I saw one today in the Eastgate area of Bellevue!! To make it even better, it was from the easy chair in my living room!

My lot borders a ravine and a wooded park, so I get a lot of what might be considered unusual yard birds (including a red-breasted sapsucker on my deck a week ago.) But this was a great one!

He (she?) was sitting quietly on a branch of a fir tree, casually looking around. He had his back to me first, giving me a great look at the "false eyes" on the back of his head. Then he turned around giving me fantastic front views through my scope. He first stretched out one leg, then the other, as if showing me all possible field marks.

All of a sudden, something caught his attention on the ground. He stretched his body up really tall (as tall as a pygmy can get), really elongating his body, and then dropped like a stone out of sight. I was glued to the window the rest of the day hoping he would come back, but I had been lucky enough for one day.

This is the second time I have seen a pygmy here (but that was several years ago). Sometimes I hear them tooting at night.

Christy Anderson
christyrae at hotmail.com
Bellevue, WA