Name:
Susan
Post is a: Question
I saw this bird in: Portland, Oregon
I saw this bird about: January 7, 2005
Sent: 7.15 PM - 1/7
This bird visited my backyard suet feeder today, and spent several hours both
at the feeder (both
hovering and clinging) as well as foraging on the ground. I saw it eat a small
worm.
It was a small (4.5 - 5 inch) mossy green
bird, with lighter greenish underparts, a broken white
eyering but no noticeable eyestripe, and a thin beak. It had a small white patch
low on its wings,
visible when at rest. Its tail was gray. Its head was slightly gray-green.
If it had had an eyestripe, and no white patch
on the wing, I'd have thought it was an orange-
crowned warbler.
Then I went out and bought a digital
camera. The next day, I was able to take the
following photographs, and I e-mailed them to Greg Gillson (that e-mail is gone
now --
sorry).
|
|
This is what he posted as a response on his site:
Name: Greg Gillson
Post is a: response to susan in Portland, OR
Sent: 9.52 PM - 1/8
Thanks for sending the photos (one of which is reproduced below). It is a female
Black-throated
Blue Warbler -- very rare in Oregon.
"guide" click for Black-throated Blue Warbler
What I didn’t know was that he had also made the
following post to OBOL, a listserve run by Oregon
State University where bird sightings are reported daily by Oregon birders.
(They are an interesting
bunch and you can read their work at: http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/OBOL.html
as well as below).
Subject: RBA: BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER in Portland
From: "Greg Gillson"
Date: Sat, 8 Jan 2005 17:22:47 –0800
I received a couple of photos of a female Black-throated
Blue Warbler with
the following note:
Name: Susan
Post is a: Question
I saw this bird in: Portland, Oregon
I saw this bird about: January 7, 2005
Sent: 7.15 PM - 1/7
This bird visited my backyard suet feeder today, and spent
several hours both at
the feeder (both hovering and clinging) as well as foraging on the ground. I
saw
it eat a small worm. It was a small (4.5 - 5 inch) mossy green bird, with lighter
greenish underparts, a broken white eyering but no noticeable eyestripe, and
a
thin beak. It had a small white patch low on its wings, visible when at rest.
Its tail was gray. Its head was slightly gray-green.
If it had had an eyestripe, and no white patch
on the wing, I'd have thought
it was an orange-crowned warbler.
I am putting the photos on my web site here:
http://thebirdguide.com/temp_images/Mysterygreenbird%231.jpg
and
http://thebirdguide.com/temp_images/Mysterygreenbird%232.jpg
I told her I'd announce the bird and give
out her e-mail address and decide
whether to open her home to birders.
Susan Sterne spoo AT pacifier.com
Greg Gillson
The Bird Guide, Inc.
greg AT thebirdguide.com
Actually, he didn't tell me anything -- but I did receive an e-mail that evening:
Date: Sat, 08 Jan 2005 18:08:50 -0800
Subject: Black-throated BLue Warbler
From: Jeff Gilligan
Hi: If your back yard is not available to birders
generally, can you give your address so that I
can look in the yards in your area from the sidewalks? Thanks.
eff Gilligan.
And another one on Sunday afternoon:
To: spoo@pacifier.com
Subject: your warbler
Date: Sun, 09 Jan 2005 15:53
Hello, Susan --
I'm a birder living in Portland, and saw Greg Gillson's posting
regarding your female black-
throated blue warbler. If you're amenable to having people come by your
yard and peer at your
feeder, please let me know, as I'd greatly appreciate being able to come by
sometime early this
week, if so.
Many thanks, and congratulations on a very nice yard bird!
Jay Withgott
Was my backyard open to birders generally?
It was an interesting question. I decided
(against Pete's initial instincts) that it was.
To: Jeff Gilligan
Subject: Re: Black-throated BLue Warbler
Date: Sun, 09 Jan 2005 08:29
I would be most gratified if someone who knows more about these things could
verify this bird –
3900 block of SE XXXXXX, south side. No saying it's still in the neighborhood,
but it was
yesterday middayish, and it did show up two days in a row.
We're in the middle of the block - #39XX - if you're going to
come by today, please knock and I
can let you in to look into the backyard.
What's it doing HERE??
-Susan Sterne
Jeff and his friend and also an unidentified
woman and two small white terriers showed
up around noon. I had taken some more photos that morning, this time using the
tripod I
had purchased the previous afternoon, and I gave a printout of this to Jeff:
I think I was worried he wouldn’t
get to see the bird, which I somehow felt responsible
for, even though it is a wild creature of which I am not actually in control.
The woman left (but not before insisting that a passing bird was a dark-eyed
junko, so
she was no outsider), the dogs stayed, and . . . :
Subject: Black-throated Blue Warbler
(Portland) (THE CURSE lifted...)
From: Jeff Gilligan
Date: Sun, 09 Jan 2005 15:08:58 –0800
Gerard Lillie and I were able to see the fabulous female Black-throated Blue
Warbler in Portland today.
It is at the home of a very observant and
analytical beginning birder -
Susan Sterne. The bird comes to the suet feeder in the back yard. Susan's
husband works from his home office. As I understand the rules for those who
want to see the bird in their back yard are:
1) The address is 39XX SE XXXXXX.
2) No need to knock on the door.
3) Go to the right of the hosue and stay on their property.
4) Look over the fence at one of two low niches.
5) Only two birders at a time should do this.
6) If you are not taller than about 5'10" you should bring a small foot
stool or something of that nature to stand on - don't open the gate.
The bird has been coming for at least three
days. We had superlooks at it
several times.
Since Steve Jaeger's Northern Waterthrush
I have been on a Dip-A-Thon in
Multnomah County. During this time, Jackal John, Birder Bob, and "Sleepless
in Multnomah" Ian have been slurping up all forms of rarities. I tried four
times for the Bonneville Black-throated Blue and twice for the Yellow-billed
Loon. At last - The Curse has been lifted.
This was also the first stake-out rarity that I have ever walked
to from my
house. (I could have walked to a number of others though.)
Jeff.
So then I went to work on Monday. It was rough. Here's a whole thread about that:
From: Fine, Jonathan
Sent: Monday, January 10, 2005 10:25 AM
To: Susan Sterne
Subject: warble warble
Hi Susan--
Are you back at work? If so, I bet I know where you'd rather be.
JF
From: Susan Sterne
Sent: Monday, January 10, 2005 10:30 AM
To: Fine, Jonathan
Subject: RE: warble warble
Motherfucker!
You're right. I want to know if She is there.
From: Fine, Jonathan
Sent: Monday, January 10, 2005 10:29 AM
To: Susan Sterne
Subject: RE: warble warble
Don't you have Pete stationed at the kitchen window, waiting patiently for Her
return?
Surely, Pete's enthusiasm for the fabulous
female black-throated blue warbler matches
your own. Surely he wouldn't prefer to work on his computer during such an exciting
time.
From: Susan Sterne
Sent: Monday, January 10, 2005 10:48 AM
To: Fine, Jonathan
Subject: RE: warble warble
I'm actually counting on the two birders who e-mailed me last night about visiting
my rare bird today to let
me know if they see her ... that way, I'll be able to stay in touch.
Pete, sadly, also has work to do.
However, that hasn't stopped me from calling him and interrupting him
to ask him if he's seen either any birds, or any birders. In fact, he did spot
a birder -- he didn't want to
frighten it away by staring, but he did see that it has a gray hat ... and blue
jacket!
From: Fine, Jonathan
Sent: Monday, January 10, 2005 10:51 AM
To: Susan Sterne
Subject: RE: warble warble
Fascinating! My understanding is that gray-crowned blue-breasted birders
are somewhat
rare. They often travel alone, but they periodically meet in groups to exchange
their
trademark call: "s-s-t-t-t-r-r-r-a-a-a-n-g-g-e!! s-s-t-t-t-r-r-r-a-a-n-g-g-e!!"
Meanwhile, birders were making plans:
Subject: Re: Black-throated Blue
Warbler (Portland) (THE CURSE lifted...)
From: Jeff Gilligan
Date: Sun, 09 Jan 2005 17:59:24 –0800
on 1/9/05 5:01 PM, Julie Fukuda at tamarack
wrote:
> Thanks for your post to obol. What times of day has the bird been
observed?
