Hi Tweets -

I went down to the Packwood area today to see the Ovenbird. I arrived at
the location using Ken Knittle's great directions and George Gerdt's
flagging. As I stepped out of the car at 12:30 p.m. the Ovenbird was
singing almost overhead - sounded just like the tapes and CD. It sang
continuously, about every 30-45 seconds until about 1310.. Most of that
time it was on the north side of the road and anywhere from 30 to 100
feet into the forest. At 1310 it became much more quiet. At 1340 the
bird sang in the distance on the south side of the road.

I had refrained from playing a tape until then because I didn't want to
unnecessarily disturb the bird. At 1340 I played the tape once. The bird
worked it's way in singing from closer and closer locations. At 1345 I
had brief glimpses of the bird on the ground on the old "road" at the
flagging and in the Salal on the edges. I moved to try and take a
picture and the bird flew across the road into a Douglas Fir about 20
feet up and sang. From 1345 to 1410 the bird was quiet again.

At 1410 it began singing again every 2-3 minutes on the south side of
the road. At 1435 I flushed the bird from near the ground and it flew
about 5 feet up onto a branch. Excellent composite views over the next
30-45 seconds. I could see all the identifying features, and hopefully
got a couple of pictures.

Very satisfying experience with great weather. If you go, you need to
budget enough time to wait if the bird is not singing when you first
arrive. This bird slows down somewhat in the middle of the day, but
still remains active. By the way - when you make the transition from the
paved road to the gravel portion be careful of the big pothole just at
the edge of the pavement.

Good birding,

Brian H. Bell
Woodinville WA
bellasoc at isomedia.com
www.peregrinenorthwest.com