(I nearly sent this post to my poodle owner e-list instead of tweeters.
They would certainly have been mystified.)

A whole spate of "American" birds in the "A"s, but they're all over the map
phylogenetically.

This week's species are American Bittern and American Coot. The idea is to
post your interesting observations of these species OR memories that these
species invoke for you.

American Bittern - I don't see very well, which makes driving unfamiliar
roads difficult. When I lived in Seattle, major holidays with light traffic
were opportunities to venture outside my normal driving roads. On Christmas
day, I fell into the habit of driving up to the Big Ditch area (Snohomish
County, just north of Stanwood) and walking along the dike that separates
the farm fields from the estuarine marsh The weather was always dismal. In
my field notebook for Dec 25, 1998, I wrote:

"Walked mearly to where the dike intersects the highway. Rain started
light, but by the time I got to the dike's end, about 2 miles out, it was
raining steadily. We [me and the two poodles] were all drenched. I didn't
bring anything to dry the binoculars with, so I had to give up on birding on
the walk back."

(I think it's actually more like 1 mile to the highway, but most years, it
seemed longer.) Anyway, I almost always saw at least one bittern on that
walk. They are my Christmas bird.

American Coot - Seen gazillions, but can't think of them doing much besides
sitting on the water or poking in the mud. Love those punk-rocker chicks I
sometimes saw canoeing near the Montlake Fill.



Dr. Kelly Cassidy
Curator, Conner Vertebrate Museum
Washington State University, Pullman, WA