Tweeters,

Yesterday (Monday December 3rd) I made a brief stop at home around midday.
As I looked out the kitchen window my eyes were immediately drawn to an unusually-shaped (for our backyard that is) bird, perched in one of our neighbors' trees.
Reaching for the ever-ready binoculars on the counter I didn't even have to take my eyes off the bird. I had already decided it might be a Townsend's Solitaire, based on thrush-like appearance but lacking the Robin's colorful breast. Binocular view confirmed the overall grayish plumage with the white eye ring. The bird made a nice foraging sortie and returned to the same perch, then moved closer to a wire, before disappearing from view.
Makes me wonder how often this species shows up in our yard without my being there to spot it.
I mean, these three minutes out of this particular 24-hour period....

Martin Muller,
martinmuller at msn.com
Seattle, WA