Hello Tweets and other birders,

Today my mother and I ventured down to Olympia to check on the Redwing and begin 2005 to a good start on New Years Day. We arrived to the regular location along Decatur Street just south of 4th Ave. at 8am and were soon joined by many other birders in search of the Redwing. Many of us enjoyed the company of conversation,as well as checking any and all trees for Am.Robins. By 8:30pm there were a good gathering of birders standing along Decatur Street then at 8:50am a call came in on our FRS radios announcing that the Redwing had been seen from an alleyway along Rogers Street just north of 5th Street. We all raced over to 5th Street a short distance away and quickly relocated the Redwing perched in a deciduous tree just north of 5th Street near the intersection of Rogers Street. Soon everyone was able to get good looks at the Redwing,as it settled in the leafless tree with several Am.Robins nearby. The Redwing remained perched for several minutes until it moved to a bushy Holly tree along 5th Street,then back again to the deciduous tree for a few more minutes. At 9:30am the bird soon flew to a large conifer tree immediately south of 5th Street,then back again to the deciduous tree until it and several scattered flocks of Am.Robins flushed and flew west in several directions. At this time most of the birders left for other activities,etc.

The Redwing was soon relocated by another birder in a Holly tree along Black Lake Blvd. just north of the intersection of 4th Ave. at 10am,where it was soon observed by several birders,who remained on location. The bird was quite elusive,but was soon detected foraging in the Holly tree accessed from a alleyway between Black Lake Blvd.(Division Ave.) and Cushing Street. The bird often foraged low in the Holly tree,then flew up into a conifer tree nearest the Holly tree and continued this routine several times until 11:30am. The bird was occasionally observed in several other nearby trees in the alleyway,as well as in another Holley tree bordering Cushing Street. Many birders left the location with only a few of us to stay and keep an eye on the bird at this one location,as we stood in light rain showers.The bird was not seen again until 1:30pm from the same location in the alleyway continuing the same behavior,then the entire flock of Am.Robins,Starlings and the Redwing flushed and scattered across Black Lake Blvd.,where the Redwing was soon detected perched in a large Black Cottonwood tree,as observed from the alleyway. This location continued very productive throughout the late morning into the afternoon,as other areas in the vicinity were quite slow,as far as feeding activity. The Redwing remained perched in the Black Cottonwood tree for about 10 minutes,as viewed in our spotting scopes until it and a flock of Am.Robins returned to the same Holly tree within the alleyway,where it was briefly noted. The Redwing was quite nervous and soon flew into a few other deciduous trees within the alleyway under where we were all standing,then briefly returned to the Holly tree for some berries. The flock of Am.Robins and the Redwing were soon flushed again,then the flock joined several other flocks and then scattered off south of 4th Ave. at 1:45pm. In all we approximated that there were about 60 birders today looking for the Redwing,with most that saw the bird! It seems the longer the Redwing stays the more elusive the bird becomes and could possible show up anywhere and not with the largest groups of Am.Robins.

We soon left the location,as conditions seemed to decline and the added presence of a Sharp-shinned Hawk seemed to keep the birds even scattered and wary. Perhaps other birders that remained at the location will post their sightings after 2pm,whether the Redwing was soon or not. We enjoyed our visit again to Olympia and seeing the Redwing for our 5th time,helping other birders see it in spotting scopes and visiting with them as well made a for a nice New Years Day! We also learned that the pair of McKay's Buntings were well observed at the usual location from the Iona Jetty yesterday(December 31st)by Stuart Smith and Nelson Dobbs of Georgia,who we met of 2 occasions while looking for the Redwing.


Our day started with a group of 4 Snow Geese that several birders observed flying over south at a distance,as we stood along Decatur Street. A few other species of note in the general vicinity included the following:

1 Townsend's Warbler observed along 4th Street,while watching the Redwing.

The lingering adult White-throated Sparrow along an alleyway along Jackson Ave. between Percival and Grand View Ave. with Golden-crowned Sparrows,as reported from the same location in our posting yesterday.


On our way home we stopped by the Nisqually NWR at 2:30pm,where the following highlights were noted:

2 Greater White-fronted Geese
8+ Northern Harriers
1 Rough-legged Hawk
1 dark-morph Red-tailed Hawk
1 Am.Kestrel
1 adult Peregrine Falcon



Good birding,

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
Fircrest,WA
godwit at worldnet.att.net