[Tweeters] fountain design/changing the water.

[Gary Bullock via Tweeters]

1. A small inexpensive electric water pump from Home Depot/ etc. can easily be dropped in to pump out your reservoir and change your pond water.

OR an even cheaper alternative:

2. Put a Tee fitting, simple shutoff valves and a short discharge hose in line on the hose that supplies water to the top of your water feature. That way you can direct the flow to use your current pump to pump the water out of your reservoir without disturbing you reservoir lid or decorative gravel/rocks.  
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> On Sep 3, 2024, at 12:05 PM, via Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu> wrote:

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> Today's Topics:

> 

>   1. Central Washington (rjayrabin via Tweeters)

>   2. Late to the Pt. Townsend booby viewing - a worthwhile    outing.

>      (Eric Ellingson via Tweeters)

>   3. another fountain design point (Jerry Neufeld-Kaiser via Tweeters)

>   4. Re: Central Washington (Scott Downes via Tweeters)

>   5. Northern Waterthrush at Lake Ballinger Park and some far

>      northeast King County gems (Alan Knue via Tweeters)

>   6. Re: birding Lynnwood (Blythe Horman via Tweeters)

>   7. Numbers of Birds (Jim Betz via Tweeters)

>   8. Westport Seabirds Trip Report August, 31 (Cara Borre via Tweeters)

>   9. Re: Numbers of Birds (Dennis Paulson via Tweeters)

> 

> 

> ----------------------------------------------------------------------

> 

> Message: 1

> Date: Mon, 2 Sep 2024 12:10:43 -0700

> From: rjayrabin via Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>

> To: Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>

> Subject: [Tweeters] Central Washington

> Message-ID:

>    <CAFi9uGs9+gKeB19HrRboiPRjhf-mxON0n-4gsT+4v=7FvFMsKA at mail.gmail.com>

> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

> 

> Hi Tweeters,

> I'm wondering if anyone might have suggestions for birding this time of

> year, this week in particular, in Central Washington, primarily the Yakima,

> Ellensburg, Leavenworth areas. Yakima Valley Audubon doesn't seem very

> active online and I'm wondering if Central/Eastern Washington has a

> listserv similar to Tweeters.

> Many thanks,

> Ron Rabin

> rjayrabin at gmail.com

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> ------------------------------

> 

> Message: 2

> Date: Mon, 2 Sep 2024 13:59:20 -0700

> From: Eric Ellingson via Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>

> To: tweeters at u.washington.edu

> Subject: [Tweeters] Late to the Pt. Townsend booby viewing - a

>    worthwhile    outing.

> Message-ID:

>    <CAKrBWeDGsVGzGuaDkQVakuqign79552NYPwbC6Hkfef5JMVBgA at mail.gmail.com>

> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

> 

> https://flic.kr/p/2qdRgAK

> 

> This link is to a slideshow of photos taken during an hour of observing.

>> From perched and preening in well-lit lighting to backlit from the other

> side, plunge diving for food, and a close flyby at the end.

> 

> It is quite sad that my wife had to pull me away from work to seek out a

> life bird only a few hours away.  The Red-footed Booby has been seen in the

> Port Townsend area for about a month now.

> 

> Knowing we would not be able to get a ticket for a ferry crossing by car we

> took eBikes, parked on this side, and biked across.  It did not take but a

> few minutes to bike to the Hawaiian Chieftain tall sailing ship where

> photos have been taken of it over the last bit.  The ship was just heading

> out for a tourist cruise, no booby. We then went to Fort Warden, another

> place it had been sighted and photographed. We were glad to have had eBikes

> as there were a few steep hills getting there.

> 

> There it was, at an even more photogenic spot than the breakwater where I'd

> seen other photos taken of it, on a piling, in full sunlight by itself

> with Mt Baker in the background.  I spent over an hour taking shots as it

> preened, stretched, flew, plunge-dived, and did a nice close fly-by at the

> end before heading to the mast beam on the Chieftain back near town.

