I, too, was excited to see my first male Townsend's Warbler of the season in my yard, on a suet feeder and tree trunk. At about 10 a.m., the TOWA was joined by other winter visitors that have been moving in for the past couple of weeks - Varied Thrushes, Pine Siskins, Band-tailed Pigeons, Ruby-crowned Kinglets are mixing with the year-rounds here - Red-breasted Nuthatches, Chestnut-backed and Black-capped Chickadees, Downy Woodpeckers, Steller's Jays, Bewick's Wrens, Northern Flickers, Spotted Towhees, American Robins, Song Sparrows, House Finches and, of course European Starlings and Crows. An accipiter or 2 have made some visits, too - sudden quiet has prompted me to watch for a hunting hawk - saw one fly off, but wasn't sure if it was a Cooper's or Sharp-shinned Hawk. On Sat. I watched (and listened to) crows drive away a light Red-tailed Hawk from the large trees in the woods here. Bald Eagles sound off and geese and swans have flown over in the past month or so.

With a majority of the deciduous leaves now off the branches of trees and shrubs, ease of viewing is increasing, as is the amount of light that intermittently brightens up the gray gloom.

But my most effective technique of spirit-lifting, is to head off to a more open, less treed habitat, somewhere else not too far from Seattle and see a charismatic bird or six, watch the sunset and listen to various avian conversations that pick up at the end of the day. A wee bit 'o' heaven. :-)


Barb Deihl

North Matthews Beach - NE Seattle

barbdeihl at comcast.net