The scrub jays were still in West Seattle at 3:15 Saturday, 17 January.
Popped right out on to the telephone wires literally over the intersection of
35th Ave SW and SW 106th. Only one squawk, perhaps because of the wind.

Responding to an earlier thread, the first birds I saw this year were Carolina
Wrens (and the last bird last year the eastern bluebird, but I'm cheating
because I was in Atlanta, Georgia). Was awfully nice, though, listening to
the bluebird singing away.

While in Atlanta I saw a hawk I couldn't identify, and perhaps someone could
help. The shape was most like a Cooper's as it circled up until it was out of
sight (never flapping its wings). What puzzled me was that it appeared all
dark (the sun was behind it) except for a flash of white at the base of the
tail when the sun caught it just right. Could this be just the reflection of
the sun, as with crows? Has anyone ever noticed this with a Cooper's?

The wings were not as long proportional to the tail as the rough-legged, which
isn't supposed to be in Atlanta anyway, according to Peterson's eastern guide.
The Northern Harrier does winter in Georgia, but I thought they generally
stayed nearer the ground rather than soaring out of sight (if I had the
tail/wing length proportion all wrong).

Eric Stahlfeld
Burien, WA
StahlfeldE at aol.com