>
> Thanks. Julie Fukuda
>
>
The bird has been seen most often in the morning through about 12:30 PM.
Jeff.
Subject: Re: Black-throated Blue
Warbler (Portland)
From: "pamela johnston"
Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2005 11:03:22 –0800
Like Jeff, I had quick and easy success seeing
the Warbler, and an
unexpected Slate Junco. But, unlike Jeff, I'm under 5'10", and wish to
attest that at ~5'5", I could see over the notch in the gate with no effort.
There is an old chair next to the gate which
is apparently for those who are
shorter yet.
One bit of advice- the angle of the sun will
make it hard to see the bird at
its feeding spots through the noon hour, so go early or late.
Pamela Johnston
OK, so fine, she's not as short as I am. Whatever. This guy
Jay saw it, too (although
you can only tell because its identity is in all caps in his message):
2 COMMON MERGANSERS were also at Westmoreland
Park, where the
EURASIAN WIGEON drake continues.
JW, Portland
Meanwhile, a co-worker (one of the many
I insisted listen to my tedious story about the
bird in my backyard that is causing strangers to gather on the side of my house
and
stand next to the fence for an hour or more) noted that she has a friend who
is a bird
enthusiast. Here's what came of that:
From: Jo Hardy
Sent: Monday, January 10, 2005 11:28 AM
To: Susan Sterne
Subject: Response from my friend re rare bird sighting
I told you my friend would be excited.....here is her response.....(Tom is her
husband who died of a brain
tumor several years ago)
>My goodness! That is a bird I saw in Jamaica! A lovely bird. Is
it hanging around? I'd like her
> address because I will go see Jodi tomorrow so could stop by that neck
of the woods and see if it
>is visible. Tom would have moved heaven and earth to be there today. :-)
Luckily, my backyard is open to birders. I passed on
the address information (etc).
The end of the day saw this exciting OBOL post:
Subject: Female Black-throated Blue
Warbler
From: bill clemons
Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2005 16:00:35 -0800 (PST)
A -- Thanks to Susan Sterne for sharing her property
and the beauty of this pretty little warbler!
B -- Thanks to Jeff Gilligan for posting the details
of etiquette and the how to!
C -- Thanks to Greg Gillson for making contact with
Susan and getting the early word out!
I was there today from about 12:45pm until
a bit after
1pm and was very pleased, though I never saw her at
either of the 2 suet feeders. There are also 3 seed
feeders and a hummingbird feeder hanging in the trees
in Susan’s yard.
I got great views in spite of the sun angle
at that
time of day (earlier might be better as Jeff pointed
out). I saw her in the bright light in the tree near
the hummingbird feeder, and also in the nice shade
while she was on the ground picking up bits of suet
that the starlings had knocked down. Both these views
allowed for excellent feather color variance
comparisons of the subtle shading on this warbler.
The WOW!! was that I saw her come and leave
the yard
three times and each time she returned she hovered and
drank from the hummingbird feeder! WHAT A SIGHT! She
may be no hummingbird, but this little bird performs
in the role quite admirably.
Thanks again to all,
Bill Clemons
Keep in mind, all day I've been at work,
wondering whether the bird was even showing
up . . . . So I e-mailed Bill back, doing my best to use the argot of OBOL:
To: Bill Clemons
Subject: Black-throated Blue warbler
Date: Mon, Jan 10 16:32 PST
Bill -
Thank you for posting to OBOL that you saw the warbler . . . and that she is
drinking from the
hummingbird feeder!! I am really surprised and thrilled by the news, since I've
been watching
her for three days and did not notice her showing interest in that feeder even
once. On the other
hand, I cleaned and refilled it with fresh sugar water yesterday afternoon -
maybe it was dripping
better, or a better sugar ratio, or something... or maybe she just happened
onto it today.
Wow!
I am really excited that so many people are coming by
and seeing the bird - and it's particularly
nice to get some news, since I'm now stuck at work and have no way of knowing
if she's even
there anymore.
So thank you for posting.
Susan Sterne
To: Susan Sterne
Subject: Re: Black-throated Blue warbler
Date: Monday, January 10, 2005 6:36 PM
Susan,
You are most welcome for the added
news, though it is
I who am thankful to you for your generous sharing of
this rarity.
I knew some other birds from time
to time attempted to
hover occasionally with varying degrees of success.
This little lady, however, does it with penoche!
Enjoy her visit,
Bill
[Let’s forgive him the misspelling.
He seems like a nice guy.] So that's where we are
right now. I am trying to cope with my impatience by putting a "guest list"
and pen by the
fence so that if anyone comes tomorrow, I'll find out what happened. Spine and
I are
talking about driving home at lunchtime from our downtown jobs and joining the
fray,
too, but . . . will we?
I woke up and found the following in my e-mail:
Subject: FW: message for Susan Sterne
To: <spoo@pacifier.com>
Hi Susan: Just forwarding this on from a birder who lives near Mt. Tabor.
Thanks
again for the warbler. Jeff Gilligan.
----------
From: "pamela johnston"
Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2005 19:41:46 -0800
To: "Jeff Gilligan"
Subject: message for Susan Sterne
Jeff,
assuming you can get in touch with her, could you let Susan Sterne know that
her thistle
feeder is mis-assembled? I was watching a Goldfinch hanging upside down to get
seed
from the slot, thinking that was pretty acrobatic, when I realized the feeder
is set up such
that no other body position will let them get at the seed. It needs to be either
taken apart
and put back together with the ends of the tube reversed, or returned to the
store for
another that's set up right.
Thanks,
Pam
Misassembled. Humph. I wrote her back:
From: Susan
Sterne
Sent: Tuesday, January 11, 2005 10:13 AM
To: Pamela Johnston
Subject: goldfinch feeder
Pamela -
I received your message via Jeff Gilligan - thanks for your concern. However,
that particular feeder is
actually intended by the manufacturer to feed only upside down birds, which
limits who can use it to
goldfinches and siskins (at least, that's who's been able to use it in my yard).
I've actually seen a siskin
choosing to feed upside down on my boxwood, so I've been reasonably comfortable
with forcing them to
invert for thistle....
Here's a link to a nicer version of the same idea:
http://store.yahoo.com/shawcreekfarms2/coupgofe.html
If you have any information that indicates that this is a bad way to feed goldfinches,
by all means, tell me
about it - I was just trying to have a couple of feeders that the abundant
house sparrows wouldn't
monopolize, since they're all over my other tube feeder most days.
-Susan
Meanwhile, Spine & I
did not leave our jobs at lunchtime to visit my yard. But twelve
people (including "Birder Bob") logged into my guest list, and all but one of
them
reported seeing the warbler. Here is Tuesday's only OBOL post:
Subject: Female Black-throated
Blue warbler
From: bill clemons
Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2005 17:20:56 -0800 (PST)
I was at Susan Sterne’s side gate looking at her bird
feeders form 3:30 until about 4pm this afternoon. The
female Black-throated Blue Warbler was absent until
about 3:50pm, when she made two brief but well
displayed appearances. She was again, to my view, only
on the ground gleaning bits of suet that others had
dropped or she was hovering at the hummingbird feeder.
Very nice views again, in the tree above the
hummingbird feeder, hovering to drink, and on the
ground.
Also present were:
Dark-eyed Junco (including one Slate-colored), Spotted
Towhee, Golden-crowned Sparrow, House Sparrow,
Bushtit, Black-capped Chickadee.
Thanks again for Susan’s hospitality,
Bill Clemons
Lake Oswego, Oregon
Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2005 08:27:54 -0800
To: obol@lists.oregonstate.edu
From: Susan Sterne <spoo@pacifier.com>
Subject: Female Black-throated Blue warbler (Portland)
The warbler has made its earliest appearance in my yard so far this morning
- just saw it
(8:00ish), not only under the suet feeder, but hopping in the brush and leaf
litter behind the fence
that separates my yard from the excellent bird habitat "maintained" by my neighbor
- so if you
come to see it, you might want to look on the ground at the back fence border
- behind the
sunken sink, and under the holly to the left, as well as behind the tree with
the feeders.
