Tweeters,
Regarding Solitaires this time of year. We had one show up in the yard last weekend, pretty much in conjunction with that last cold front. The elevation here is about 20 feet. The previous cold snap brought a significant increase of Varied Thrushes to our neighborhood, with a single Hermit Thrush to the yard (an infrequent mid winter visitor at best). By the next warm(ish) front the thrushes had moved on. Solitaires have been recorded 3 times on the Oly CBC, and I have seen them a couple of times in our neighborhood in December/ January over the years. I usually think of them as more frequent in February and March in the lowlands here.

Regarding groundlets and the like... Like others have mentioned I have noted Golden-crowned Kinglets (GCKi) feeding on the ground a number of times in past winters, and quite frequently in the past couple of weeks. Like Dennis mentioned, I have always associated this behaviour with inclement weather but usually more cold than wind. I have always assumed it was related to pray availablity. This past week I have seen mixed flocks conducting this behaviour and in my neighborhood it has been more GCKi than anything else, but also associated with Ruby-crowns, Townsends Warblers, and Black-capped (but nor Chestnut-backed) Chickadees. Maybe this weekend they will be swimming... Stay dry and good birding,

Bill Shelmerdine, Olympia
mailto: georn1 at hotmail.com