Sure sounds like a Northern Shrike, but the yellow-bellied bird must have
been something else. The shrike is a regular there; not so any
yellow-bellied bird of that general configuration.

Gene Hunn, Seattle.


At 09:20 AM 11/18/97 -0800, you wrote:
>Hello, Tweetsters. My husband, Steven, and I birded a bit this past
>weekend. Our report from Saturday early afternoon at The Fill is mostly a
>request for help: What was that little bird we saw: Gray with black tail
>and wings, white "windows" near tips of wings; a slight mask or horizontal
>line over eyes, but not a decided hook on beak? Steven said he saw quite
>a bit of yellow on the belly (I never did, but I didn't see it in optimum
>light); I thought I saw a white rump. We began to wonder if we saw two
>birds; could there have been both a Northern Shrike and a WEstern Kingbird
>at The Fill? Has anyone else seen either one (or something else) there
>recently? We also saw White-crowned and Golden-crowned Sparrows, we think
>a Marsh Wren, two Ring-necked Pheasants, some female (?) Northern
>Shovelers, Mallards, Am. Robins, and probably others I'm forgetting.
>Thanks in advance for any help with the mystery bird. Please reply to or
>cc me in your responses.
>Sunday in the Skagit Flats, we saw little, but one bird species surprised
>us: Ostriches! Someone is apparently farming them there. We also saw,
>at various parts of the Flats while we were driving around, Red-tailed
>Hawks, we think Rough-legged Hawks, Northern Harriers, a Bald Eagle, an
>American Kestrel, and our first sighting of Sunday, just west of I-5 near
>Conway, about 43 Swans in a fallow field. We still can't distinguish
>between Tundra and Trumpeter (even using all the pointers we've gathered
>recently), but we're guessing this group was either Tundra or a mixed
>flock. We saw larger flocks farther north and west, in fields we could
>not get close to in the car. If anyone else was in the area and can
>positively ID the Swans, I'd appreciate knowing your ID. --Anna and
>Steven Coles, Seattle, WA acoles at u.washington.edu
>
>
>