The strange thing about this sighting is that another warbler
was also present -- a yellow-rumped
that had been coming around a couple of weeks ago. The yellow-rumped and the
black-throated
blue had a minor air-battle around the suet feeder -- the yellow-rumped is a
little aggressive
around that feeder (I'd seen it chasing bushtits off before). But the black-throated
blue came
right back ...
Feel free to e-mail any comments about the warbler or other bird
happenings in my yard, and by
all means, continue to come look for the warbler - my husband and my neighbors
don't mind, and
I'm thrilled. I regret only that I can't stay home and watch with you.
Susan Sterne
Back at work, I receive and reply to the now customary morning message from Spine:
From: Fine, Jonathan
Sent: Wednesday, January 12, 2005 9:06 AM
To: Susan Sterne
Subject: warblin'
I see that Bill Clemons returned to your house yesterday and then went home
to write up
an account of his visit. And I see that he documented the other birds he saw,
which makes
your yard sound like a veritable avian sanctuary.
Isn't it time to name the warbler?
From: Susan Sterne
Sent: Wednesday, January 12, 2005 9:23 AM
To: 'Fine, Jonathan'
Subject: RE: warblin'
Yes, he did. So did 11 other individuals,
at least, who logged their presence on my guest list. This
morning, I saw the warbler at 8:00 - which was very early for her - and, not
only that, saw her have an air-
skirmish with another warbler, a yellow-rumped warbler. Warbler vs. warbler.
I am concerned. It was hard
to leave.
As for a name... I'm leery of naming... Isn't it
obvious that this bird is doomed? It's thousands of miles from
its winter grounds, presumably lost... how will it continue beyond this winter
even if it survives attacks by
yellow-rumped warblers, freezing weather, my cat? When I think about this bird,
I realize I am very, very
worried for it, and sad. It's so much more immediate than, say, tsunami victims.
IT'S IN MY BACKYARD. I
have suffered from this kind of empathic myopia for as long as I can remember.
Who am I to name this
bird? What do I know of its true plight?
How 'bout you? You have a name in mind?
Spine later told me via telephone that he felt "Ruth"
would be a good name. So he may
start calling her that.
Later in the day, I e-mailed a link to this page
to several friends and family members,
some of whom responded to me with comments. I'll let my friends retain their
privacy,
but I can't resist posting the following two for general enjoyment:
From: Sylvia Sterne
Sent: Wednesday, January 12, 2005 12:44 PM
To: Susan Sterne
Subject: Re:
Have you sent this to the entire family? I am going to ask you to answer
the following multiple choice
question: Am I a) happy for you b) amused c) incredulous d) appalled. Guess.
Sylvia Sterne
From: George Sterne
Sent: Wednesday, January 12, 2005 6:13 PM
To: Susan Sterne
Subject: Re:
Susan, to quote an old book review attributed to a young
child "This book told me more about birds than I really wanted to
know." I'm glad you're enjoying your feathered visitors; hope the
binoculared visitors don't become a problem. Always good to hear
from you,but the new obsession was a bit of a surprise. Love, Dad
Meanwhile, OBOLers (as some of them call themselves)(apparently
OBOLites is also
an accepted formulation) were not inactive:
Subject: Black-thr. Blue W. (Portland)
From: Thomas Love
Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2005 11:38:22 -0800
The BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER female in SE Portland was seen several
times yesterday, Tuesday, 11 Jan. In the morning someone suggested that it
seemed to be loosely associating with a flock of CHICKADEES and BUSHTITS.
Sure enough, when it finally showed up about 2:20 it was with a flock of
BUSHTITS.
Great bird, and thanks to everyone, esp. the homeowners, for putting
up
with us peering over the fence.
Tom L.
Not sure I agree that the warbler's hanging with
the chickadees & bushtits (or even that
my usual chickadees and bushtits are one gang), but maybe there was a grouping
yesterday. I don't know because I was at work.
Subject: Looking for a ride to Black-throated Blue
From: Hendrik Hactitis
Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2005 17:02:55 EST
Hi OBOLites,
if anyone from the Corvallis area (or places south who might be
passing
through Corvallis en route) is planning to chase the Black-throated Blue up
in Portland in the next couple of days, I'd really appreciate a ride up there
and back. This species has been a major nemesis bird for me for years, and
now that a couple of chaseable ones have shown up I find myself without
transportation and thus unable to go after them ... such is life!
Thanks
Hendrik
I think it must be sad to have a whole species be a nemesis. I hope Hendrik
can make
it.
Subject: Black-throated Blue Warbler (Portland)
From: PBirder
Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2005 20:55:23 EST
The Black-throated Blue Warbler was eating quite happily amid the fighting
Starlings between 2:50 and 3:15pm on Wednesday 1/12. I left just as the rain
began.
Patty Newland
Indeed, Patty is one of the three individuals who registered
on the guest list today. All of
them saw the warbler. One of the others was likely the fellow with the British
accent who
greeted Pete as he left home this morning with the question, "Can you tell me
where to
find the warbler?"
I remembered on Thursday morning that our friend "Wayne" (not his real name) works
for a nature park, has a great backyard landscaped with native plants, and
can identify many birds by their calls. I decided he might enjoy this story
and sent him a link.
From: "Wayne"
Sent: Thursday, January 13, 2005 10:10 AM
To: Susan Sterne
Subject: Re: Bird story
Dear Susan,
Thank you for the most amusing distraction from my memo about compensatory wetland
mitigation procedures. For as many years as I've been interested in natural history,
which is many, I have never been able to become as fanatical as the folks on your website.
(Note: I did not use the word blog- I hope you don't call that thing a blog.
Despite the NY Times' fascination with the word and the subject, I feel it should be banned.
It is a certain sign that the end of civilization is near.)
If I might be a lumper for a while, I'll say that there are two kinds of birders.
Those genuinely interest in all things bird- behavior, coloration, habitat, ecology- and
those that I call tickers who wander the world ticking (checking) off those little boxes in
the back of their bird books that list all of the birds they've seen. While I've seen an
impressive number of birds myself, I can't say I've ever cared to differentiate some of the
finer points of birding and become a ticker.
Gull enthusiasts are the worst. I hope this attitude won't influence my ability to hold down
this job as the natural resources supervisor...
At any rate, I'm especially impressed that you watched the birds closely enough to identify this
individual bird. Way to go Susan! For a while I kept a list of birds seen in or above my yard.
My favorite was a flock of sand hill cranes (above, not in). In the I saw it from my yard category
was a sharp shinned hawk last summer that swooped down in the street and carried off a big rat into
a neighbor's tree. Best actual thing to watch in my yard is woodpeckers eating worms.
Best ticker bird: chestnut backed chickadee...
That wasn't the end of his e-mail, but the rest of it wasn't about birds or birders.
From: Susan Sterne
Sent: Thursday, January 13, 2005 10:59 AM
To: "Wayne"
Subject: RE: Bird story
Thanks for the birder-thoughts - I'm not sure to do with my flock of birders, or how I fit into their
world.
I'm impressed with your backyard bird list - that's been my focus, just checking out who's coming around...
and, well, yes, trying to get more of them to show up. I'm going about it the sleazy way -- lots of feeders
and a birdbath, instead of solid, native-plant, bird-friendly landscaping (although my messy neighbor's
doing her part for me across the fence by not maintaining her side). I haven't seen any woodpeckers at all,
or chickadees other than black-capped in my yard... But this winter I seem to have somewhere between 9 and
15 different species turn up (including one day when there was a Cooper's hawk, and another when there was
sharp-shinned) on any day where I watch for a long time. When I started looking, I really thought I'd only
see house sparrows, house finches, juncos and my one song sparrow... So having them all come by and
introduce themselves this winter has been fun. My flock of golden-crowned sparrows has been getting bigger
every couple of weeks - I'm up to 8.
Can't say I'm totally immune from a kind of ticking urge, though... I signed up with Cornell's FeederWatch
thing, and I submit count lists weekly to them. There is a certain desire to report lots of wacky birds,
and not just house sparrows & finches when Scientists Are Watching (no, I'm not cooking my data, I just want,
in an unnatural and greedy way, all the birds to show up on my count days)... But I think I'm doing it more
to have someone to tell about what I'm seeing -- Pete's not terribly interested, and even the one co-worker
whom I talk to about this must be getting weary of it. Who else will listen when I see kinglets? I'm always
very excited about seeing kinglets.