> 

> Eric & Marcia

> 

> 

> Eric Ellingson

> 

> 360-820-6396

> esellingson at gmail.com

> https://www.flickr.com/photos/ericellingson/

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> ------------------------------

> 

> Message: 3

> Date: Mon, 2 Sep 2024 14:08:30 -0700

> From: Jerry Neufeld-Kaiser via Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>

> To: "tweeters at u.washington.edu" <tweeters at u.washington.edu>

> Subject: [Tweeters] another fountain design point

> Message-ID:

>    <CAGvX2BUg7mqJH7K2XrrsycbjSMoEv6kDO5OHV9aYNaLfi4VRWg at mail.gmail.com>

> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

> 

> I echo what others have said lately about how well fountains draw birds.

> My design is basically the same as what Steve showed yesterday, though with

> one considerable imperfection:  There's no easy way to change the water.

> That's what I'd do differently now that I've had this one for several years

> and every time I need to change the water it's a hassle.  So that's my

> design tip - think through a way to make that easy.

> 

> Good fountaining to ya.

> --- Jerry N-K

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> ------------------------------

> 

> Message: 4

> Date: Mon, 2 Sep 2024 16:08:49 -0700

> From: Scott Downes via Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>

> To: rjayrabin <rjayrabin at gmail.com>

> Cc: Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>

> Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Central Washington

> Message-ID: <2DBAE3A8-CD23-47B8-80DE-51F556357693 at charter.net>

> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

> 

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> 

> ------------------------------

> 

> Message: 5

> Date: Mon, 2 Sep 2024 16:44:50 -0700

> From: Alan Knue via Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>

> To: Alan Knue via Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>

> Subject: [Tweeters] Northern Waterthrush at Lake Ballinger Park and

>    some far northeast King County gems

> Message-ID: <0865D922-BCDE-4D88-BB8C-77B5DC3CC872 at icloud.com>

> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

> 

> Hello Tweeters,

> 

> I forget that not everyone is on WhatsApp or receive eBird alerts and I reported several good birds this weekend that may not have reached everyone.

> 

> There?s a Northern Waterthrush at Lake Ballinger Park being seen in the shallow wetland located along the western edge of the park, which is along 74th Ave W just south of where it intersects with 75th Pl W on the Edmonds-Montlake Terrace boundary. The waterthrush is spending much of its time working the muddy edges of the northernmost section the wetland  closest to this intersection. Some patience is required but it regularly made its way back and forth and there are several good vantages spots where one can look through the trees.

> 

> Last Friday, Charles Enlow and I hiked Tonga Ridge to Fisher Lake and had a few surprises. First up, we had a female Pine Grosbeak about a mile and a quarter from the trailhead. While we were watching her and just as she flew off, a dark morph Swainson's Hawk soared over heading east. About a quarter of a mile from Fisher Lake we had a female American Three-toed Woodpecker. And perhaps the best was a young female Williamson's Sapsucker seen about a half a mile west from Sawyer Pass on our return trip in the afternoon. This is the far northeast corner of King County and the habitat is subalpine forest and meadows patches with abundant fruit (huckleberries and mountain ash) in the autumn. The trail to Sawyer Pass is not difficult and there are some nice views of the Cascades along the way. The trail to Fisher Lake is more challenging as it is poorly maintained and has several steep and eroding sections. But the lake has a picturesque setting and some very fine views of Glacier!

>  Peak at the unnamed pass before you head down to the lake. This is also one of the best locations for Canada Jay near Greater Seattle- we had at least 27 individuals in five family/social groups (identified by group size and composition of adults and juveniles) along the trail and another 2 on our drive out. I once had a supergroup here of between 30 and 40 individuals back in October 2005.

> 

> I hope everyone had a great long weekend out in the field.

