Hello Tweets,

This morning at 8am in our Fircrest front yard we were rewarded by a brief visit made by an immature female AM.REDSTART that actively foraged amongst a flock of approximately 20 Yellow-rumped Warblers. The Am.Redstart was immediately separated from the dull Yellow-rumped Warblers by it's distinctive yellow "flashes" on the outer tail,as well as yellow spots on either side of the grayish sides. The bird was rather plain overall grayish upperparts and darker areas on the wings contrasting to paler underparts and showing a white broken eye ring. The behavior of this bird was also very distinctive,as it fanned it's longish tail out readily as it flitted mid level amongst the leaves "gleaning" for insects in our row of Lombardy Poplar trees. The bird soon moved on with the Yellow-rumped Warblers to the north,so it could show up anywhere! This was our first personal record of Am.Redstart for Pierce Co.,as well as a very nice,yet unexpected yard bird!

Other notable species in our yard this morning included the following:

3 Anna's Hummingbirds(1 adult male,2 immature males)
1 Downy Woodpecker
1 Belted Kingfisher
1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
2 Warbling Vireos
4-5 Purple Finches(heard and seen calling overhead)
4 Am.Goldfinches


Sincerely,

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
Fircrest,WA
godwit513 at msn.com