Hey tweets, Congrats to all who found and saw the common greenshank in
California. My question is, where the heck did it stay in Washington on its
way down to California? Or is there a wormhole these rarities dive into,
only to pop out again in sunny CA? More to the point, where will these
birds stop on the way *back* to Siberia, when they will be in glorious
breeding plumage? How I would love to see a ruff on our coast, with the
foofy red, black or white ruffs shown in the bird books.

FYI, I had to go to a retreat in Leavenworth for the past three days and
got to bird Blackbird Island. A turkey vulture roost has been established
in trees surrounding the artificial pond in the middle of the island. It's
always neat to see bunches of vultures hunkered down and giving one the
eye. I also saw a Lincoln's sparrow, warbling vireo, red-eyed vireo, palm
warbler, many gray catbirds, and an osprey. I didn't get up Icicle Creek.
But in town, you can see the burned areas of forest, although there are
still plenty of trees immediately surrounding Leavenworth. I saw several
white-headed woodpeckers flying overhead; don't know if they and other
woodpeckers will do well once the burned wood begins to decay. I hope so -
that will be at least one good to come from so much destruction. - Connie,
Seattle

csidles at mail.isomedia.com