Brian, Marvin and Tweets,

The bird I saw last week end on Wylie Road on Fir Island (Skagit County) was I thought a female rusty. It's possible I'm mistaken, for my look was a distant one, or as Marvin has suggested, perhaps there is more than one Rusty Blackbird at this location.

There is a precedent for this. In January of 2007, Gene Hunn found a Rusty Blackbird in Carnation. Very shortly after that, MaryFrances Mathis found a second rusty at the same location. When I visited this Carnation farm a day or 2 later, there were 3 Rusty Blackbirds.

Photos of all 3 birds may be viewed at the link below.

http://www.pbase.com/marvbreece/carnation_rusty_blackbirds_2007


Marv Breece
Seattle, WA
mbreece at earthlink.net
----- Original Message -----
From: B & P Bell
To: Marvin S. Hoekstra ; 'Michael Hobbs' ; 'tweeters (E-mail)'
Sent: Friday, October 17, 2008 8:49 PM
Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Waterthrush, Rusty BB, YES


Hi Marvin and Tweets

To my eye, the bird that Michael and I saw this morning most closely
resembled a non-breeding male (yellow eye, rusty on scapulars and back,
darkish wings, lightish almost buffy on flanks). Matches the National
Geographic and Jaramillo books most closely. It is very definitely different
from all the other birds in the flock.

Brian H. Bell
Birding & Natural History Guide
Woodinville WA
mail to bell asoc at isomedia dot com

----- Original Message -----
From: "Marvin S. Hoekstra" <marvin.hoekstra at verizon.net>
To: "'Michael Hobbs'" <birdmarymoor at verizon.net>; "'tweeters (E-mail)'"
<TWEETERS at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Friday, October 17, 2008 8:14 PM
Subject: RE: [Tweeters] Waterthrush, Rusty BB, YES


> Tweeters,
>
> I don't recall if it was mentioned whether the Rusty BB is male or female,
> or have both been seen?
>
> Marvin S. Hoekstra
> Sammamish, WA
> marvin dot hoekstra at verizon dot net
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: tweeters-bounces at mailman2.u.washington.edu
> [mailto:tweeters-bounces at mailman2.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Michael
> Hobbs
> Sent: Friday, October 17, 2008 3:05 PM
> To: tweeters (E-mail)
> Subject: [Tweeters] Waterthrush, Rusty BB, YES
>
> Tweets - Brian Bell and I made a morning visit to Fir Island, Skagit Co.,
> this morning.
>
> We pretty much struck out with shorebirds, finding only Killdeer on Wylie
> Rd. We did have some birds at the Jenson Access, including Black-bellied
> Plover, Greater Yellowlegs, Least Sandpiper, and Dunlin, but couldn't be
> certain of anything else.
>
> But we found the NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH at the Game Range by following the
> loud "tick tick tick tick tick" calls - it was about 50 yards down the
> little slough from the parking lot, visible from the field.
>
> We found the RUSTY BLACKBIRD with the flock of starlings, RW Blackbirds
> and
> Brewer's Blackbirds off Fir Island Rd. just a half a block west of Wylie.
>
> At the Hayden Preserve, looking to the west, were about 8 GREATER
> WHITE-FRONTED GEESE. Snow Geese were back in abundance, mostly near the
> Snow Goose Produce stand.
>
> At Jensen Access, on the fields, were AMERICAN PIPITS, slightly
> outnumbering
>
> LAPLAND LONGSPURS, some still retaining much of their breeding plumage.
>
> The weather was much better than expected. It was a nice morning.
>
> == Michael Hobbs
> == Kirkland, WA
> == http://www.marymoor.org/birding.htm
> == http://www.marymoor.org/BirdBlog.htm
> == birdmarymoor at verizon.net
>
> _______________________________________________
> Tweeters mailing list
> Tweeters at u.washington.edu
> http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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> Tweeters at u.washington.edu
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>

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