential for both White-breasted and Pygmy Nuthatches showing up along the coast. Tatoosh Island offshore Neah Bay has a record from 1970 (Dennis Paulson), and Neah Bay may be a prime locale to seek displaced nuthatches. I would postulate that Leadbetter Point (Grassy Island) or Cape Disappointment SP may also present ideal places to search for coastal p-nuts and WBNU, though it seems that with the relative lack of concentrating geography on the Washington coast away from these traps one might show up anywhere. The Olympic NP WBNU may suggest that wandering birds that make it to the coast may find the Olympic Mountains more to their liking, who knows. Keep an eye out wherever you may be!

I have heard of out-of-place crossbills in many places. While I have observed Crossbills virtually annually at this time of the year in the Columbia basin and lowland Yakima Co, it does seem that they are straying more this fall than in years past. I will be curious to see the proportions of type 2 crossbills recorded on the westside through the fall. This is the type which is most reliant on Ponderosa Pines, and I suspect they might wander widely this fall. I have alerted several of my friends out east to take care in searching for type 2s this fall and winter, I will be curious to see how widely they wander/irrupt.

Good luck, this should be a very interesting fall, what with this phenomenon as well as with the approaching downstream effects of the strong El Niño.

Eric Heisey