10/4/04, Monday
Tweeters,

At a few minutes before 1 p.m. today, I was sitting in front of my bird
watching window in Seattle watching about 5 Chestnut-backed Chickadees
take turns in the freshly cleaned birdbath when they were joined by what
looked exactly like a Mountain Chickadee. The white eyebrows stunned me,
but I tried to notice as much as possible before the bird disappeared
into nearby shrubs. It was larger than the Chestnut-backed and had the
gray back of a Black-capped, which have been noticeably absent in my
yard this summer. In fact, it looked like a Black-capped except for the
eyebrows, which were not as bold as I?ve seen, but still distinct,
symmetrical and quite apparent. I did not observe the buffy flanks. I
was watching out the window because it had been active. A GC Kinglet
with the Chickadees and Bushtits was trying to get into the bath?I
haven?t seen them in quite a while, not since juveniles this spring, I
believe. Also, my first Junco of the fall had a great bath, hotly
contested by a pair of House Sparrows who appeared to dislike the notion
of sharing with yet another species. I?d appreciate any input on the
likelihood of MOCH or hybrids in north Seattle at about 1000? above of
Carkeek Park. The sky was recently clear after heavy morning fog and
temperature 55?F following a colder than usual night.

Patricia S. Lott
Seattle, WA
mail to: VariedThrush at comcast.net

P.S. Alan heard our first fall Varied Thrush in the yard on Saturday.