Tweeters,



The recent snowy weather brought some nice birds to our yard. An immature
Harris's Sparrow was seen briefly yesterday, then reappeared for a few
minutes this morning on one of the feeders. It was a yard first, and our
150th species for the yard (although 15 acres is probably fudging the image
of "yard"). And the ninth sparrow species here in nine years, not counting
towhees and juncos.



Also seen today was an apparent Golden-crowned X White-crowned hybrid,
likely the same one that was around sporadically here last winter. A
Northern Shrike has been in the neighborhood for more than a month. As
others have noted, the snow-covered ground has brought out in the open birds
that normally lurk in the leaf litter - Fox Sparrows, Varied Thrushes,
Hermit Thrushes. And the nearby Evening Grosbeaks are now occasionally
visiting the feeders, rather than just calling somewhere in the area.



Strangely, Tenino has so far missed the small town surge of Eurasian
Collared-Doves. One visited our yard briefly in April 2008, but none since
and none around town - although they seem to be doing well in nearby small
towns like Rochester and Elma.



Good birding, Bob



Bob Sundstrom

Tenino, WA

ixoreus at scattercreek.com