Hi folks,

Townsend's Solitaire has been one of my 'nemesis' birds for Thurston County, but this afternoon I lucked into seeing 3 of them in the Capitol State Forest.

I'd walked up the road from the C-4000 line to the cell towers on Larch Mountain. There is a clear-cut en route to the top that has been re-planted with true firs (Nobles?) that are about 5-6 feet tall. I had one land about 40 meters from me on top of a fir, then another, then yet another, & they worked their way to the west end of the clear-cut.
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S28845948

I always think of these birds as high mountain or eastern Washington birds, but I guess that 2,660 feet is "high enough" for these handsome birds.

On another note, I heard a Sooty Grouse giving his low "hoots" in a patch of second-growth off the C-6200 Road just above Falls Creek campground.

Best,
Jon. Anderson
Olympia