OREGON & WASHINGTON 
Yet another Acorn Woodpecker, this one at Bend 
21 May (D. Fagan), wandered e. of the Cascades. 
This is just the 2nd spring bird away from the Region's 
known colonies; most extralimital reports have come 
Sep-Nov. Prior to 2003, there were about 1 2 records from 
e. Oregon (Birds of Oregon: A Genera! Reference) and just 
one Washington record away from the isolated outpost at 
Lyle, Klickitat. Since then, 8 more Acorns have been de- 
tected e. of the Cascades, 2 in Washington and 6 in Ore- 
gon (includes one from Jun 2009), and there have been 3 
in w. Washington, where none had occurred prior to 2005. 
By most accounts. Acorn Woodpeckers are declining 
across much of their range, particularly in California 
where fungal disease ("Sudden Oak Death") is taking a 
heavy toll on several oak species and other mature stands 
are failing to regenerate (Eric Walters, pers. comm.). One 
must wonder if these strays are prospectors from local 
populations or, perhaps, refugees from farther afield 
the Yakima area, one appeared there 1 Mar 
(fide Denny Grandstrand); this species is still 
rare away from Klickitat on Washington’s 
eastside. Washington’s 8th Costa’s Humming- 
bird enlivened Mt. Vernon, Skagit 16 may 
(ph. T. Derrer); all but two records have been 
from spring, with most occurring in May. An- 
other male Costa’s was at Bend, where annu- 
al, 27 May (LM). Approximately 35 Calliope 
Hummingbirds were noted from the westside, 
including a record-high 8 in w. Washington 5- 
29 Apr; increased observer effort and aware- 
ness likely explains the fairly dramatic in- 
crease of such reports over the past decade. 
Western Washington observers enjoyed 
Lewis’s Woodpeckers for the 6th consecutive 
spring, with singles at Snoqualmie, King 10- 
17 May 0 - Tubbs) and Corkingdale, Skagit 15 
May (RM); one at Helmick S.P., Polk 3 May 
was the only w. Oregon report Q- Plissner). 
No Red-naped Sapsuckers were reported on 
the westside, but single Red-naped Sapsucker 
X Red-breasted Sapsucker hybrids were de- 
tected at Juanita Park, King 26 Apr-21 May 
(RM) and County Line Ponds, Skagit 15 May 
(RM); in many cases, apparent Red-naped 
Sapsuckers w. of the Cascades have proven to 
be this cross. 
FLYCATCHERS THROUGH WAXWINGS 
Most of the spring record 11 Least Flycatch- 
ers were found at presumed breeding sites in 
e. Washington 13-29 May; singles at Bamaby 
Slough, Skagit 14 May OA) and South Prairie, 
Pierce 27 May (CW) were in w. Washington, 
which had but two antecedent spring records. 
A Hammond’s Flycatcher at Skagit W.M.A. 8 
Apr QB-P) and another at Marymoor Park, 
King 9 Apr (MH) were the two earliest on 
record for Washington; this species typically 
arrives there in late Apr. Ten Dusky Flycatch- 
ers in w. Oregon 25 Apr-1 May was about av- 
erage following last spring’s record 19, while 
7 Duskies in the w. Washington lowlands 8- 
30 May was unprecedented. Washington’s 
12th Black Phoebe appeared at North Cove, 
Pacific 7 May (tTA, TB, R. Fleming); this 
northward-expanding species has been 
recorded in eight of the past nine years in 
Washington. Twenty-eight Say’s Phoebes 
reached the westside 1 Mar-5 Apr, including 
maxima of 3 at Eugene 1 Mar (V Thompson) 
and at the Sandy R. mouth 21 Mar (DM); 10 
in Washington was down from last year’s 
record 24 but still well above that state’s his- 
toric average — about 2 per spring prior to 
2004. A spring record 6 Ash-throated Fly- 
catchers were n. and w. of normal 9-31 May; 
4 were in the WV, where less than annual, 
while one at Marblemount, Skagit 9 May QA, 
M. Slovin) adds to about 20 prior w. Wash- 
ington records. The lone coastal bird inhabit- 
ed Langlois, Curry 20-26 May (LM, KA). A 
Western Kingbird near Pateros, Chelan 28 
Mar (Y Blitz) was about four weeks early. 
