Hi Tweets,



I had intended to go look for the Harris' Sparrow sometime this weekend and since I started the day with a White-throated Sparrow in my back yard I decided this must be my lucky sparrow day and headed out to the Bothell area. I didn't get out of the house until nearly 1 so it was?1:30 by the time I was on site at the North Creek Wetlands and had the Harris' Sparrow in sight after 15 minutes of waiting.

When I saw the Harris' back on Dec. 31st it was feeding at the western feeding spot, about 30 yards from the school admin. building. Today it was at another seed spot about 150 feet further east, just before the dike trail curves south. There are two small, dense cedars about 15 feet high there and a variety of sparrows were coming in, as were Red-winged Blackbirds. Both Myrtle and Audubon's yellowrumps were flycatching over the water and a small party of goldfinches were feeding in the small alders.



Having ticked 7 species of sparrow already I decided to see how many more I could add once I finished checking Log Boom park, my other goal for the day. There wasn't anything of great note at Log Boom although there were 10 or so Canvasbacks among the scaup .



Heading south I went to my old territory on the Kent-Auburn CBC where I had?seen three sparrow species I hadn't yet seen today. Well, I hadn't counted on the flooding in the valley that has happened since the CBC took place, and my Savannah Sparrow spot was largely underwater but I did manage to find a Lincoln's Sparrow and eventually headed back to West Seattle for Fox Sparrow. At dusk I managed to find several Foxes near the football stadium/golf course area. I suppose with a far earlier start to the day and a good stakeout White-throat in a public spot someone could easily see 10 sparrow species in King County right now, assuming the Marymoor Swamp Sparrow cooperates.



FYI, the nine species I racked up, in order, were:

Dark-eyed Junco (home)

Song Sparrow (home)

Spotted Towhee (home)

Golden-crowned Sparrow (home)

White-throated Sparrow (home)

White-crowned Sparrow ( Bothell )

Harris' Sparrow ( Bothell )

Lincoln's Sparrow (Kent)

Fox Sparrow (West Seattle)



good birding!

Jim Flynn
Seattle, WA




good birding!

Jim Flynn
Seattle, WA