Subject: Wha'd I see?
Date: May 10 20:04:36 2002
From: Allyn Weaks - allyn. at tardigrade.net


This afternoon I got a brief glimpse of a birdie in flight, and I can't
find anything in Sibley that has anything like what I saw, which was
really only the tail of the bird.

My guess at size is a little smaller than a starling, but it might have
been as small as a little bigger than a sparrow. My impression at the
time was that I was seeing the underside, but I can no longer remember
why I thought so, so it might have been the back. Overall dark; there
was nothing about the wings or body to grab my attention compared to
the tail, which was black or near to it, fanned out in a part circle,
with one solid bright white stripe about half or two thirds of the way
to the tip. The white stripe was narrow compared to the tail length,
but not at all subtle. It was coming in to a landing in my bitter
cherry tree, but it landed behind some flower clusters, and in the time
it took me to look down and grab the binoculars, it had vanished
completely. Rude little guy...

Location is Seattle, greenwood neighborhood, in my small native plant
thicket with kiddie pool and fountain, which brings in more migrants
every year. This year I've been hearing quite a variety of new songs,
though I haven't been able to match any of them up with the singers yet.

Many thanks for any hints.
--
Allyn Weaks allyn at tardigrade.net
Seattle, WA Sunset zone 5
Pacific NW Native Wildlife Gardening: http://www.tardigrade.org/natives/