Tweeters readers,

Today, I participated in the North American Migration Count in northern
Skagit County and witnessed something that I've never seen before.

Walking along the trail in three separate areas (about a half-mile to a mile
apart) I stopped to see what I could pish out of the brambles. We all know how
susceptible Song Sparrows are to pishing, so I wasn't surprised to see them.
What surprised me was that the sparrows leaped out of the bushes and landed on
the trail, lifted their wings as high as it appeared they could, and started
walking around in circles in front of me and then walked away, with their
wings still raised.

Has anyone ever seen this behavior before? I would guess that it was a
distraction display of sorts. It worked, because I was certainly distracted!

Joe Meche
Birding Programs Coordinator
North Cascades Audubon
Bellingham, WA