Hi Tweeters,

For well over three years the Yakima Herald-Republic has printed the Bird
Alert article about birds that are seen in the general Yakima Area in the
Thursday Outdoors section. I wrote it for over 2 1/2 years, then I talked
John Hebert into taking it over. He has done a great job with it. This
week, though, I pinch-hit for him, since he was on vacation. I had a very
interesting call from a longtime acquaintance, which it related in the bird
alert. I would like to share it with you. I hope you enjoy it.


Bird Alert for February 10, 2005

The following is a true story. The names have been omitted to
protect the innocent. Last week this writer received a call from an old
acquaintance (actually, the person wasn?t old, the acquaintance was)
reporting a bird in her yard that she and her husband couldn?t
identify. The bird was described as a fairly large, red bird with a black
tail and a head like a pigeon.
My curiosity was immediately piqued (definition number three
in the Random House Webster?s College Dictionary, 1999, which I think is
the standard usage of the word; the first two definitions relate to
irritation, resentment and wounding, which don?t fit this scenario.) This
writer was definitely excited at the prospects of a rare bird chase, only
three miles from home, involving a red bird with a black tail and a head
like a pigeon. There are not a lot of birds in North America that fit that
description. Just thumb through a bird book and try to find one. You
won?t. Believe me, I tried.
Well, when I asked her if it was okay for me to stop by her
house in the morning, she said it would probably be gone by then. So I
said I would come over as soon as my mom left after dinner. Even birders
have proper social etiquette when their mothers are concerned.
All during dinner, I could barely control my thoughts. A red
bird with a black tail and a head like a pigeon was waiting for me. How
could anyone concentrate on dinner? Right now I couldn?t even tell you
what I had for dinner that night. Actually, that is not unusual. I can
hardly remember what I had for dinner last night, let alone last week. My
wife occasionally reminds me what we had for dinner at a restaurant ten
years ago. How do women do that? But, I digress.
Well, Mom soon left and I rushed off, binoculars and digital
camera in hand. I must admit that I hurried over to my friend?s house, if
you get my drift.
When I parked in my friend?s driveway, she was waiting at the
front door. Her husband saw my binoculars around my neck and said I
wouldn?t need them because I could get within eight feet or so of the
bird. It sounded like the identification was going to be easier than I
thought. How many birders can get within eight feet of a red bird with a
black tail and a head like a pigeon? In Yakima?
It was with great expectations that I followed the two of them
out into the backyard. It just kept rushing through my mind ? a red bird
with a black tail and a head like a pigeon. What could it be? A new bird
on the Washington State list? Possibly a new species for North America? I
could hardly imagine!
We soon arrived at the roost tree. Up in the tree, about
seven feet off the ground, sat a red, well, actually more like orange, bird
with a black tail
and a . . . well, not hardly pigeon head. More like a chicken head. It
WAS a chicken!
British birders have a term for chasing a rare bird. They
call it a ?twitch?. They say you ?twitch? a rare bird. Well, I had just
twitched a chicken. I just hope my binos and camera don?t hold it against me!
Another Barred Owl was seen in our area on Saturday. This one
is at a house off Gore Road north of Selah. A photo of it, and the
chicken, can be seen in the ?New Photos? folder at: granstrand.net .



I just checked my website. The chicken photo was looked at 31 times today
but the Barred Owl photo only got about 10 visitors. Go figure!

Denny


* Denny Granstrand *
* Yakima, WA *
* dgranstrand at charter.net *
* Denny's bird photos can be seen online at: *
http://granstrand.net/gallery/