The day passed slowly. I had a hard time concentrating (again). During on of my various phone
calls to make Pete look out the window, he reported seeing the warbler, some birders, and
this:
I believe he correctly identified it as a rat.
Things got more exciting when I got home. First, the guest list page was completely full!
Thirteen visitors logged sightings on Thursday. Good thing I had printed two copies when I
made it on Monday - now I've got something to put out for tomorrow's visitors.
But then I checked OBOL.
Subject: Cat Alert & Bl-Throated Blue Warbler
From: Carol Ledford
Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2005 20:36:05 -0800 (PST)
Today, from 1:15 to 1:30, I was delighted to watch the female Black-throated
Blue Warbler at the 39th and XXXXXXX site in Portland. She’s a lovely little
bird, and she hung out mostly in the deciduous trees, right near the feeders,
and acted like a hummingbird just a couple of times! The rest of the time, she
was actively bug- and flycatching.
I hope she survives the bob-tailed cat that was hanging out directly beneath
the feeders! The cat seemed totally at home, even though I made several hissy
noises at it. The birds were certainly scarce while he was there.
Carol Ledford
I'll let Spine have the first word:
Subject: Re: Black-throated Blue Warbler
From: Jonathan Fine
To: Susan Sterne
Date: 10:39 PM 1/13/2005
Weevil, no!!
Weevil, no!! indeed. For those of you who have known me since 1998, you may
recall that I once had another web page, which was dedicated to documenting
the various San Diego-dwelling creatures that Weevil and her sister Maggie
used to bring home and eat in my apartment. Many of these creatures were
mice; some were rats, a few lizards; but most of them were birds. One of
them was a hooded oriole. I do not deny my pride in my pets' hunting
abilities, nor their appetite for wild things. I believe their current
state of good health at age 10 is related to this early dietary supplement
of songbird and mouse.
However, just yesterday, I wrote this to my brother Mark:
I actually fear greatly that Weevil (who goes outside for about five minutes / day in
winter) will kill the warbler in front of a birder, leading to my utter condemnation
on OBOL, an otherwise extraordinarily civilized and bird-sighting focused list.
Was Carol Ledford's comment regarding the bob-tailed cat that was "totally at home"
so far from this?
Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2005 21:30:43 -0800
To: Carol Ledford
From: Susan Sterne
Subject: Cat & BTB Warbler
Hi Carol Ledford -
I am pleased that you came to see the warbler, and more so that you did see it --
although she's been there for pretty much everyone so far, so I guess I should stop
being surprised about that.
Now. About the cat.
The cat is one of my two cats. She doesn't go outside very much (the other one
doesn't go out at all), and she's been staying out for only very brief periods of
time while it's been so cold. I've been a little worried about the warbler and the
cat, but since the warbler appeared, the cat hasn't actually done what you just
described (hanging out under the boxwood), although she has done that frequently
in the past. I believe this cat to be too old and slow to catch birds anymore
(although sometimes I wish she would thin out the house sparrows...), and she
wears a jingly collar that may provide some warning. But I realize that I could
be wrong.
For this reason, my husband (who is the one who let her out today) and I have just
had a conversation. He generally lets her out during the day when she's pestering
him and he's trying to work. Instead of letting her out, he's now going to try
distracting her in other ways, such as letting her into the attic, a rare treat.
Hopefully that will mollify her. I don't want her to eat the warbler.
I realize that birders and people who let their cats go outside don't go well
together... In my defense all I've got is that I also derive a lot of pleasure
from cat ownership, and that this particular cat urinates on our furniture if
we don't let her outside now and then. But as long as the warbler is using my
yard as its winter base, I will keep her inside (or let her out only in the
front, with me or my husband watching her). I'm not sure that does much to counter
our usual practice of letting her out for brief periods during the day, which
definitely entails some risk to the birds I am attracting with the feeders.... So
if you feel you need to load me up on statistics about death of songbirds due to
feline predation, go for it -- I'll probably even read a bunch of it and struggle
with this once again. (I'm also getting exposure to such things from the FeederWatch
website, and other internet sources I've been using in my birdfeeding explorations.)
I have now subscribed to OBOL and will post something this evening, both
about warbler traffic and the cat.
Life is complicated and full of compromises.
Having gotten that off my chest, I then made this totally self-serving and opaque
post to OBOL:
Subject: Black-throated Blue Warbler (and cat) (Portland)
From: Susan Sterne
Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2005 21:48:40 -0800
Greetings OBOLites:
The black-throated blue warbler has continued to make regular appearances
in my yard all week -- today, visitors reported seeing her from 9:45 a.m.
through 3:55. Yesterday, I saw her as early as 8:00 (when she had a
surprising skirmish with a territorial yellow-rumped warbler around the
suet feeder). Please continue to come by if you wish to see her - my
neighbors and husband are not disturbed. As for me, I am enjoying the
information you are leaving for me on the guest list / viewing log --
please do log your sightings if you come, so I can continue to monitor her
stay here.
About the cat: that was my bob-tailed cat (her name is Weevil). I am going
to omit the details surrounding her presence in the yard today. If you see
any cats in the yard, feel free to chase them away; and if it's that small
bob-tailed tabby, knock on the front door and deliver her back inside. It
is not our intention that she be in the backyard.
Susan Sterne
Portland, Oregon
For which I have been rewarded in two ways, via responses to my OBOL post.
First, a real photographer sent me some real photographs of the warbler!
Second, another birder who came by has promised me that he will return
tomorrow with a gallon of birdseed.
(And he did.)
A last thought on predation: sometimes hawks come to my yard to hunt
songbird, too.
Dawn. I've been going outside before leaving for work, to de-ice the birdbath,
and to replenish seed & sugar-water. Today I decided to leave some extra
chunks of suet under the suet feeder (the new stuff I got, with the dead
bugs in it).
While I was out, I heard and then saw the warbler. She came to the hummingbird
feeder while I was outside. I sat down on my deck (it's just above freezing)
and watched. She drank from the feeder a few times. She chased a junco away
from the suet chunks I'd just put out. And she hopped around on and below the
tree saying "tsip." Then a nearby song sparrow flew away, and
so did she.
I looked off to the east, and saw that the sky was glowing deep pink & orange.
...Later...
Work was about the same.
From: anthony freitas
Sent: Friday, January 14, 2005 11:26 AM
To: Susan Sterne
Subject: Re: Warbler
I love Pete's ID. I think he wins for rarest bird.
I shared your site with Cynthia and we laughed heartily and long.
We loved the part where the woman tells you your bird feeder is
misassembled.
Cynthia offered this caution: "Don't let her get too serious. The two
serious birders I know both messed up their knees permanently falling
out of trees while trying to look at birds--in separate incidents.
From: Susan Sterne
Sent: Friday, January 14, 2005 11:36 AM
To: 'anthony freitas'
Subject: RE: Warbler
I'm so scared of heights - I doubt that's the primary danger of birding
for me.
Failing to perform adequately at my job, or failing to have a meaningful
relationships with people (as opposed to birds) due to my compulsion about
this fucking warbler might be, though.
I left work early. I was tired.
I had two e-mails from OBOLians (I'm trying out something new, here - saw
"OBOLoids" in someone else's post today, and realized that there may be a
lot of leeway) requesting my address when I got home, plus a thank-you from
someone from Oregon City who'd seen the bird.
Then I posted the day's activity to OBOL:
Subject: Black-throated Blue Warbler (Portland)
From: Susan Sterne
Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2005 17:52:42 -0800
The warbler was seen again today by at least twelve people (one of whom was
me), at times ranging from 7:40 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. Everyone who came and
logged a visit reported seeing her, so apparently it is still just a
matter of showing up.
I saw her at dawn while I was out in the yard trying to cope with my
iced-up birdbath - heard her singing, too. She chased a junco away from
suet bits on the ground. If anyone has information about warbler
territoriality, I'd be interested in learning more....
Susan Sterne
Later in the evening:
To my surprise, I actually received a reply from Carol Ledford. I had sort
of decided that my freakish e-mail about the cat would have prevented her
from ever communicating with me. Instead, she was really nice.
Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2005 20:44:58 -0800 (PST)
From: Carol Ledford
Subject: Re: Cat & BTB Warbler
To: Susan Sterne
Oh, Susan! Your response was above and beyond anything I expected in
return. Your reply to OBOL was very nice, and definitely adequate.
I tried very hard to be tactful and careful about what I said. For
one thing, I also love cats. I prefer to not have one right now,
just because I don't want to have to "deal" with having anything
dependent upon me.
I shan't berate you for things you already know about how cats (and
other wild creatures) are decimating wild bird populations ... I
did note that your cat had something cute around its neck, and I
hoped it made noise. The squirrels scolded and everyone just stayed
off the ground and watched the cat -- intently. And, none of the
ground-feeding creatures were on the ground.
Thanks for your gentle reply ... and I sure hope I wasn't too harsh.
Carol
I did write back to her... but there isn't, I don't think, new information
in it sufficient to warrant its inclusion.
We are having a winter storm (that's the NOAA's term for it) today. It is
very windy, and below freezing, and there's been intermittent freezing
rain. The birds in my yard seem a little fearful and frantic. Or maybe that's
me.
I woke up early to de-ice the birdbath and refill it with tap (hopefully it'll
stay liquid for at least part of the day). I saw the warbler very briefly, and
also one or two Anna's hummingbirds. One of the hummingbirds was
spending a long time at the feeder, so I decided to check it -- and yes,
the tube had frozen, and the nectar was slushy. So I melted those, too.
It's so windy! I hope she manages today.
...Later...
Spent a little time in the OBOL archives. Found this write-up of the
male black-throated blue warbler that was seen around Bonneville dam in late
November.
I may have seen one visiting birder today, as he was walking away. The weather really isn't
conducive to bird-watching, although the freezing rain has stopped for now. I've seen
the warbler a couple of times, only briefly, and it doesn't seem like she's getting
much to eat. The hummingbird feeder tube keeps icing up. I improvised a sweater for it
out of an old wool sock:
Twice, I've tried to put out peanut butter & cornmeal under the boxwood, where it isn't
icing up, but both times starlings have immediately descended and eaten it all (once out of
a piece of old restaurant china). I've also replaced the water in the birdbath with warmer
water twice to keep it from freezing.
Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't be attempting to go out at all, since the deck is
completely iced over, and even the grass is hard to walk on. But somehow I'm getting past it
today.
...Later...
Abe has weighed in. Surprisingly, he has not recommended that we just kill the warbler and
get it over with.
From: Abraham Palmer
Sent: Saturday, January 15, 2005 8:54 AM
To: Susan Sterne
Subject: RE: More about birds
Susan,
I have just devoted 45 minutes to reading your blog about the warbler. Clearly this
is all insane. This bird looks like a common sparrow, doesn't it? I mean really, it
looks very similar to any other bird, the fuss people are making about it is hard to
believe. I am left thinking that many of these bird enthusiasts must be very lonesome
people. I don't mean that as a way of mocking them, but rather I feel genuine sorrow
that they are forced to find community among one another. is it enough? does it
really work? do they secretly hate watching birds, but they know that to give it
up would mean solitude? do they pair up, and if so, do their relationships ever
get strong enough to allow them to stop the charade? are you really a bird watcher,
or are you rather a people watcher posing as a bird watcher? putting up bird feeders,
ostensibly to attract birds, but actually to attract birders. and would this make you
better or worse than them? are you also expressing a sense of isolation? to what
extent can human behavior be generally be seen as a way of creating goal directed
activities that provide a sense of community? is this what people mean when they
distinguish betten meaningful and meaningless jobs? that one creates a sense of
community surounding an activity, and thus provides an outlet for people? are
their ring leaders and and followers in the bird movement? can any of us hope to
define things such that we are not similar to the birders?
on a less philosophical level -- who the hell are these nuts, and why can't they
just get laid or something?
Abraham
From: Susan Sterne
Sent: Saturday, January 15, 2005 7:10 PM
To: 'Abraham Palmer'
Subject: RE: More about birds
Abe:
(1) Aren't you a "hard" scientist? Shouldn't you be leaving these sociological
questions to others?
(2) Actually, my sense of the birding community in Oregon, based on OBOL posts
and the interactions I've had with the birders, is that it really is a community
-- that is, that their behavior isn't solitary, that they derive a sense of
connection from discussing birds with one another, that birding activities (all
of the various surveys that are being reported daily on OBOL, e.g.) are
opportunities for them to come together over a common task, and that they care
a great deal about the birds, and probably each other due to their mutual interest
in birds. They ask each other to check out their IDs, to correct them, to join in
a mutual discourse about what they're seeing... the woman who's been e-mailing
with me about cats & birds has been astonishingly open and willing to engage with
me for no reason at all other than that a small, drab (but very displaced) bird
showed up in my yard. I think it's great. They're great. (But I'm totally
obsessed with the bird so I suppose that's not a surprising conclusion from me.)
In my view this beats talking about television as a way of establishing that
one inhabits a shared world.
Spine called me from Arizona today, just to find out how "Ruth" is doing. See
how it is?
(3) Am I better than them? Hell no.
Thanks for taking the time to check it out.
Got up at 7:00 (pre-dawn here still) and put the feeders back out; replaced the ice
in the birdbath with water; noted that it was already warmer than freezing; tried to
get back to sleep.
 |
 |
Reminds me of a Jandek cover, but I'm sure I'm just flattering myself.
Meanwhile, I'm trying to understand more about warblers. Here's a promising site if you
I think I heard the warbler from the bathroom when I was drying off after my shower. And
when I looked, still wrapped in a towel, hair wet, it was in the yard (7:40 a.m. again).
Today's messages are being posted in reverse order of when they happened to me.
From: "Michael Screen"Thank you
Christine Sheridan From: Jonathan FineSeveral items of note today:
(1) Spine came by before work and finally saw the warbler, which he is now referring
Pete noted this in our yard at 1:20 p.m. I do not know this cat, but apparently
it didn't eat the warbler today:
The gallery of birders is up.
It's been very warm here, and it seems that my little green friend (Ruth, the
From: Wendy Dorr [mailto:wendy@thislife.org]
Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2005 9:09 AM
To: Susan Sterne
Subject: Re: Urban wildlife
Hi Susan -
Thanks for sending your pitch. Unfortunately, what you sent is not quite right
for us. Generally we like stories that unfold over time, that have strong
characters and strong narrative elements. Please read our submission guidelines
on our website: www.thislife.org.
Wendy
Several of you have commented that the story seemed just right for TAL... but I guess
WE WERE WRONG ABOUT THAT.
Some offsetting praise (and eventually, warbler news):
From: Daniel Rosenberg
Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2005 7:59 AM
To: Susan Sterne
Subject: Fw: Fw: Songbird Event
Like Timur and Cynthia, my two favorite things were your mom's message and
the gallery of birders which I hope keeps growing and growing. Has your
little friend survived the cat?
xd
----- Original Message -----
From: "Timur Friedman"
To: "Daniel Rosenberg"
Cc: "Cynthia Tolentino"
Sent: Monday, January 24, 2005 10:59 AM
Subject: Re: Fw: Songbird Event
> - Timur
From: Susan Sterne
Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2005 8:42 AM
To: 'Daniel Rosenberg'
Subject: RE: Fw: Songbird Event
She's still there! Saw her this morning, fighting off song sparrows but
running from golden-crowned sparrows around the dish of peanut-butter
cornmeal that I guiltily place under the boxwood every morning at dawn.
Guilty because it feels like a bribe. Guilty because it seems like bird
junk-food.
I continue to fool myself that the "constant stream" of visitors (I think
we're down to one or two a day, actually) will chase all cats away and
save her. This thought permits me to work.
See you Sunday! Not sure what to do after dim sum - but something.
-S.
And on the visitor front:
From: "M Scattaregia and Steve Hinkle"
To: "Susan Sterne" [spoo@pacifier.com]
Cc: "M Scattaregia"
Subject: Re: Black-throated Blue Warbler
Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 09:10:05 -0800
Thanks for getting back to me! My twins and I came by late yesterday
afternoon and got two or three really quick glimpses...not as satisfying
as would have been ideal, but it was definitely your little warbler.
My boys were thrilled. We didn't sign your register because the time got
away from me and we were running late to go pick up my middle schooler.
