Tweeters:

It was really good weekend for birds up at Tiny's Land in n. Lake Stevens.
I had 44 species this morn, not bad for a site without open water or fields,
although we do have lots of edge and some cut-over areas.

The best bird was an early SWAINSON'S THRUSH, heard only but clearly three
times at our s.e. edge. This is about two weeks early, but notably this is
the third late April bird in 10 springs here. For us two LINCOLN'S SPARROWS
were newsworthy; they have been rare here. One was in the unlikely location
of a dense salmonberry patch in a small clearing amidst a tall W. Hemlock
forest. Behavioural highlight--I nearly got my head taken off by a BARRED
OWL. After all the discourse on this species on Tweeters, it might be of
interest that this bird responded to pishing (!) by coming right for me,
veering off only at the last second--I could feel the wing whoosh. That'll
wake you up! The bird was being mobbed by a berserk band of 6-8 Steller's
Jays, which has happened a number of times here, and a Am. Robin pair were
pretty upset about it, too. I figure the bird is probably nesting in the
vicinity. Also of note--a female Rufous Hummingbird collecting nesting
material. Hairy Woodpecker and Hutton's Vireo seem to be nesting at very
close range to the house.

And in the one that got away category--a very probable Nashville
Warbler--would have been our second only here--that just would not quite
cooperate enough 4/23. Through filtered sunlight I could not pick up
certain gray in the hood, although everything else seemed favorable.

WEEKEND HIGHLIGHTS

Rufous Hummingbird 6
Pacific-slope Flycatcher 4
Hammond's Flycatcher 1 (4/23 only)
Hermit Thrush 1
SWAINSON'S THRUSH 1 (4/24, early)
RC Kinglet 3
Orange-crowned Warbler 2
Yellow-r. Warbler 3
Townsend's Warbler 2
Black-throated Gray Warbler 5
Com. Yellowthroat 2 (4/23 only)
warbler, sp. 2
LINCOLN'S SPARROW 2
Evebeak 3, lots of Red Crossbills; juncos fading, Varied T gone

Scott Atkinson
Lake Stevens
mail to: scottratkinson at hotmail.com