Tweets,

Acting on a hot tip from Matt Bartels that he had seen the highly elusive HOODED ORIOLE at the usual spot in Magnolia (corner of Magnolia Blvd. and Montfort St., about a mile south of Discovery Park), on his 12th attempt, I decided to make my 4th attempt on the off chance it might stick around this time.

>From my house to Magnolia is just 14 miles but involves 31 stop lights and 8 stop signs, so it takes a bit of time to get there. When I arrived [at 2:45 PM] Carl Haynie was pacing the block, having put in 1/2 hour with no luck yet. I wandered up Montfort but hadn't gotten more than just around the corner when Carl yelled that he'd just seen it fly across Magnolia Blvd. into a poplar down toward the sound.

We followed it down into a cul-de-sac just across Magnolia Blvd. from Montfort [signed Private Drive but named Magnolia Ave. or some such] but saw no sign of it. We split up to explore and I eventually returned to the horseshoe bend near the bottom of this Magnolia Ave spur (though marked private there was lots of UPS and US mail traffic) where I glimpsed it fly out of a dense cedar into an exotic pine where I could see the brilliant yellow-orange belly, black throat and tail. It was quite shy but showed itself a bit more in this general area before I lost track of it. It sounds to my ear exactly like the abundant House Sparrows with which it loosely associates.

Meanwhile, I located Carl up on Magnolia Blvd. still looking. So he went to where I'd seen it while I explored the Raye ST. / Perkins Lane drive which loops down below the cul-de-sac from the north. At a remodel here I could look up the hill to the grove of pines and saw the bird fly to an exposed perch in a small aspen. Unfortunately, Carl must not have been looking in that direction as he didn't see it then. I left for home while he stayed in hopes of a better view.

It's a marvelous bird, but extraordinarily difficult to pin down. However, it is likely it spends time on the slope below Magnolia Blvd. towards Perkins Lane.

We've chatted with several local residents who have noticed the odd comings and goings of birders, so the word is out. The bird was reported to general disbelief last year and has now returned to prove the point.

Gene Hunn
18476 47th Pl. NE
Lake Forest Park, WA 98155
enhunn323 at comcast.net