Hello Tweets and other birders,

The Redwing made a nice appearance at Olympia this crisp,clear morning between 8:25am-10:45am between Milroy and Thomas Streets north of 4th Ave. The bird was first located briefly at 8:25am just north of the intersection of 4th Ave. and Thomas Street(on Thomas Street)perched in a leafless deciduous tree with a few Am.Robins,then the bird quickly dropped down and flew west to an unknown location. Many birders standing along Thomas Street quickly attempted to pursue and relocate the bird west to Milroy Street until it was relocated in an alleyway between Milroy and Decatur Street(north of 4th Ave.)by Bill Shelmerdine,who briefly watched the bird on a short fenceline,then on the ground attracted to a "break" in a frozen puddle. The bird quickly moved to another location and by the time other birders arrived the bird was gone. The bird was soon briefly detected back on Decatur Street by an observer,then again observed a few minutes later as birders were standing along Decatur perched at a short distance near the top of an oak tree. The bird quickly flew down into the same tree,then dropped down to a dense conifer thicket nearby to the north. Within 10 minutes the bird reappeared and maintained a steady show for several birders to watch and photograph in a leafless deciduous tree along Decatur Street at very close range.This was the first "real" good showing of the bird all morning since the observations earlier were rather short and brief and the bird did seem "jumpy" and nervous at those times.

Several birders continued watching the bird until it flew to the east and was soon relocated on Thomas Street foraging in a Holly tree at 10:15am. The bird remained in this same tree often perched near the top of the Holly tree,but occasionally flying to a deciduous tree in the next alleyway to the west of Thomas Street,then returning back to the Holly tree on at least 2 occasions. All of us that remained watching the bird were entertained with great views of the bird,especially when it was in the Holly tree contrasting to the deep green of the leaves and the red of the berries and great backlighting. The bird finally flew from the Holly tree off to the east with a few Am.Robins at 10:40am to a lone birch tree along Perry Street,then was lost and presumably flew off to the northeast over Harrison Ave. ahead of a much larger flock of Am.Robins,as a few of attempted to relocate the bird.

We remained in the general vicinity covering locations between Division Street east to Foote Street south to 5th Ave.,then north to Jackson Ave.(north of Harrison Ave.),but Am.Robins flocks were quite often very scattered and at times few. The largest concentrations of Am.Robins were detected after 1pm between Rogers and Foote Streets,but overall conditions remained very slow at other locations to the time we left the area at 2:30pm. Perhaps birders remaining or any other birders will report their results through the remainder of the afternoon,if the Redwing was seen or not for additional updates. The FRS radios were again very helpful today,as in most visits in search of the Redwing,as was the use of spotting scopes for those that may not be aware of those optimal options. There were approximately 28 birders today during our visit and we had the oppurtunity of meeting Michael Danzenbaker of California.

A few additional species of note encountered during our visit included the following:

3 Common Mergansers(flying over)
1 Sharp-shinned Hawk
1 Merlin
2 Downy Woodpeckers
4-5 Western Scrub Jays
1 Varied Thrush
1 Cedar Waxwing
3-4 Townsend's Warblers
The adult White-throated Sparrow persisting(with Oregon Juncos and Golden-crowned Sparrows)in the alleyway along Jackson Ave. between Percival Street and Grand View Ave.
1 "Sooty"Fox Sparrow


On our way home we observed a single Rough-legged Hawk flying along the forested hillside along I-5 just south of Meridian Ave.(south of the Nisqually NWR),which seemed like a nice sighting for the location and probably a bird that came from or going to the Nisqually NWR.



Good Redwing searching,

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