To start with, thank you to all of you who replied to my query about the
Mountain Chickadee. Most especially the photos of birds that have been
mistaken for them. I struggled with this a lot, as the two birds never
returned after my sighting. I got a decent look at both, but none of them in
flight and both of them perching with their wings folded, so the
identification wasn't stellar. Still, I am fairly sure I saw what I saw. My
final decision was to mark the bird on my own personal list, but not to
eBird or any other shared sighting log. In other words, in my heart I saw
two Mountain Chickadees, but under oath I would say, "I am not sure". It
wasn't a Nuthatch, but it could have been (I suppose) two Black-Capped that
just happened to be molting in a way to produce the "bandit" mask that I
clearly saw.



You may remember a few weeks ago I posted a "Common birds I'd like to see"
list and solicited help to find them. Wow, you people are great, because I
am happy to say I have now seen many of them!



Yesterday was a thrill for me. A juvenile Cooper's Hawk visited our
backyard. He not only visited, he perched on my backyard fence for a
lengthy amount of time. I knew he'd been around. We heard him one morning
and the other morning after that a Hawk swooped into our bird feeder out of
nowhere, scattering finches and chickadees everywhere. I did not get a good
look at him then, but a few days later he showed up again, clear as day. I
noted his feathers, tail, eyes and beak and made a positive identification
by checking several sources, both online and in print. It was a juvenile
and he was scoping out a backyard bush where I know a family of small
rabbits live. When he flew away, he actually flew into the bush! Incredible
dexterity. He has not returned today, but it is my hope I seem him every
once in a while. At this stage, I see no reason to discourage him.he can
keep mice/rats away (the latter half of my backyard is bush and I am sure
rats live there, thankfully none ever come into mowed lawn, my two dogs
would make quick work of them!), also he's never caught a bird at my feeder.




Is that okay to let a bird of prey hang around like that? Surely, that is
protocol to let nature take its course right?



My wife and I saw our first Brown Creeper! While this is common sightings
for many of you, we were thrilled with it. Mostly because we "hunted" it
down. We heard its chirp/call and identified it and then scoped out the
source of the sound. Sure enough we eventually spotted the fellow slowly
climbing a large tree in a clockwise, circular ascent. He'd stop once in a
while and peck and chirp. We played his song on our phones, he'd answer
back. What a joy to see just a common, but lovely little bird such as this!
We followed him to the next tree even, we felt he'd become our friend.



I also saw my first Towhee. He was picking up the loose seed that had
fallen from the feeders on the deck onto the grass. He was mixed in with
some juvenile Robins.



We also saw a Western Tanager! It was a female and she stayed perched on a
wire next to our feeders for several minutes. It was if she was posing for
us. She never did eat anything and she has never returned. We loved it, she
presented herself as if to ensure we saw her and then moved on to greater
fortune.



So I was writing to tell you: I get it. In other words, I understand why
this hobby can consume you. It really is a thrill to see something you've
never seen before in the wild. Tracking them down via their sound/call is
even more of a thrill! I know some of you are chuckling, once again this
newbie is writing about the thrill of seeing birds you've probably seen a
hundred times, but for me it's all new and all such a joy. Even the
neighbors are commenting on our feeders, they come out in the morning to
watch the birds sometimes. We worried about the noise, (finches in
particular can make a racket in the morning), but our neighbors praised us.
We were relieved, as it is such a lovely sound to wake up to!



My next step is a mealworm feeder, slightly elevated from the ground and a
really solid digital SLR. But I'll save those questions for another time.
For this post I realty just wanted to say "thank you" for all your emails
and support and share with you the simple joy of seeing birds that were
probably all around me before, but I never noticed.



Oh and my "life list" is now at a mighty 30! J



That hawk was so cool, almost regal and proud. I haven't stopped talking
about it since I saw him, so thank you for letting me share.



- Douglas, West Seattle

- douglas at snazel.com