Hi -
If Ash trees are big enough they produce large numbers of cavities suitable for
nesting birds. I first realized this while walking the Kiwa trail at
Ridgefield NWR, and seeing WB Nuthatches, Tree And Violet-green swallows,
Bewick's Wrens, etc. all through the trees..
I wonder if this is a habitat that is recovering from past clearing and just
recently reaching sizes that are useful to nuthatches?
Wayne
On 1/3/2017 9:25:53 PM, Dottie Belknap <dottie@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I see White-breasted Nuthatches and Red-breasted Nuthatches daily in my Douglas
fir.
Dottie Belknap
SW Portland (near Sylvan overpass)
From: obol-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:obol-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of ;
David Irons
Sent: Tuesday, January 3, 2017 9:00 PM
To: Alan Contreras
Cc: OBOL
Subject: [obol] Re: White-breasted Nuthatches
White-breasted Nuthatches do seem to like expansive stands of larger Oregon
ash, at least nowadays. I don't remember them using this habitat in the past.
We get them regularly along the Fanno Creek Greenway between Beaverton and
Tigard, where there are lots of large Oregon ash. They also seem to be
reasonably common in cottonwood gallery forests along the Willamette and
Columbia Rivers.
Dave Irons
From: Alan Contreras <acontrer56@xxxxxxxxx [mailto:acontrer56@xxxxxxxxx]>
Sent: Wednesday, January 4, 2017 4:56 AM
To: David Irons
Cc: OBOL
Subject: Re: White-breasted Nuthatches
These days I sometimes see them in stands of very large ash and cottonwood.
Agree that they seem to be a bit more findable in the last five years anyway.
Alan Contreras
Eugene, Oregon
acontrer56@xxxxxxxxx [mailto:acontrer56@xxxxxxxxx]
Sent from my iPhone
On Jan 3, 2017, at 8:49 PM, David Irons <LLSDIRONS@xxxxxxx
[mailto:LLSDIRONS@xxxxxxx]> wrote:
Over the past 5-10 years I feel like there has been a bit of a rebound in the
number of White-breasted Nuthatches in the Willamette Valley. When I first came
back to Oregon in 1998 it seemed like they were really tough to find even in
larger stands of mature oaks. More recently I feel like I've been encountering
them more regularly, but I provide any solid evidence that this is the case.
This is a case where a population once present in the oak woodlands in the
Puget Trough has winked out. White-breasted Nuthatches are no longer resident
in the southern Puget Trough.
Dave Irons
From: obol-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:obol-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] ;
<obol-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:obol-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]> on behalf of
Alan Contreras <acontrer56@xxxxxxxxx [mailto:acontrer56@xxxxxxxxx]>
Sent: Wednesday, January 4, 2017 3:03 AM
To: OBOL
Subject: [obol] Scrub Jays as sign of climate change -- say what??
My grandparents grew filberts in the n. Willamette Valley in the 1930s and 40s.
Compare changes in C. Scrub Jay to changes in Acorn Woodpecker and
White-breasted Nuthatch. Both of the latter are much less common and more local
around Eugene than they were in the late 1960s. I have not looked at CBC data
but I would think this change would appear there. The nuthatch seems to be a
bit more flexible in habitat use.
Alan Contreras
Eugene, Oregon
acontrer56@xxxxxxxxx [mailto:acontrer56@xxxxxxxxx]
Sent from my iPhone
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