Good point about YOUR nuthatch, Adrian -- that hadn't occurred to me. Yes, we
could be on the tip of something still larger with these movements -- and sad
and unfortunate, if these birds are indeed being driven out of the eastern
Cascades far and wide as a result of drought and fire. If so, we can expect
more and more of this in the future as climate change continues to dry out and
alter our forests. We West-side folks will be interested to hear what the
East-side folks can tell us about populations and movements of common birds
near burned and drought-stricken areas now and in coming months and years....
Re: Red Crossbills and Pine Siskins, I have been having them both in
reasonable frequency in SW Portland in recent weeks -- a bit less numerous than
normal, perhaps, but not strikingly few. The crossbills I've heard have all
sounded like the normal Type 3. They are the expected nomads with expected
volatility, and coming from potentially various directions, whereas multiple
species of East-side ponderosa-pine birds topping the Cascades and fleeing
downslope to the west (and all the way to the Lincoln Co coast, in the case of
your chickadee, Adrian, wow) is really notable.
JW, Portland
Adrian Hinkle wrote:
Jay, awesome find on the Pygmy Nuthatch!!
I agree that the nuthatch probably has something to do with the Mountain
Chickadee invasion. While winter 2012 - 2013 saw a major invasion of
Mountain Chickadees to the Portland area, it definitely wasn't as
impressive as this years' is shaping out to be. There were never more than
2 or 3 in one place that year, and if I recall correctly they didn't make
it to the coast.
Also, I can't help but wonder if the interior subspecies of White-breasted
Nuthatch that my mom and I had at Mt. Tabor on September 23rd had something
to do with this as well.
Definitely Pygmy Nuthatch and interior White-breasted Nuthatch should be on
people's radar screens.
As for other irruption species, I've seen/heard almost no siskins or
crossbills lately.
Exciting!
Adrian
