Subject: [Tweeters] Long Tailed Mockingbird - Magnuson Park and Peru - and
Date: Jun 30 18:15:54 2014
From: Blair Bernson - blair at washingtonadvisorygroup.com


Having just left the Audubon Nature Shop I was in
the neighborhood of Magnuson Park and stopped by
to see if the Long Tailed Mockingbird was still
there. I had seen it briefly on Thursday and with
a quick and relatively buried (and hurried) look
made the mistake of not paying much attention and
chalked it up as a Northern and headed home. THIS
TIME I wanted to get the ID right and take a
picture if possible. When I saw it Thursday it
was south of the off-leash area by maybe 50-60
yards and up from the beach on the path. I went
to look for it there this time without success and
then walked over to the area adjacent to the NOAA
entrance where it has been reported daily since
then. When I got there I ran into Carol Riddell
and Frank Caruso who were talking to the NOAA
guard and looking for the "bird". Perhaps 3
minutes after we started to chat the Long Tailed
Mockingbird flew onto the grass next to us perhaps
20 feet away. In perfect light it posed to the
left and right and then perched on the fence and
the barbed wire - again perfect light. An easy ID
but one that did not remove the embarrassment of
the mis-identification on Thursday. I had seen
this bird on a VENT trip to Peru last November and
had even spoken to the guide about similarities to
other Mockingbirds I had seen - Tropical (in
Trinidad) and Chalk Browed (in Brazil) as well as
our Northern. Their comment was that the Long
Tailed not only had a longer tailed but much more
distinct markings on the head. Seeing the
Magnuson Park bird with an "open mind" both of
these field mark differences are so clear - should
have been alerts to consider other options (as
unlikely as this one is). Yet another reminder to
pay less attention to lists and much more to the
birds themselves that make them up.

The best part of the story however is that when
the Mockingbird flew in for us it then moved over
to the NOAA side of the fence and we pointed it
out to the guard who knew nothing about it
before. He got into it and took pictures with his
cell phone. Later as walkers and NOAA employees
came by he showed them his pictures and the bird
with pride. Clearly it was now "HIS
Mockingbird". Perhaps we have witnessed the birth
of a new Birder. An altogether good thing.

Pictures of my Peruvian and Magnuson Long Tails
are at:

https://picasaweb.google.com/103072475474183849815/LongTailedMockingbird?authkey=Gv1sRgCPatv6OjqY_ytAE#

Best to all

--
Blair Bernson
Edmonds