Hey Tweeters,
I birded today with Carol Schulz in Kent and Seattle in King County. We had
a few target birds, namely the possible Yellow-bellied Sapsucker in Kent, and
Hoary Redpolls in Seattle. We first attempted for the sapsucker, but on the
way stopped at 185th St. and saw:
250 American Wigeons
3 Eurasian Wigeons
1 EurasianxAmerican Wigeon hybrid
175 Northern Pintail
8 Long-billed Dowitchers
1 Lincoln's Sparrow

At 187th St., home of the infamous chicken farm, we had, among others:
3 Red-breasted Sapsuckers
4 Lincoln's Sparrows
2 Virginia Rails
1 Cooper's Hawk
1 Merlin
1 Peregrine Falcon
3 Purple Finches
80 Pine Siskins
Also a flock (consisting of ~30 birds) of possible redpolls flew overhead.

We then headed north to Marsh & Foster Islands, where we searched for quite a
while for redpolls without any success. We did have:
2 Red-breasted Sapsuckers
2 Anna's Hummingbirds
1 Evening Grosbeak
1 Virginia Rail
2 Brown Creepers
1500+ American Wigeons
2+ Eurasian Wigeons
1 Horned Grebe
Then, on our way out, at a viewing platform on Foster Island, we discovered a
sizable flock of redpolls to the south of the freeway in the distance. So we
viewed them from here for about 10 minutes. Most of the birds in this flock
were redpolls, but about 1/3 of them were American Goldfinches. There were
also 1 or 2 siskins mixed in with the 60+ Common Redpolls. We then walked
under the freeway and viewed them much closer (but still in bad light and in
a fairly inaccessible spot). There was certainly 1 or 2 *very* Hoaryish
looking redpolls in this flock, with no striping on the undertail coverts and
a very pale plumage overall, but I'm *not* going to make the call as we did
not get every plumage detail. Oh well!
Good birding to you all.

Charlie Wright, 13
Birdking88 at aol.com
Sumner, WA
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