I stepped onto the front porch about an hour ago, armed with binoculars and
perfect lighting. At first I heard chickadees and looked up to see both
Black-capped and Chestnut-backed. As I watched the chickadees, I realized the trees
(very tall Doug Firs, Western Hemlocks and Western Red Cedars) on our part of
the block were exploding with birds. A female Hairy Woodpecker was working her
way up a Doug Fir while in the tree next to her a Pacific-slope Flycatcher was
flitting from branch to branch. Across the street I caught a flash of yellow.
A gorgeous male Townsend's Warbler! Then I looked up to the open sky to see
that the Vaux's Swifts were back! There were about 30 of them this time.
Suddenly, a Band-tailed Pigeon flew low over the house. Everywhere I looked there
were tons of birds.
As I watched the swifts, a few Violet-green Swallows joined them but
disappeared shortly after. The swifts would also disappear but then as quickly as they
were gone, they would shoot out over the tallest Doug Firs as if they had no
control of their speed. At one point a flock of seven Band-tailed Pigeons flew
right over the house. I could hear kinglets and finally caught a glimpse of a
couple of them in the trees. A group of Steller's Jays flew into the Doug
Firs but were quickly on their way. A Bewick's Wren popped into view and sat on a
large hemlock branch, calling loudly. The swifts were still there, some were
so high I could barely see them while others were just above the house.
Now the flood of birds seems to have disappeared and all I can hear are a few
chickadees and a nuthatch moving through the trees, oblivious to the fact
that they've just made my day.


Birds seen in the last hour and a half:

Band-tailed Pigeon
Vaux's Swift
Anna's Hummingbird (heard)
Female Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker (heard)
Pacific-slope Flycatcher
Steller's Jay
American Crow
Violet-green Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Bewick's Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Yellow Warbler (seen yesterday)
Male and female Townsend's Warbler
A warbler that looked like a Wilson's but was very light (almost white) on
the chest and belly. Didn't get a great look at it because it was deep in the
Doug Fir branches
Spotted Towhee (heard)
Dark-eyed Junco
House Finch

Simone Lupson-Cook
Seattle/Olympia, WA
Zingie at aol.com