On my way back from South Bend I spotted a very bright yellow
breasted Kingbird perched on a wire. I quickly found a place to turn
around and went back to investigate this bird. It had remained where I
first observed it and when I looked through my binoculars, I knew I had
found a Tropical Kingbird. I had the opportunity to see Tropical Kingbirds
in Costa Rica last March and I feel confident in identifying the bird as a
Tropical Kingbird. It had the large thick bill, bright yellow breast and
under parts with no graying of the upper breast, gray head, dark mask,
mostly white throat, grayish olive back, no white on the outer tail feather
and a notch in the tail (although a rather scraggly one). I was able to
put my scope up and observe it for about 10 minutes before it flew off to a
post in the field. The location of the kingbird is about 3-4 miles on the
west side of South Bend. Highway 101 is very straight for a long ways and
then turns to the left. The kingbird was on the wires just at the sign
showing the curve approaching. There is a wooden coral and a metal gate on
the right side of the road and also a metal gate on the left side of the
road. I hope someone else has the good fortune of finding the bird. I saw
the kingbird around 3PM on Monday Oct. 20th. I do have more complete notes
and a sketch if this species is regarded in Washington as a rare bird.
Also, on the way home I decided I need to stretch my legs and stopped at
the Lewis Unit of the Willapa NWR and walked out the dike at the lower end
of the bay. I did find a Northern Shrike at the place where the road rises
up onto the dike. A nice way to finish a good day of birding.

Henry Gilmore
Surfside, WA
hgilmore at willapabay.org