Hi Tweets,

Parked at Olympia Post Office this morning and had the pleasure
of a Scrub Jay about 15 feet in front of my truck, scratching
about in the beauty bark at the base of some ornamental
shrubs. Probably the best view of a Scrub Jay I have ever had
and it was gorgeous, a fine powder blue.

Proceeded to Mud Bay to look for Willets and Glaucous Gulls and
found neither but spent some quality time looking at 12 Greater
Yellowlegs and a wide variety of waterfowl. There was a Spotted
Sandpiper on the shoreline as well. I am getting as much
familiarity as possible with the Greater Yellowlegs so I will
be sure to know it when I encounter a Lesser Yellowlegs. I appreciated
all of the good Tweeter's help on distinguishing the two yellowlegs
and I went out and bought Dennis Paulson's book which has helped me feel
more confident about recognizing a number of different shorebirds.

Just saw Northwest Cable News coverage of Brambling in Portland.
Isn't Sherry Hagen a Tweeter? She was among those intrepid
rarities seekers featured in the piece. It was not that well
done, in my opinion. I guess my only complaint is the lead-in
referred to a "Brown Finch" and the term "Brambling" almost got
buried because the reporters were apparently so certain that
the term would be lost on most listeners (which is, perhaps, true)
but I would like to see accepted bird names come into more common
usage (except Oldsquaw, of course) and it could start on the televsion
news.

Kelly McAllister