I also had 2 very large groups of 15+ Varied Thrushes in the yard early Monday - pecking through the snow and waterlogged lawn for worms (I think). (We measured 13" of snow on Sunday and over 12 inches of moisture in the storms) I know there were two groups of thrushes because I watched one fly across the river towards me at the same time another was flying away. As I poked my way on open streets along the Lake that was once know as the Snoqualmie Valley I saw an amazing number of ducks today - Mallards, a Canvasback, a Northern Pintale, Gadwall, and Ring Necks - and Swans, in Fall City! I could only see them from a distance with binocs, but definitely Swans near the 202/203 interchange on the NE side toward the Carnation/Snoqualmie split. I haven't seen a Robin or a Starling in 5 days!Rob Conway Preston / Fall City, WAlatitude 47 32' 20" , longitude -121 54' 42" robin_birder at hotmail.com


From: bruceb at olypen.comTo: tweeters at u.washington.eduDate: Mon, 3 Dec 2007 11:18:48 -0800CC: Tom.Aversa at Zoo.org; rivercenter at olympus.netSubject: [Tweeters] Wow--16 Varied Thrushes all at once in our yard



The weather in the Olympic Mountains has definitely just changed. For I just looked out the window by my computer here in the northern foothills of the Olympics, and was startled to find 16 Varied Thrushes festooning the upper canopy of our Japanese maple tree. In all my years birding hereabouts, I've never seen that many in one place at one time; the norm being 1, 2 or 3, and maybe 4-6 after a good snowfall, but never that many--and there may even have been more I think in this group, the way these birds were flying off soon out of sight around our house (toward others?), and two minutes later are all gone and out of sight. Anyway, we x-c skiied up on Hurricane Ridge this past Friday when the first new snow (12 inches) had just come in up there, and there's been a lot more up there on through the weekend. So I have to wonder if these birds were moving down altitudinally (i.e., to the north ahead of the storm) or latitudinally and south from Canada. It could be either way really, but perhaps the former, I suspect is more likely, the way this storm has just moved through here from basically SW to NE, as they quite often do from now on. Five minutes later, 4 are now back in the tree, so perhaps I can get a better count. Always lovely, orange-breasted, albeit unpredictably observed, birds whenever they errantly happen to appear, but 16 was not what I've ever seen before. Ah well, it does brighten a rainy wet, gray day out here.


Bruce MoorheadPort Angeles, WAbruceb at olypen.com



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