Subject: Back yard birds and notes from Seward Park
Date: Nov 29 13:24:28 2003
From: Squeakyfiddle at aol.com - Squeakyfiddle at aol.com


In addition to the usual back yard winter suspects - the House Sparrows and
House Finches, Bushtits, chickadees, Bewick's Wrens, etc. - this year garden is
being graced with at least three Spotted Towhees and one Fox Sparrow. Neither
is a newcomer to the yard, but I've not seen either for a couple of years.
For a brief period Thanksgiving morning the fruit trees also came alive with
Pine Siskins. My records show that it's been 2 years since their last visit.

Earlier in the week on one of the side trails in Seward Park (entry at Lake
Washington Blvd and So. Orcas Street) a Hermit Thrush popped out of the
underbrush to land directly at my feet. We both did classic cartoon double takes, I
froze and it whirled around and flew back into the brush. Had I not stopped
mid-stride I think I would have stepped on it. I continued my best imitation of a
tree, was able to relocate it and watched for about five minutes as it
foraged the leaf litter at the edges of the path before heading deeper into the
woods. This is a first sighting for me in the 5 years I've been regularly visiting
the park. Deeper in the park were Varied Thrushes, both kinglets, Bushtits,
Bewick's and Winter Wrens, Chestnut-backed Chickadees, nuthatches, towhees, and
Song Sparrows. I heard the eagles but couldn't locate them. Two good sized
owl pellets under a tree very near the origin of one of the main trails were a
nice compensation.

Catherine Alexander
Lakewood Neighborhood
South Seattle