Hi Tweets,

This morning at 5am on Beacon Hill (Seattle), I awoke to a puzzling bird
song. The area is avifaunally depauperate, with abundant house sparrows,
starlings, rock doves and crows, plus the occasional house finch or
chickadee. Thus, the song really held my attention. It sounded like the
northern mockingbirds that have often awakened me at 5am at my sister's
house in San Jose CA -- a loud, repeated phrase followed by another,
entirely different, loud repeated phrase, and so on. I tried to turn the
song into a starling or even a jay, but I've found that both of these tend
to give themselves away after awhile. This bird continued to sound like a
mockingbird. My attempt to see the bird (it sounded like it was just
outside the window) was thwarted when my sleepy head came in solid contact
with the sloping attic bedroom wall, giving me a nice big lump on the
forehead and removing all chance of seeing clearly for awhile. The bird
moved away (but still seemed really loud for a long time), but I still think
it was a mockingbird. Anyone else seen or heard a mockingbird in the city
recently? Any dissenters on what the creature might've been?

Thanks,

Katie

Katie Sauter
King County DNR, Water and Land Resources
201 S. Jackson St., Suite 600
Seattle, WA 98104
(206) 296-0516
katie.sauter at metrokc.gov