From south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Fri Feb 20 22:15:00 2004 Received: from www.plaidworks.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id i1L6DEl8026163 for <[[email protected]]>; Fri, 20 Feb 2004 22:13:14 -0800 (PST) Received: from rwcrmhc13.comcast.net (rwcrmhc13.comcast.net [204.127.198.39]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id i1L6CYNY026119 for <[[email protected]]>; Fri, 20 Feb 2004 22:12:34 -0800 (PST) Received: from 204.127.197.119 ([204.127.197.119]) by comcast.net (rwcrmhc13) with SMTP id <2004022106123301500hv140e>; Sat, 21 Feb 2004 06:12:33 +0000 Received: from [24.6.247.252] by 204.127.197.119; Sat, 21 Feb 2004 06:12:32 +0000 From: [[email protected]] To: [[email protected]] (SBB Chat Group) Date: Sat, 21 Feb 2004 06:12:32 +0000 Message-Id: <[[email protected]]> X-Mailer: AT&T Message Center Version 1 (Oct 27 2003) X-Authenticated-Sender: YmlyZGVybW9tQGNvbWNhc3QubmV0 Subject: [SBB] How to find a Townsend's Solitaire X-BeenThere: [[email protected]] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5a1 Precedence: list List-Id: South Bay Birding List-Unsubscribe: , List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Sender: south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Errors-To: south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Hi: Yesterday, February 19th, at about 12:30pm, I went to Hidden Villa to become one of the many birders to spot the illustrious Townsend's Solitaire, a bird I had not yet seen. I had read several descriptions prior to arrival, and had even gotten a recent behavioral description before I hiked to the end of the canyon. However, this does not always insure that one will find a new bird. For me, all the descriptions in the world cannot truly prepare me for a first hand life bird found on one's own. I dutifully searched out the berry laden bush/tree with the curly red bark, peeking out from under the huge Magnolia tree near the chicken roosting house, around which children ran and screamed, gardeners pruned, Junco's ticked, roosters crowed and Stellar's Jays foraged while imitating the two calling Red-Tailed Hawks. I stood patiently, occasionally perusing the bare American Robin tree perches for a different "slimmer" sort of bird, always seeking the white edged tail and complete eye ring. I had views of as many as 6 Hermit Thrushes and 10 Robins in the bush at a time with Dark-eyed Juncos ticking all around while Golden Crowned Sparrows and Thrushes fought over a corner post about 10 feet away on a berry vine fence. All lovely, but after an hour or so, my feet hurt, so I finally decided to do what any simple-minded birder will do when all else fails - I sat right in the bush! OK - I really sat on a small log bench placed inside the bush/tree. The glare that had so bothered me before was now pleasantly diffused and the coolness was quite pleasing. My neon-yellow rain coat (not a bird-friendly coat) jostled each time I twisted to look up at the bottom of yet another bird in the bush (no pun intended). Then I heard it. A sound that stood out from the symphony of other sounds surrounding me, a rich, trilling warble as a bird flew from faraway trees to closer trees, from closer trees to the chicken roost and from the chicken roost to the far end of the bush. I looked but saw nothing. A bird twittered from the understory and sort hovered next to the leaf/berry clumps, then fluttered back to the understory closer to me. I peered through the various branches and leaves to see a white-rimmed curious eye peering at me. It flutter/fed again and back to another spot. I took another look and saw its' drab grey body with a surprising taupe (buff) colored patch on the wings! It stopped to look at me, it's bright black beak and legs complimented by it's black eye, then it shot out of the bush to escape my proximity. It came back a few times, but I never could catch the white-edged tail due to the glare. Even so, this special treat of sitting 6-10 feet from a life bird, and experiencing it with all my senses (allright - it didn't stink and I couldn't taste it) reminded me of why I love birding so much. Onward birders!!! Jean Myers P.S. Yes Virginia, you should have stayed a little longer... _______________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored. south-bay-birds mailing list ([[email protected]]) Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: http://www.plaidworks.com/mailman/options/south-bay-birds/south-bay-birds-archive%40plaidworks.com This email sent to [[email protected]]