Thanks so much for your hospitality. I hope you have many more weeks of
enjoying your rarity.
Em Scattaregia, Christopher & Adrian Hinkle (just turned 10 years old)
From: Sylvia Sterne
Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2005 11:04 AM
To: Susan Sterne
Subject: your website
I greatly appreciated comments about my voicemail, so glad people are
enjoying me in some form. If you can tell the person who wrote "I wonder
if Sylvia Sterne Debuts as Podcaster is a story worthy of the Times-Picayune
social pages" that he should make it available to the NO TP, and the name of
the social page reporter is Nell Nolan, but I would not send it to her. Send
it to Chris Rose, he is the humor writer. AND I DO NOT CONSIDER MYSELF A
DOTING NEEDY MOTHER. Can you please deal with that person. Do you think
I am a doting needy mother?
I ran across my attempt to identify the warbler the first day I saw it. I am amused
to note that I considered it possible that there were two of them, "one with a
stripier face." By all means, e-mail me if anything on here is unclear and you'd like
to know more. Yes, that does say "rests on trees" in the lower right corner.
I've had a nice day at home today - seen the warbler many times, as well as her
companions, the house finches, chickadees, bushtits, goldfinches, kinglets, etc.
We had a pretty good bird day, overall - lots of nice birds all day long, including
the return of the female downy woodpecker AND a male downy woodpecker. I am
confused by the extent of the pleasure I derive from seeing birds in my back
yard.
There were also some more birders - four at least - and their photos have duly
been added to the gallery.
Upon bringing in the guest list for the night, I found the following in the comment
column, on an entry from 12:15 pm: "all birds scared off by SS hawk perched." This
refers to a sharp-shinned hawk, a common hawk species that frequents bird feeders to
prey on the birds. I've seen one in my yard once before.
My first thought was -- a hawk? today? and I missed seeing it? But I have seen quite
a bit of Ruth all afternoon, so I know she wasn't eaten by a hawk today.
Nice weather today - very few birds, only a few warbler glimpses. Alexa told me
that she saw a crowd of 8 birders looking over our fence at around 9:30 this morning
(she was biking past). I was in the shower & missed that photo op; but a couple of
other birders were documented.
Late this afternoon I went to Christine Sheridan's and saw the Costa's Hummingbird.
It's a very nice little bird, and quite beautiful - I can see why she's so attached.
Today, I received e-mail from a philosopher about all this. Well, about some of it:
From: Emma Bianchi
Sent: Sunday, January 30, 2005 2:24 AM
To: Susan Sterne
Subject: Being and Birding
Dear Susan,
Having spent a very enjoyable half hour perusing the warbler chronicles,
I'd just like to note some resonances between topics arising and certain
themes addressed in two major existentialist texts.
Regarding Abraham's question of the fundamental role of
projects-in-common in human life; the following. Having observed that
for the most part others encounter one another on the basis of having
common concerns, of being involved in the world in something like the
same way, Heidegger notes two modes. If we are engaged in the same
activity as Others by dint of some circumstance, the prevalent attitude
that pervades this relation is one of distance and reserve. He
describes the Being-with-one-another of co-workers, hired for the same
purpose, as, "thriv[ing] only on mistrust." He then contrasts this with
those who, rather than being hired for a goal, pursue instead a common
goal of their own choosing; those who "devote themselves to the same
affair in common." Each Dasein taking its own hold of itself determines
the possibility of this authentic kind of common involvement in the same
thing [Sache]: "They thus become authentically bound together, and this
makes possible the right kind of objectivity [die rechte Sachlichkeit],
which frees the Other in his freedom for himself."
(Being and Time, Section 26).
However, the "birders birded" of The Birders Gallery illustrates quite
cogently a passage in Sartre's account of "the look" in his thesis on
being-for-others in Being and Nothingness. Sartre gives us, in the
first instance, the following scene:
"Let us imagine that moved by jealousy, curiosity, or vice I have just glued my
ear to the door [or gate?] and looked through a keyhole [binoculars?]. I am
alone and on the level of a non-thetic self-consciousness... I am a pure
consciousness _of_ things... My consciousness sticks to my acts, it _is_ my
acts; and my acts are commanded only by the ends to be attained and by the
instruments to be employed. My attitude, for example, has no 'outside': it
is a pure process of relating the instrument [the keyhole/binoculars] to the
end to be attained [the spectacle to be seen/warbler], a pure mode of losing
myself in the world, of causing myself to be drunk in by things as ink is by
a blotter in order than an instrumental-complex oriented toward an end may
be synthetically detached on the ground of the world. The order is the
reverse of causal order. It is the end to be attained which organizes all
the moment which precede it. The end justifies the means; the means do not
exist for themselves and outside the end."
The birder watches the warbler, absorbed in the spectacle, a moment in
an instrumental system determined by the end, the spectacle itself.
But....
"But all of a sudden I hear footsteps in the hall. Someone is looking at me
[and taking pictures]! What does this mean? It means that I am suddenly
affected in my being and that essential modifications appear in my structure
- modifications which I can apprehend and fix conceptually by means of the
reflective _cogito_.... This means that all of a sudden I am conscious of
myself as escaping myself, not in that I am the foundation of my own
nothingness but in that I have my foundation outside myself. I am for
myself only as I am a pure reference to the Other."
"I am looked-at in a world which is looked-at. In particular the Other's
look, which is a look-looking and not a look-looked-at, denies my distances
from objects and unfolds its own distances."
This recentering of the world into the gaze of the Other is for Sartre an
occasion for shame, or in some instances, pride. I imagine it is not so
shameful to be caught looking at rare warblers - perhaps this is one of the
attractions of birding. In any case, Pete's camera brings into being the
possibility of self-consciousness for the birders, snaps them out of their
reverie of absorption in the world of the back-yard and makes them objects
of another's subjectivity and thus reveals to them their place in the
circuitry of recognition of being and nothingness, or at least would do so
if Pete were not so stealth.
One wonders if their ignorance is in fact a sort of bliss (or Sartrean
bad faith), or whether, ethically, they should be informed of the
pictures, or even asked to sign releases before appearing on the
website. Also, one wonders whether anyone (Weevil?) in fact observes
Pete, and his stealthy camera.
Existentialism notwithstanding, I thank you Susan for this unique
opportunity for insight into the world of rare birdwatchers and the
objects of their fascination.
Yours gratefully,
Emma, and her backyard friends including a collection of morning doves
(numbers vary but I once counted 19 in the tree), little feisty
twittering sparring brown birds (sparrows?), the occasional goldfinch
and blue jay, etc.
She also said, in a subsequent e-mail,
"This American Life is SO wrong about this." Seems worthMeanwhile, Dan sent the link to his parents, who, I learned last night, are themselves
birders, and duly forwarded their responses. From his father:
From: Harry M Rosenberg
To: Dan Rosenberg
Sent: Monday, January 31, 2005 7:23 PM
Subject: Re: Fw: Songbird Event
This is delightful, capturing the spirit of bird watching! Love, Dad
Am I overreacting, worrying about the perspective of "real birders"? Maybe he didn't
read much of it. Maybe he didn't look at the unauthorized photographs. Maybe there
isn't any problem.
The warbler is still, by the way, for those who think this is about the presence
of the warbler (which it is), there. Saw her this morning, and so did a guest who
signed the list at 10:30. (I generally find I am unable to leave for work in the morning
until I see her.)
Today I have added a link to the house sparrow snuff site I've been sending out; and
tomorrow (barring unforeseen events), I will post something more about Christine
Sheridan's Costa's Hummingbird, which has been much on my mind since I saw it.
Despite Ruth's obvious presence in the yard, no one signed the guest list today.
We are eclipsed, or possibly simply waning:
Subject: Yellow-throated Warbler Seaside, Oregon
From: bill clemons
Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2005 16:52:49 -0800 (PST)
My mom and I drove to Seaside this morning. With the
walkie-talkie help of Steve Warner and Mike Patterson
as well as some fast running from another birder in
the next block, about 10 of us had very good looks at
the Yellow-throated Warbler I the Noon time frame. The
bird was quite cooperative in a pine near 6th and
Downing (2nd house E. of Downing/ N side of 6th). Over
a 10 to 15 minute period it was frequently feeding at
the ends of branches in plane sunlit view (no fog in
Seaside by the time we got there). What a nice little
bird! Some also saw the Orange Crowned Warbler. The
same tree also had Chickadees and both Kinglets, as
well as Townsend’s Warblers.
