[obol] Tanagers et al

[Grant Canterbury]

This has definitely been one of the most impressive spring migration seasons I can remember here in Portland.  I started seeing the tanagers come through May 5, with about a half dozen of them in a single tree.  I stopped on the sidewalk and watched them for several minutes, drawing curious looks from passersby which changed to interested excitement when I pointed out the brilliant birds dripping off the tree.  That was the most Western Tanagers I had ever seen in one place, but proved to be only a warmup act.  The last few days there have been swarms of them; this morning I probably heard and saw twenty to thirty in the course of walking three blocks to the bus stop, one tree having five of them visible at once on a single dead branch.  Two or three weeks ago there were Yellow-rumped Warblers seemingly in every tree, by dozens and hundreds.  The past week has brought large numbers of Wilson's Warblers, Orange-crowned Warblers, and Warbling Vireos.  I too have been wondering whether the cooler weather this year is causing the bird movement to back up and/or redirect to the lower altitudes with the mountains having more extensive areas of snowpack than usual. 
 
- Grant Canterbury 
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