> 

> Best, Alan

> 

> Alan J. Knue

> Edmonds, WA

> 

> 

> 

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> ------------------------------

> 

> Message: 6

> Date: Mon, 2 Sep 2024 18:24:10 -0700

> From: Blythe Horman via Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>

> To: TWEETERS tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>

> Subject: Re: [Tweeters] birding Lynnwood

> Message-ID:

>    <CAFAz21eH-F3yjguYvkgbeRzkQaazkWCNCZThEp4dwQZ4_Dqfcg at mail.gmail.com>

> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

> 

> Hi Tweeters,

> 

> Big thanks to everyone who replied with suggestions. Much appreciated.

> 

> Blythe Horman, Lynnwood

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> ------------------------------

> 

> Message: 7

> Date: Mon, 2 Sep 2024 19:29:21 -0700

> From: Jim Betz via Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>

> To: via Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>

> Subject: [Tweeters] Numbers of Birds

> Message-ID: <2af89fef-b744-4107-ba19-2d504e254a95 at jimbetz.com>

> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed

> 

> Hi all,

> 

> ? For the last month or more I've been going to Channel Drive. This is

> a superb habitat for

> 

> shorebirds and ducks ... and other birds as well.? There are easily

> several hundred birds

> 

> there "every low tide" with perhaps 80% ducks and the rest are

> sandpipers, dowitchers,

> 

> yellowlegs, etc.? There are a few gulls every day and several GBH.? The

> most common

> 

> raptors are peregrines, harriers, and the occasional eagle. Channel

> Drive is a long

> 

> inlet/slough - perhaps a couple of miles or more in length and an

> average of 50 yards

> 

> or so wide.? It covers in brackish water every high tide and uncovers

> perhaps 80% or

> 

> so of the mud every low.

> 

> ? My question is "why don't the birds exhaust the food supply?". Even

> if the only

> 

> birds consuming the sticklebacks were the shorebirds - that's a lot of

> birds and

> 

> working every daylight tide.? It is not uncommon to see a yellowlegs

> catch and

> 

> down one of these small fish - and I'm guessing that it is at a rate of

> at least

> 

> one every 30 minutes (more is likely).

> 

> ? Does anyone know the reproductive and growth rates of the small fish

> (such as

> 

> sticklebacks)?? What about 'life cycle' questions such as "do the small

> fish stop

> 

> reproducing in other seasons?" and the related "why aren't the

> shorebirds here

> 

> in large numbers year round?"

> 

> ???????? - just trying to understand the inter-related aspects of the

> food and the birds ... Jim

> 

> 

> 

> ------------------------------

> 

> Message: 8

> Date: Tue, 3 Sep 2024 06:49:00 -0700

> From: Cara Borre via Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>

> To: Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>

> Subject: [Tweeters] Westport Seabirds Trip Report August, 31

> Message-ID:

>    <CABV9gTmU5xVLgL7cXH8tcw5--j-k+Ofikdwo2Kv_wveq4s2myw at mail.gmail.com>

> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

> 

> Westport Seabirds said farewell to a fabulous August on Saturday, August

> 31.  We left the dock at sunrise with mild temps amid a curtain of fog.

> Captain Phil took a northwest tack heading for a lone shrimp boat in the

> distance.  Ghostly apparitions of Sooty Shearwater and Common Murre would

> occasionally materialize out of the fog to hold our attention during the

> morning journey.  Well out to sea, the fog eventually lifted, and we would

> spend the rest of our day in bright sunshine, progressively shedding layers

> as it heated up.

> 

> A couple hours in we spotted a large raft of Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel.  As

> we approached Phil announced over the boat?s speakers, ?Look out for

> Wilson?s Storm-Petrel coming down the left side of the boat?.  In a flash

> the rare black storm-petrel with a bright white rump zipped down the Monte

> Carlo?s left side before it quickly sailed out of sight.  Unlike our

> resident Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel, who makes its home in the North Pacific

> ocean, Wilson?s Storm-Petrel ranges all the world?s oceans, though they are

> rare up here in the North Pacific.  We?re having great luck with this

> species lately with the number of sightings in the last two weeks rivaling

> the numbers seen in the previous 3 decades!  We had our first South Polar

> Skua of the day shortly after the storm-petrel excitement marking the first

> of 13 sightings in total for this species.

