Hi Tweeters,

With one exception I had a great day of birding Kent
Valley this late morning. Sadly, I found the American
Bittern that has been overwintering at Thomas Ponds
deceased this morning. An immature Coopers Hawk was
drying it's wings on one of the snags there.

On W Valley Hwy at Smith brother there was a slew of
Mew Gulls, some Dunlin and 10+ Trumpeter Swans. The
swans were really spread out and I know there were
more because some were noted after driving past the
first bunch I counted. At the flower farm U-turn
route on W Valley, near Frager Rd, I relocated the
White-throated Sparrow found on the Christmas Bird
Count here.

On Frager south of the Kent Des-moines Road overpass
was at least two and probably 3 Western Scrub Jays. I
heard one on the west side of the street just as I saw
on one the east then a little further down I heard
another bird. Near the materials yard before you
round the bend to the Fishing Hole I found two more
White-throated Sparrows!! Truly an event for me since
I generally have crummy White-throated Sparrow karma
and feel pretty darn lucky to see one or two in an
entire winter. One was in an odd plumage and could be
an immature bird. The book "Sparrows of the United
States and Canada", did little to clarify the plumage,
Sibley's juvenile illustration fits the best. Usually
the birds I have seen have a clear breast but this one
didn't and had a 'stickpin' on the breast, also the
face markings were not as distinct along the sides,
but it did not show me the sides very well. In a face
forward pose the yellow supralorals stood out, and the
white throat bib was small, the upper breast streaky
with the 'stickpin', clear lower breast. The other
two sparrows were tan-stripes. I knew the sun would
make it a good sparrow day.

I had to skip the Fishing Hole but found the
Red-shoulered Hawk right near the King County Animal
Shelter, on 64th Ave (I think, I can never remember
the street number...) It was a brief look as the bird
flew and then after I relocated it, it flew again not
to be refound. A brief sighting is better than none!

Cheers and good birding,

Kathy
Roosting in Kent, near Lake Meridian
(chukarbird at yahoo dot com)


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