Kelly and Tweeters,

I walked a few miles in my snow-covered neighborhood along Scatter Ck. on the 18th, and every apple tree with fruit had Varied Thrushes nearby. I saw at least 40 Ixoreus and heard more. A few N. Flickers and Am. Robins were also in the fruit trees. The Varied Thrush's underparts are a remarkable match for the color of apples that have been frozen and thawed a few times. On the same walk, I was just a Hairy Woodpecker short of the Puget Sound woodpecker straight.

One Hermit Thrush was with a flock of juncoes. There was a flock of 25 Killdeer on an iced over area of Scatter Creek.

A N. Shrike has been frequenting the shrub-tops in our front yard, but I haven't seen it since the heavy snow. We have about a foot of snow on the ground, which this morning had a 1/4 inch crust of ice on top. We keep scraping off areas to put mixed seed on the ground, about 8-10 pounds per day, and sometimes there are 100 sparrows feeding at once. One very dark Slate-colored Junco, one White-throated Sparrow, and one "white-tailed" partial albino Golden-crowned Sparrow are regulars, plus four "Sooty" Fox Sparrows and 8 or more towhees. Counted over 30 Purple Finches in the shrubs and on the sunflower seed feeders at one point.

I am concerned about the local Barn Owls, a species that doesn't hunt very effectively in snowy conditions. The neighborhood pair of Great Horned Owls have been calling regularly just after dark for about a month.

Good birding, Bob



----- Original Message -----
From: Kelly McAllister
To: Tweeters
Sent: Friday, December 19, 2008 6:01 PM
Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Varied Thrush


I saw my first Varied Thrush of the winter today, in an apple tree with a few apples still hanging on it. I also saw a Hermit Thrush along the horse trail in my neighborhood. I'm in the South Bay area north of Olympia, not far from the south end of Henderson Inlet.

Kelly McAllister
Olympia, Washington
----- Original Message -----
From: B&PBell
To: Tweeters
Sent: Friday, December 19, 2008 5:06 PM
Subject: [Tweeters] Varied Thrush


Hi Ho Tweets

With the snow I expected to finally see Varied Thrush down here on Hollywood Hill, particularly since there have been some apples remaining on the trees. I was surprised not to see any yesterday, but I also couldn't see any apples. Guess they blew off and are buried under the snow. Yesterday, a large flock of starlings were alternately in the alder trees or down working over the holes in the snow left by the next door horses.

This afternoon when coming back into the house, I surprised a Varied Thrush from off the ground near the front door. This area is under an overhang and the ground is still exposed. Guess it was down there foraging.

About a week and a half ago, before all the snow I watched a Pileated Woodpecker working over some apples on a neighbors trees. It was doing a good job.

Brian H. Bell
Woodinville WA
mail to bell asoc at isomedia dot com


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