I saw a bird yesterday, on the Artillary Impact Area of Fort Lewis, that really had me puzzled.
I ended up thinking it must have been an American Pipit. However, now that I've been through my
references, I'm thinking differently. When I initially saw it flush from the ground to perch in
a burnt up 12 foot tall Lodgepole Pine tree, I was thinking it might be a Townsend's Solitaire.
When I got the binoculars up, I saw the brown speckling all over the breast and belly and was really
puzzled. I thought it looked like a Thrasher.

I started taking mental notes of every field mark I could see. It had a white throat and black
mustache marks dropping down on either side of the white throat. Behind each mustache mark was
more white. The beak was quite long but not noticeably down-curved. I could see at least one wing
bar at the shoulder. I could also see a white spot at the outer edge of the tip of the tail. There
were no facial markings that I could see. No white above the eye. I had managed to approach to within
about 20 meters. I thought it must be a Pipit. But, the size didn't seem right. I have seen flocks of
Pipits nearly every year during the Olympia Christmas Bird Count, in the Nisqually Valley. This bird
seemed quite a bit larger. When it decided I had approached too close, it flew over to the top of a
pile of dirt and rock and perched there for a short time, then off to another distant spot on the ground.

When I got home, I started going through all of my bird references. I came to the conclusion that the
bird was likely a Sage Thrasher rather than a Pipit. I don't think there are likely many Sage Thrasher
occurrences known from western Washington.

I felt fortunate to be able to visit this portion of the artillary impact area which is seldom open to
entry to anyone, let alone people who aren't in the army.


Kelly McAllister
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife