After all of the speculation about where have all the Varied Thrushes
gone (yeah, yeah, long time passing) I thought it was time to check out
what I've always found to be their favorite hangout in my neighborhood.
There's a madrone "forest" on the SW slope of Cougar Mountain at about
1000 ft. elevation - ~10 acres of almost exclusively madrone trees
(scattered cedars) with an understory of wild hazelnuts and oregon grape
(typical "dry" Western Washington vegetation) in which I can usually
find quite a number of Varied Thrushes at this time of the year.

I checked this area Sunday morning 12/7 around 0900, and was not
disappointed - I counted no less than 15 Varied Thrushes (mostly on the
ground); HUNDREDS of Robins and 20 Bohemian Waxwings (mostly in the
trees) in the grove, all feeding on a massive crop of madrone berries.
Song and tree sparrows, juncos, rs towhees, California quail and a wren
(unidentified) on the ground as well; and a brown creeper and rb
nuthatches in the trees. Also evidence of bear, raccoons and coyotes
feeding on the fallen berries. Surprising lack of raptors with the easy
pickings here - this is usually a great spot for both Sharpies and
Coopers.

The thrushes might be a little late coming down from the higher
elevations, but then the snow level has only recently dropped below
3000' in the Cascades. The lack of significant intense storms has also
allowed a large amount of the madrone berry crop to remain on the trees,
accomodating the fashionably late arrival (it's an El Nino year after
all) of the birds.

Good Birding!

Rob Conway
Cougar Mtn (Bellevue) WA
robin_conway at hotmail.com

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