[Tweeters] Nuthatch dispersal

[Steve Hampton]

Adding to this thread -- a White-br Nuthatch was photographed in the Sequim
area yesterday.

We've had some Type 4 (Ponderosa) Red Crossbills around Port Townsend.

good birding,



On Wed, Aug 23, 2023 at 12:57 PM Eric Heisey <magicman32 at rocketmail.com>
wrote:


> 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

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>



-- 
​Steve Hampton​
Port Townsend, WA  (qatáy)
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