Westerns flooded into Oregon 20 Apr+, as ev- 
idenced by 20 near Glide, Douglas 21 Apr 
OH) and 7 in the Langlois-Cape Blanco area 
29 Apr (KA, LM). Although they do not nest 
locally, 20 or more northbound kingbirds vis- 
it the outer coastal pasturelands near Cape 
Blanco in most years; this season, nearly 30 
were tallied 9 Apr+ (TR, TJW et al.). Seven 
westside Loggerhead Shrikes was more than 
double the seasonal norm; all but 2 occurred 
4-29 Mar. A late bird, at New L. in mid-May 
(D. Pitkin, R. McKenzie), provided just the 
2nd spring record for heavily birded Coos. 
Washington 3rd Bell’s Vireo (all since 
2005) was discovered at Sun Lakes/Dry Falls 
S.R, Grant 21 May (tDS, BS); the bird’s col- 
oration was consistent with the nominate 
(eastern) subspecies. The season’s only Blue 
jays were on the eastside; one was at Walla 
Walla 18 Apr (P Fisher), and another, discov- 
ered at Bums 21 May (LM), had apparently 
been present for months. A modest popula- 
tion of Western Scrub-Jays persists in the 
Yakima Valley between Prosser, Benton and 
Yakima, with 4 reported from this area 27 
Mar-30 May (fide DG). Multiple flocks of 
Clark’s Nutcrackers, which first irrupted into 
the e. Washington lowland during the winter 
months, remained in Yakima well into Apr; 17 
were still in Wenas Valley 8 Apr, and 30 in- 
habited the lower Nile Valley 13 Apr Q- Koz- 
ma). Two Sky Larks, likely wanderers from 
the remnant introduced population on s. Van- 
couver I., B.C., were at American Camp, San 
Juan L, Island 21 May (fide CW); this is the 
first reliable report in the Region in more than 
a decade. The former population at American 
Camp, estimated to be 12-60 pairs during the 
1970s and 1980s, was apparently extirpated 
in the late 1990s (Wahl et al. 2005. Birds of 
Washington). A Bank Swallow at Astoria 31 
Mar (MP) was nearly a month early for the 
westside. The presence of 100 Banks at 
Hopewell, Whatcom 25 May (fide CW) likely 
signifies yet another colony in w. Washington, 
where there are now at least six active; in 
1991, there was just one westside Bank Swal- 
low colony in the Region. Five Mountain 
Chickadees, remnants from a modest winter 
irruption, lingered in the lowlands of w. 
Washington; the latest was at Marymoor Park 
16 Apr (B. Bell). 
Single Rock Wrens s. of Florence 19 May 
(DF HH), at Finley 20-22 May (MM, WDR), 
and near Lebanon, Linn 21 May 0- Harding) 
were in the w. Oregon lowlands, where not 
annual. An additional stray was at the summit 
of Mary’s Peak, Benton 20 May (RHo); while 
highly unusual, these sightings mirror a simi- 
lar incursion during spring 2007. Several vet- 
eran observers noticed a dearth of Canyon 
Wrens across much of e. Washington; resi- 
dent populations may well have been deplet- 
ed during the prolonged period of snow cov- 
er and sub-freezing temperatures that hit the 
Region during late Dec 2008. A rare westside 
Canyon Wren was near Home Valley, Skama- 
nia 19 Apr-5 May (SJ, C. Flick); a spate of re- 
cent records suggests that this species may be 
regular in e. Skamania. Less than annual in 
The discovery of 4 gray-capped Bushtits (sub- 
species plumbeus) sw. of Moses L., Grant 4 Apr 
(DS) temporarily ends speculation about the demise of a 
tiny disjunct population that was last reported 10 km n. of 
this site in 2004. Although gray-capped birds (plumbeus 
group) inhabit much of the interior of the w. United 
States, the n. edge of their range, which reaches s.-cen. 
Oregon and se. Idaho, is at least 400 km s. of this locale. 
Most of the Region's Bushtits are brown-capped (minimus 
group) and reside w. of the Cascade Crest. Generally 
speaking, major mountain ranges isolate these sub- 
species groups from one another, thus their ranges typi- 
cally do not overlap. However, brown-capped birds cur- 
rently reside e. of the Cascades in the upper Yakima Valley, 
and specimens (housed in the Slater Museum of Natural 
History in Tacoma) of both the plumbeus and californicus 
(brown-capped) subspecies were collected during the 
1950s near Mabton, Yakima (DP, pers. comm.). Since 
Bushtits are sedentary, the source of the current plumbeus 
population in Grant is unknown, and it is unclear how 
long it has been present. 
VOLUME 63 (2009) • NUMBER 3 
495 
