Hi Tweets,

Bob Mauritsen posed a question about a mystery bird at
the Big Ditch Access just S of the Skagit area. Going by his de-
scription of "first impression a large, plump female house finch"
and mention of a prominent eyestripe I'd guess it was a female
Purple Finch. I've seen them at the exact spot he describes. They're
fond of the tiny fruit of the Pacific Crabapple trees (erroneously
reported as Hawthorns by the person who saw the Bohemian Waxwings
there) and the finches calmly sit and munch away.
At the end of that trail where it meets the bay was a
Swamp Sparrow on Sunday. Finding it was a real thrill as it was
the first I've seen in Washington after many attempts at chasing
other's finds. I had a good although brief (approx 25 seconds) look
at it before it flew into the marsh. No amount of pishing could make
it come out for my friend Scott to see. I felt a little bad for
him as I certainly know the feeling of having just missed a bird.
We made up for it though by finding the Waterthrush at the Skagit
WRA and watching it in the scope for as long as we wanted. It
was certainly more of a show than I'd expected from the normally
reticent little guy. It pays to get out of bed in the morning
I guess, you never know which days are gonna be the lucky ones.

Jim Flynn
Renton, WA
bf519 at scn.org