Most of us left when Steve Warner left, as he offered
to show all where the Palm Warbler was being seen, but
no luck there.
After my mom and I had a bite to eat, I decided to
cruise the neighborhood once more before heading back
to Portland. The only other birder I saw at about 2pm
was David Bailey who was at the same tree with the
Yellow-throated Warbler still in plain view, being
very cooperative! David said he also saw all three
Chickadees in the same tree.
Bill Clemons
Et tu, Bill Clemons?
(Actually, I sort of want to go see this other warbler, myself.)
From: "CHRISTINE SHERIDAN"
To: spoo@pacifier.com
Subject: yellow-throated warbler
Date: Wed, 02 Feb 2005 12:04:57 -0800
can you get off one of next three days thur, fri, or sat? I will play
hooky thur, and have off next two days, we can go searching for the
yellow throated warbler. I am afraid that my new old car is not that
trustworthy, but I will pay for gas. What do you think? Christine
I really wanted to. But I had plans for Saturday already, and I just couldn't
take off a Thursday or Friday in the middle of tax season. But I thought
about it pretty hard.
Page four of the guest list filled up today.
Received e-mail from Mai Lin. She was passing on concerns from a friend
(who refused to e-mail her or anyone else about the site, for fear of being
posted to it)(a reasonable fear). This cautious person is worried that the
warbler is no longer plump, probably based on Bruce Craig's photo posted on
January 21st.
Fear not. She is still plump. It was pretty dark when I took this photo Saturday,
but I hope it demonstrates that she's not starving in my backyard:
 |  |
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 5TH
I received some interesting mail today.Some familiar characters are named - Jeff Gilligan, the first birder to come to the house
to confirm the sighting; and Pamela Johnston, the not-as-short-as-I-am person to whom I
made the perhaps regrettably snide response regarding the goldfinch feeder.
I think I'll have the certificate framed along with one of the prints Bruce Craig sent me,
and I'll put it all up in my office at work.
Later: There really are hawks in my backyard. I'm pretty sure this is a juvenile sharp-
shinned hawk. (I saw the warbler after the hawk left, so I can be happy about the hawk
sighting -- this time.)
 |  |
Date: Sun, 6 Feb 2005 08:51:18 -0800 (PST)
From: Tim Rodenkirk
Subject: Re: [obol] Black-throated Blue Warbler (and cat) (Portland)
To: Susan Sterne
Hi Susan,
Thanks for graciously putting up with the horde of
birders that have been peering over your fence. I was
there at noon yesterday and she didn't let me down.
Have a great spring- I thinks its almost here!
Tim Rodenkirk
Coos Bay
Date: Sun, 06 Feb 2005 09:09:58 -0800
To: Tim Rodenkirk
From: Susan Sterne
Subject: Re: [obol] Black-throated Blue Warbler (and rat) (Portland)
I am enjoying the horde of birders almost as much as the
pleasant and reliable little warbler. Thanks for your report.
You are very gracious not to mention the rat, which I suspect
you may have also seen at noon yesterday.
And this was posted to OBOL:
Subject: no warbler yesterday
From: Patrick Mansfield
Date: Sun, 6 Feb 2005 09:51:35 -0800
We went to look for the black throated blue warbler yesterday about 3:15.
There were no birds at or even nearby the feeders, or so we thought. We
watched for another 5 minutes until we realized there was a sharpie
sitting in the trees, almost directly above the feeders.
We watched for another 5 minutes, it just sat there. It was cold and
drizzly, and with the sharpie hanging out, nothing else was likely to show
up. As soon as we turned to leave, there was a crashing noise, we turned
around to glimpse two birds (both about the size of a sharpie) flying off.
A minute later we saw a crow chasing the sharpie into a tree just to the
east, and then from there it flew back over the feeders and out of
site.
No warbler ... yet. I will have to try again next weekend.
Well... at least he got to see a hawk? And now I know where the hawk went
after I stopped photographing it. But I hope he comes back and sees the
warbler.
Later: Whoa! FeederWatch has posted the rare birds for this season. We're there:
http://birds.cornell.edu/pfw/DataRetrieval/RareBird/RareBirds05.htmI need to get them a better photo.
This is from a USDA Forest Service website, a page about Deschutes & OchocoBlack-throated Blue Warbler (Dendroica caerulescens)
RANGE: Southeast Canada to Georgia, wintering in M.America, the Caribbean and rarely in the U.S.
The main migration occurs along the east coast. A rare but regular visitor to Oregon during the
fall months.
STATUS: Not a protected species
HABITAT: Upland deciduous and mixed conifer forests with a dense understory, rhododendron
bogs, partially cleared forest. Strongest Oregon nesting habitat associations in (1) Jeffery pine
forest and woodland, (2) Conifer woodland and Siskiyou Mountains shrubland on serpentine bedrock,
(3) Douglas-fir-white-fir-tanoak-madrone mixed forest, (4) Douglas-fir-white oak forest, (5) Mixed
conifer-mixed deciduous forest, (6) Siskiyou Mountains mixed deciduous forest, and (7) White oak
forest.
NEST: Breeds in dense forests in southeast Canada south to Georgia, nest is built in a shrub,
or small tree of bark, pithy wood, grass, leaves, pine needles, moss, lined with hair, rootlets ect.
FOOD: Forages for insects among the forest understory, gleans insects and dormant insects from bark.
IN CENTRAL OREGON: Uncommon spring and fall migrant and summer resident, with reports widely
scattered throughout the region. Spring migrants begin arriving in early April and are reported
primarily from major riparian corridors, such as Tumalo Creek, Deschutes River, and Indian Ford
Creek. By early to mid-June, birds may be on local breeding grounds. Only one confirmed breeding
record for the region, from Frederick Butte area of southeast Deschutes and northeast Lake Counties.
However, probable breeding records are numerous and range into mid-July. The species is believed to
breed in two distinct habitats in the region, juniper woodland in the east and mixed-conifer forest
in the west. Believed to nest annually in the Millican River Canyon and on the east slope of Green
Ridge, as well as along the Jefferson Lake Trail. Fall records extend rather late, with migrants
reported into mid-October.
REFERENCES: Adamus et al. 2001, Bent 1953a, Griscom and Sprunt 1979, Miller 1999,
Phillips et al. 1964, Shunk 2004.
I found this a while back, actually, but couldn't quite take it in. I still can't. It appears
to claim that black-throated blue warblers may be breeding in central Oregon forests.
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 9TH
Spine and I still send each other e-mails about birds during our workdays. The messages don't
always start out being about birds, but they generally end that way. I've cut out all but the
last of the preliminary, non-bird portion of this exchange, so if you feel like this is the
middle of something... it is. (Also, if you want to receive forwards of future discussion-worthy
e-mails sent by Glenda, let me know).
From: Fine, Jonathan
Sent: Wednesday, February 09, 2005 11:00 AM
To: Susan Sterne
Subject: RE: Ianthe Mugglestone
Glenda has a writing style that I'm quite familiar with. It's quite popular, in fact.
After all, why say "Ianthe is a part-time student at Reed college" when you can say
"Ianthe attends Reed college on a part-time basis"?
Yes, lunch/Stokes! Let's do that. Your suggestion works for me...Typhoon, was it?
I had an appointment with my chiropractor/healer guy this morning. Afterwards I sat
in my car for a few minutes looking at robins and sparrows (house and song) in the
bushes next door. I keep my 16X binocs in my glove compartment for such occasions.
From: Susan Sterne
Sent: Wednesday, February 09, 2005 11:04 AM
To: Fine, Jonathan
Subject: RE: Ianthe Mugglestone
No varied thrush? Strange. ... Sounds like a good use of 16x binocs.
11:45 at Typhoon tomorrow with Stokes. Good. Extremely delicious chocolate truffle
from Teuscher across the street for dessert's on me if you are willing to ingest such
a thing.
