More than once, Mr. Paulson has questioned my postings on Tweeters. In
most instances, upon reviewing or revisting my notes or the sight or the
bird if possible, he was correct.
This has helped me immensely improve my birding.

Mr. Paulson did not say Ellen was wrong, he was only pointing out these
birds were unusual for place and time and further documentation would
help us all learn more if indeed they were those birds.. A birder who is
afraid of someone or even themselves verifying their sightings isn't
doing themselves or birding any favors.
And I've found that until you're an old and crusty birder (i'm old but
not crusty), having someone question your identification can feel like a
personal slam. It is not.

Proper idenfication of birds and their behavior is science. Mr. Paulson
or any of us would be doing birding a disservice to accept all sightings
unchallenged when they are beyond normal parameters.

With our mild winter we've had some interesting sightings, so it is
certainly possible strange things were seen at Magnuson. When I see odd
things, I much prefer to have them verified by someone else. It makes me
feel better that maybe I'm an ok birder, and I've shared something
exciting with someone else. Of course, in Ellen's case, those peeps are
probably long gone. But if there once, who knows?

Keep birding and keep posting.

Oh, and the one time he was 'wrong' was a Fox Sparrow sighting at Spencer
Island where he emailed me that they would all be up in the mountains at
that time. Oh, and another time I posted about having an American Kestrel
lurking in the bushes near my greenhouse. He was 'right', Kestrels don't
lurk. Sharpshinned hawks do, though.

My anti-house sparrow feeders is working. Chickadees can get the seeds
easily, a few house finches have been successful, but the HSs just watch
woefully. (They don't look underfed though, just disappointed).

Douglas Daily, Patricia Federighi, Bargello
Northgate, Seattle, WA
mailto: dfdaily at juno.com