I was beginning to doubt my bird song identification skills. What was
happening? Was I imagining that I heard a Western Tanager singing from the
top of a Douglas-fir, then from the top of a huge Western Redcedar, and
still later from another huge fir, all of these trees surrounding our house?
Was this bird transporting himself from one tree to another via
teleportation? I never saw him, just heard him. This had been going on for
several weeks--very frustrating. Finally, while doing some gardening, I
heard the tanager again and looked up just in time to see him land on the
almost-bare branch of a tall Douglas-fir; there he was, in plain sight,
singing and preening. I ran for my 15-power Canon binoculars and enjoyed
several minutes of watching and listening to this beautiful bird, a
thrilling experience! In the 54 years we have lived on our tree farm east of
Redmond, this was the first time we have had a Western Tanager stay around
in the summer to sing for us. But why was he still singing? Our tree farm
elevation is only 450 feet--could the tanager actually be nesting here?
Luckily, I found yesterday that the Western Tanagers had nested some place
on our tree farm.
As I was washing dishes and watching birds in a dead rhododendron that
the birds enjoy as their hangout, the male Western Tanager flew into it. Oh,
such a gorgeous bird! Then he flew out and over to the other kitchen window
area, where lo and behold, a youngster with fluttering wings was waiting to
be fed. In an instant, they were gone! What an exciting experience! a
Western Tanager family has nested and is raising a family on our tree farm!

Other young birds that we have watched being fed outside our kitchen window
this summer include:
Pileated Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Black-headed Grosbeak
Red-winged Blackbird
Black-capped Chickadee
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
House Finch
Dark-eyed Junco
Spotted Towhee


Erin Woods
Woods Tree Farm
Redmond, Washington