> 

> Continuing our voyage, adding Pink-footed Shearwater along the way, the

> shrimper finally appeared on the horizon.  As we grew closer, we could see

> we would be in for a treat as there was a good collection of birds around

> the vessel.  With a bounty of bird activity both in the sky and on the sea,

> it was difficult to choose where to begin to look.   Black-footed

> Albatross, by far our most common albatross, is always an exciting species

> to see and we were treated to 25 of them on the water and flying by.

> Looking skyward, It was hard to ignore some 125 Sabine?s Gull flying about

> the boat then moving to the surface to pick up scraps of shrimp.  We could

> distinguish a few juveniles along with the gorgeous black-headed adults.

> Among the many Sabine?s in flight, we soon picked out several terns and

> counted 15 Arctic and at least one Common Tern in this large group.

> 

> Understanding this was the only boat we were likely to encounter during our

> trip, we circled it and the birds on the water several times, lingering to

> scan the vast flocks of shearwater.  Pink-footed Shearwater (400 at boats)

> held the majority for the tubenoses with 700 total birds to sort through.

> Sooty Shearwater, and its look-a-like Short-tailed Shearwater were both

> present in about equal, but small numbers.  We were lucky to see a few

> Buller?s Shearwater fly by, but even luckier to spot 1 or 2 resting on the

> water within the horde of Pink-foots.  Luck and perseverance can also

> produce a Flesh-footed Shearwater within these flocks this time of year and

> indeed we would find one, capping off five species of shearwater all within

> this relatively small area surrounding the shrimp boat.  We also had

> several Northern Fulmar and large flocks of Red-necked Phalarope in the

> vicinity.

> 

> A large group of birds around a boat like this is bound to attract

> jaegers.  Just as the tubenoses are attracted to the fishing boats by the

> smell of their haul, jaegers or skuas, as they are also known, are

> attracted to the concentration of birds they see around these boats.

> Jaegers coerce food from gulls, terns, and shearwaters.  They chase these

> birds and intimidate them into dropping or regurgitating their food item

> which the jaeger quickly scoops up.  We had 2 South Polar Skua and two each

> of Long-tailed and Pomarine Jaeger at the boat.  One of the Long-tailed

> Jaegers entertained us by a demonstration of its flight prowess as it

> repeatedly maneuvered to catch an evasive moth.

> 

> With time well spent at the boat, we began the journey back to Westport,

> skipping our chum stop as the shrimp boat had produced excellent viewing

> and photo opportunities.  We always pause for anything interesting on the

> way back such as great looks at 2 very cooperative Cassin?s Auklet diving

> and surfacing several times as we watched.  We had a group of 3-4 South

> Polar Skua on the water that all lifted up when we approached giving us

> even better looks at this species.  We stopped several times offshore to

> scan the shearwater flocks on the water and were able to pick out Buller?s

> Shearwater a couple more times and found another Flesh-footed Shearwater

> attempting to blend in with its more common cousin Pink-footed Shearwater.

> 

> We had a great showing from a couple of close Humpback Whale who surfaced

> and simultaneously ?fluked? right in front of us.  The mammal highlight

> though, was a less commonly seen Minke Whale who surfaced several times

> allowing everyone to get good views.

> 

> With the coast in sight we were greeted by huge flocks of Sooty

> Shearwater.  We usually end our trips with a seasonal search for rock

> shorebirds on the Westport Jetty, and with the sun baking our starboard

> side, we found a cooperative Wandering Tattler.  The Marbled Godwit flock

> was on the rocks at the far end of the marina and Phil brought us in close

> where we spotted 2 Bar-tailed Godwits within the flock of 800 birds, as

> well as a couple of Willets and a few Short-billed Dowitchers.