From: Fine, Jonathan
Sent: Wednesday, February 09, 2005 11:09 AM
To: Susan Sterne
Subject: RE: Ianthe Mugglestone
I might be able to endure such a truffle, having fortified my immune system yesterday
with carrot-beet-kale-cabbage-apple juice.
It occurred to me that even though I'm still very much a beginning birder (and will
probably remain that way), I can now walk through neighborhoods and easily identify
many of the birds I see. I like that. I want to do the same with trees.
Didja see Ruth this morning?
From: Susan Sterne
Sent: Wednesday, February 09, 2005 11:14 AM
To: Fine, Jonathan
Subject: no longer RE: Ianthe Mugglestone
I heard Ruth "tsip"ing as I went outside at 6:55 with her dish of peanut butter. Since
I was a few minutes late today (in both clock time, and as measured from sunrise, which
is when I've been trying to get it out there), I figured she was complaining about the
delay. Her call is extremely distinct to me now. I don't know if there are other warblers
with similar calls, but of the birds in my yard, only she sounds like that.
I also saw her while I was eating breakfast, as she waited her turn at the peanut butter
with the golden-crowned sparrows. She also hopped about, investigating the ground
beneath the boxwood. She didn't go to the hummingbird feeder that I saw, but it's
something that she's still doing.
No visitors on the log since Saturday. But several e-mails requesting directions,
including one from Paul Sullivan, one of Portland's most respected birders.
From: Fine, Jonathan
Sent: Wednesday, February 09, 2005 11:17 AM
To: Susan Sterne
Subject: RE: no longer RE: Ianthe Mugglestone
The Paul Sullivan?
From: Susan Sterne
Sent: Wednesday, February 09, 2005 11:18 AM
To: 'Fine, Jonathan'
Subject: RE: no longer RE: Ianthe Mugglestone
Fuck you!
I think this is now post-able. Thanks.
Arrived home tonight to discover that three visits were logged today - but no Paul Sullivan.
So, late Wednesday night, I decided I couldn't deal with the Deschutes & Ochoco National
Forest website claiming black-throated blues in Oregon (reported Monday). Their website
included a link to "ask a biologist"... so I did:
Date: Wed, 09 Feb 2005 22:45:57 -0800
To: Shane Jeffries
From: Susan Sterne
Subject: Ask A Biologist
This is an odd question, perhaps.
I have a female black-throated blue warbler visiting my back yard feeders in Portland
this winter. I have been led to believe (by range maps in numerous field guides, printed
and online, as well as by the 100+ Oregon birders who have been to my yard to see it)
that this is an unusual bird to see in Oregon.
The website for the Deschutes & Ochoco National Forests (wildlife, birds, perching
birds, warblers) seems to say that these warblers are breeding there - in central Oregon.
Really? Black-throated blues breeding here in Oregon? There's hope for my so-called
vagrant's reproductive future, yet!
Or?
If you could provide any additional details, I'd be most grateful.
Subject: Re: Ask A Biologist
To: Susan Sterne
Cc: Steve Shunk
From: Shane Jeffries
Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2005 09:04:58 -0800
The "in central oregon" sections of the bird information was prepared by a
local birder named Steve Shunk of Paradise Birding. Steve is one of the
most knowledgeable birders in the area. I have cc'd a copy of your
comments to Steve in hopes that he might be able to share more information
about this species. Thanks for your interest!
Shane Jeffries
Forest Wildlife Biologist
Deschutes National Forest
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11TH
To: Shane Jeffries, Susan Sterne
From: Steve Shunk
Subject: Re: Ask A Biologist
Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 17:56:47 GMT
Hi Susan and Shane,
Thanks for bringing this to our attention, Susan. This is a gross
misprint on the web site. The account for Black-throated Blue in Central
Oregon should be under Black-throated GRAY warbler. You will note that
there is nothing listed under "In Central Orgeon" for the BT Gray.
Shane - if you could have them delete the account for the BT Blue and move
the In Central Oregon paragraph to the BT Gray, this will clear things up.
The BT Blue is a very rare bird in Oregon, although there a number of
records (mostly from Malheur Refuge). It breeds in the east of N America
and doesn't even make it across the boreal forest like many other
"eastern" warblers.
Thanks!
Steve
I trust not to hope, for it has forsaken the Deschutes & Ochoco National Forest.
Meanwhile, Ruth continues to enjoy her peanut butter in my yard (we just opened the
third jar), and was visited by several enthusiasts today.
I spent some time trying to photograph Ruth again. At this I failed. But I did take this
photo of a song sparrow:
There was also an update to the birder gallery for a man wearing very bad aviator
sunglasses who seemed creepy, until I went out and talked to him. He was actually
quite pleasant. I was sort of drunk from having downed 2/3 of a big bottle of Stone
Brewery barley wine over lunch, but that is no reflection on him.
The warbler situation has decidedly stabilized. I see her before I leave for work, sometimes a birder comes by, etc. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17TH I'm still reading OBOL a few times a day, so I was able to follow a thread on the topic of birder behavior at private sites where rare birds are located. This thread was sparked by the falcated duck that's visible from an RV park in Coburg. (A falcated duck is an asian species that is almost never seen in N. America.) Apparently, the RV park owners have (perhaps?) complained that some birders haven't followed their rules, or haven't been considerate of RV park guests, or maybe even knocked over a fence. OBOL responded to this news with a fierce debate, with some participants suggesting small cash donations, others claiming the RV park owner was scamming them, others pleading for falcated duck photos to be delivered to the RV park forthwith. One person volunteered to repair the fence. Another wrote that the fence has been in need of repair for several years. My favorite was the one that objected strenuously to paying to see rare birds on private lands for economic reasons: "Eventually it will no longer be all birders looking at rare birds, but only wealthy birders looking at rare birds on private lands. Right now that distinction is only noticeable by brands of optics owned and vehicles arrived in, not access to our native birds."For a birding list, it was getting really interesting. But I stray... one of the main points was that birders should behave when visiting rarities on private property. Here's an interesting suggestion for keeping birders polite that particularly caught my eye:
We are not the first to find pleasure in sighting birders. Also posted to OBOL on Thursday:
In response to which I received several e-mails from warbler-seekers over the next two days. One of them referred to my "pet warbler." Another revealed that he'd be attending services at the nearby Mennonite church anyway, so he thought he might as well stop by. There's a Mennonite church in my neighborhood?? FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 18TH
From: Susan Sterne I thought my little flock of golden-crowned sparrows had moved on for spring (and I do so love the idea of having a flock of something!)... but then they returned yesterday, in full force of at least 7. They were there again today, rushing about, fat & round, flighty, slightly belligerant at the peanut butter. Using the bird bath. I have very warm feelings towards my GCSPs. Sparked by an OBOL post with a link to a "bird's eye view" of somewhere, I located this arial shot of my block:
This may explain the birdiness of my yard. Look at how it is a small clearing entirely surrounded by a surprising # of largish trees compared to surrounding blocks and houses. From the air, this is very likely quite appealing to birds, at least in comparison to other nearby choices. When I came home, I found that not only had the Canadian gentleman come and seen the warbler, Pete had taken his picture. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 19TH
Spine and I went to Smith & Bybee Lakes this morning. We've done this before - but not so often that we know what we're going to see. For instance, today we saw an orange-crowned warbler, the very species that I thought Ruth might be, back on the first day I saw her. After that, I went to work; and while I was at work, many birders came to my house. Page five filled up. One of them reported his visit on OBOL (although Ruth didn't rate the headline):
Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2005 11:50:01 -0800 I'm not kidding you - I really think Pete & I just saw two orange-crowned warblers in our yard. We saw one on the suet feeder at first - it was there long enough for me to get an inconclusive, dark photo, but no longer. Then I saw two of them in the tree; then they flew on. I'm freaking out. I thought it was Ruth at first ... they are not so dissimilar - mostly unmarked greenish birds - until I saw how yellow this warbler's underside was, and then I saw the eye area, which is so distinctive on Ruth.... etc. etc. Just like yesterday. Anyway, here's the inconclusive, dark photo (Pete said: "It's like Nessie."):
Just got a better one - blurry, but (I think) pretty clearly an orange-crowned warbler. It's got that distinctive black line through the eye. And it's definitely not Ruth:
I'm not so sure I saw two of them, though. Last Sunday comment: towards dusk, I saw Ruth tak |
