Okay, so my first bird of the year was a crow rowing lazily across the sky at daybreak - but the BEST bird of this first day of the year was a lovely male Townsend's Warbler who poked around in a dying pine tree in the front yard for ten minutes or so, then moved around to the back yard, to the delight of my bed-sick wife, who could see him out there through the bedroom window. I'm a little surprised to see such a colorful male on January 1, but that's HIS business.

Happy New Year, tweeters. (And thanks for the Yolo-like tips - I'll post a summary in the next day or so.)

Josh Hayes, in Licton Springs (North Seattle)