Tweeter Readers:

The story "Burd" tells the tale of an observant, compassionate man
discovering an unusual bird and the birding subculture. You can find it
in Stuart McLean's, "Home from the Vinyl Cafe", a book full of humor and
good-heartedness.

And now my bird mystery. I got a very quick glimpse of a bird at my
feeder (Renton's East Hill) on Monday. My first thought was a female
red-wing blackbird, but the colors seemed a bit flashier. When it flew,
I saw wing coverts that were terra-cotta in color. The bird's overall
coloring was rust, brown, and black. The bird seemed to have a small
rusty area behind its eye edged in black. Robin/blackbird in size,
perhaps a bit smaller, but larger than a song sparrow. Sorry to provide
so few details. Cruising Sibley didn't help, so I turn to Tweeters.
Any suggestions?
Carol Stoner
stonefam at gte.net