Subject: [Tweeters] A Big (amazing) Day in my yard
Date: May 9 20:48:47 2015
From: Joshua Glant - josh.n.glant at gmail.com


Hello Tweets,

I returned home from my trip to Marymoor at 12:30 PM. I had expected that my bird excitement was over for the day, but really it was just begun! Looking into my feeder tree, I saw a strange, tiny yet bulky bird. Upon fetching my binoculars, I realized that it was a very confiding Red Crossbill! I got great photos. Also around was a male Black-headed Grosbeak, singing and feeding all afternoon. How many people can say that they've had a Black-headed Grosbeak and Red Crossbill perching calmly next to each other in their binocular view? I can! I got a photo, too.

Robins and a Western Tanager completed the Robin-like song trifecta. Bald Eagles soared overhead in a cloudless sky. Anna's Hummingbirds drank from flowers right nearby. A flock of Red Crossbills chipped pinecones in a tall Douglas Fir. A special moment, because a flock in that exact tree was where I saw my first crossbills in March 2013. Pinecones crashed down all around me, which was quite amusing.

A Red-breasted Sapsucker drummed in the trees, giving me good views; Wilson's, Yellow-rumped and Townsend's Warblers called and sang in the forest, a Hutton's Vireo rang out in repeated tones, and Pacific-slope Flycatchers whistled. A highlight of my afternoon was hearing a bird request the rapid delivery of three barley-derived alcoholic beverages; that is to say, my FOY Olive-sided Flycatcher sang in the forest.

On my way back inside, I might have heard a raven's far off croak. A great end to one of my best days ever in my yard!

Great birding to you all, Joshua Glant

Mercer Island, WA

Josh.n.glant at gmail.com



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