On Fri, 7 Nov 1997 Linda Roehr wrote:

> I live in Gig Harbor. ... I've had a (just one) white-throated sparrow
> wintering at our acres. ... Could this be the same bird each year?

Here on the south margin of Olympia I had a White-throated Sparrow
frequent my backyard last winter (and the winter before, I believe).
When I first posted a message to Tweeters about the bird (I was
excited about it when it first showed up), Steve Herman posted a message
about how rare they were once considered here on the west coast.

The story was about a woman in California who wanted Steve to come
over to her house to capture a hawk that was a threat to the rare
sparrow. Steve got there too late, the hawk had gotten the sparrow and
the woman was quite angry. The story is hardly worth my retelling because
I have forgotten the important details like some stuff concerning the great
stature of this woman in the community. But anyway, at least one point
that could be taken away from the story was that a once very rare bird
in this part of the country has become rather usual in many places.
Hardly anyone seems to perk up to White-throated Sparrow sightings
anymore.

I may not see the bird in my backyard this year. I had a recent
conversation with Ron Jurek of California Fish and Game who described
in some detail his aversion to people's habit for feeding wildlife.
He sent me a couple of articles he has written on the subject and how bad
feeding can be for wildlife. With these philosophological issues and the
cats around my place, I just can't bring myself to put out the bird
seed this year. And I really do enjoy watching the birds out of my
window as I putter about the kitchen.

Kelly McAllister