Subject: Wenatchee Hoary Redpoll 19 Jan 2002
Date: Jan 19 20:04:08 2002
From: David Beaudette - drtbrdr at earthlink.net


My morning walk today was at Wenatchee Riverfront Park. The weather was
sunny and above freezing. Two noteworthy bird sightings:

One Hoary Redpoll in a flock of 80 Common Redpolls. These birds were perched
in several small oaks and were not feeding but sitting in the sun. I was
able to view the
Hoary at less than 20 feet.These birds came and went several times over five
minutes.
The all white rump was very easy to see on the Hoary-perched and in flight.
The Hoary had
unstreaked undertail coverts, lightly streaked flanks, a very light buffy
wash to the breast and
was very pale on the upperparts. The face of the Hoary was pale with a
brownish tinge.The
Hoary was also a little larger than the Common Redpoll it was perched very
near. The Hoary's
bill looked shorter and thicker than that of the Common Redpoll.The white
wing bars were
wider than on the Commons. Although perhaps not useful for ID...at one point
the Commons
took off and the Hoary stayed behind for a few moments then took off. The
Hoary's calls were
definitely softer than the very hard chid..chid...chid of the Commons. The
Hoary was a softer
chiff...chiff...chiff.
I don't know of any feeders in this area.

One Hermit Thrush was calling at the edge of the lawn near some brush very
close to the
redpoll activity.

To reach this site: From downtown Wenatchee, head east -towards the river-
on
Orondo Avenue, turn right on Worthen St, then go about .2 mile then left
into the park.
The oaks were along the first parking strip on the right.

Good Birding,
Dave Beaudette
Wenatchee