Hi folks,

En route out of town yesterday, I stopped off for an hour to hunt down the Clay-colored
Sparrow out by the Olympia Cheese Factory. The male bird was still singing as of 9:30am
on Tuesday the 9th.

It was in a relatively open patch of Scot's Broom about 100m southwest of the far north-
eastern corner of the huge broom-covered clearcut that you access just north of the
cheese factory on Hogum Bay Road - north of the I-5 Marvin Road Exit (yes, Virginia,
I-5 *does* go east-west past Oly....)

The bird was staying pretty close in the brush, due to the 15-knot wind that was blowing, but
I got a few fair views. The voice is a sure give-away, though.... bzzzz-bzzzz-bzzzz

The few other birds I saw in my quick walk-in and out were:

Mallard
Glaucous-winged Gull
Red-tailed Hawk pair
Rufous Hummingbird
Band-tailed Pigeon
Red-shafted Flicker
Willow Flycatcher
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Pacific-slope W Flycatcher
Crow
Tree Swallow
Barn Swallow
Violet-green Swallow
Bewick's Wren
Winter Wren
Western Tanager
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Black-capped Chickadee
Bushtit
Common Yellowthroat
Spotted Towhee
Oregon Junco
Chipping Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Puget Sound White-crowned Sparrow
American Goldfinch
Cowbird
Starling

I was expecting, but didn't see any, Lazuli Buntings; if they're in, the wind might have
been keeping them in cover.

Brush Rabbits were everywhere - including a gut-pile or two near the Red-tail pair....

Jon. Anderson
Olympia, Washington
festuca at olywa.net