Birders,



Yesterday, June 14, about 5:30 PM, I found a singing YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT
near Hamilton in Skagit County. The exact location is at the intersection of
Cabin Creek Road and the Lyman-Hamilton Road. The bird was singing on and
off for at least 30 minutes in a dense patch of shrubbery immediately south
of this intersection. The bird was seen only for 2-3 seconds, but the song
of this species, consisting of a long series of whistles, squawks, chuckles
and other oddball sounds, some of them repeated, is unmistakable.



This is a very rare bird, but there are a number of records in Skagit and
nearby counties. On May 27 this year, one was seen by Gary Bletsch, Mike
Nelson, and Phil Wegener at Butler Flats not far away. I missed that bird,
but poetic justice surfaces in that I found another one almost in Gary's
backyard!



Around Vancouver, BC, chats show up not every year, but at least 3 or 4
times per decade, and most of these birds stay for at least several days and
sing as if they are on territory. So there is hope that the Hamilton bird
may stick around for awhile.



Coincidentally, another Yellow-breasted Chat was found this morning at Pitt
Meadows, near Vancouver, BC!



Wayne C. Weber

Delta, BC

contopus at telus.net



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