> 

> Captain Phil Anderson and First Mate Chris Anderson hosted a great group of

> Northwest birders, many who enjoyed their first pelagic birding trip, but I

> bet not their last.  Scott Mills, Bruce LaBar and I were the bird spotters

> with helpful assists from a couple of pelagic veterans and friends.

> 

> 

> Hope to sea you out there!

> 

> 

> Cara Borre

> 

> Gig Harbor

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> ------------------------------

> 

> Message: 9

> Date: Tue, 3 Sep 2024 07:06:30 -0700

> From: Dennis Paulson via Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>

> To: Jim Betz <jimbetz at jimbetz.com>

> Cc: TWEETERS tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>

> Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Numbers of Birds

> Message-ID: <3BB95521-A93A-41CC-A209-EA1F709AB6B7 at comcast.net>

> Content-Type: text/plain;    charset=utf-8

> 

> Hello Jim,

> 

> The reason the shorebirds aren?t there all year long is because they are mostly migrants, passing through here on their way between breeding areas to the north and wintering areas to the south. Some of them may spend the winter in small numbers, e.g., Greater Yellowlegs and Long-billed Dowitchers, but most are migrants. Short-billed Dowitchers, for example, don?t winter, even though they are quite common in migration, nor do the vast majority of Westerns and Leasts nor species such as Baird?s and Pectoral and Stilt and Short-billed Dowitcher and phalaropes. It would be very interesting to monitor the area all year long to see if any individuals winter there and what happens in the spring. Has anyone observed shorebirds there in spring?

> 

> Sticklebacks can be very common. We must have seen a half-dozen caught and swallowed by Greater Yellowlegs while we were there for an hour the other day. There may be hundreds in the channel, so the predation may not take that much of a toll. It?s natural selection, weeding out the ones more likely to be caught. And the invertebrates in the mud that most of the sandpipers (remember, they are all sandpipers except for the Killdeers) eat are there in prodigious numbers. Mudflats are very rich places for burrowing invertebrates. That?s of course why all those shorebirds are there.

> 

> Dennis Paulson

> Seattle

> 

>> On Sep 2, 2024, at 7:29?PM, Jim Betz via Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu> wrote:

>> 

>> Hi all,

>> 

>>  For the last month or more I've been going to Channel Drive. This is a superb habitat for

>> 

>> shorebirds and ducks ... and other birds as well.  There are easily several hundred birds

>> 

>> there "every low tide" with perhaps 80% ducks and the rest are sandpipers, dowitchers,

>> 

>> yellowlegs, etc.  There are a few gulls every day and several GBH.  The most common

>> 

>> raptors are peregrines, harriers, and the occasional eagle. Channel Drive is a long

>> 

>> inlet/slough - perhaps a couple of miles or more in length and an average of 50 yards

>> 

>> or so wide.  It covers in brackish water every high tide and uncovers perhaps 80% or

>> 

>> so of the mud every low.

>> 

>>  My question is "why don't the birds exhaust the food supply?". Even if the only

>> 

>> birds consuming the sticklebacks were the shorebirds - that's a lot of birds and

>> 

>> working every daylight tide.  It is not uncommon to see a yellowlegs catch and

>> 

>> down one of these small fish - and I'm guessing that it is at a rate of at least

>> 

>> one every 30 minutes (more is likely).

>> 

>>  Does anyone know the reproductive and growth rates of the small fish (such as

>> 

>> sticklebacks)?  What about 'life cycle' questions such as "do the small fish stop

>> 

>> reproducing in other seasons?" and the related "why aren't the shorebirds here

>> 

>> in large numbers year round?"

>> 

>>         - just trying to understand the inter-related aspects of the food and the birds ... Jim

>> 

>> _______________________________________________

>> Tweeters mailing list

>> Tweeters at u.washington.edu

>> http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters

> 

> 

> 

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> 

> Subject: Digest Footer

> 

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> End of Tweeters Digest, Vol 241, Issue 3

> ****************************************