Hi Tweets,



I've had a couple of interesting visitors to the yard (in West Seattle) this week - one of which ended up as a

specimen. Sadly, Marissa and I saw?our first ever White-throated Sparrow, seen the morning of the 26th,

only to find it dead on the back patio late that afternoon. Not sure if it was a window-kill (which would be a

first for us) of if it was something else that got it. I labeled and froze it so I can bring it to the WOS meeting

this Monday. I'm guessing this might be a first-winter bird based on the modest upper-breast streaking,

although the flight feathers are in pretty fair shape which could mean adult??



The second unusual bird this week was a Hermit Thrush which I saw bathing in our creek yesterday around

4:30. This is the 6th month already this year in which we have had Hermit Thrush in the yard. We had single

sightings in Jan, Feb and March with a lot of sightings in April and a few in May. I'm quite surprised with

how lucky we have been to see this species so often. We don't live on a greenbelt or near a park, but we do

share a "magic hedge" with several nighbors which is a mixture of laurel, clematis, privet and many other

exotic (and a few native) species which provides great shelter and some feeding opportunities for many species.





good birding,





Jim Flynn

Seattle, WA