2 oddities: ---- yesterday seems to have been a bit of a birding wormhole
in PDX. Many subscribers to Ebird alerts may have seen a report for a
Canyon Wren in suburban NE PDX. It was reported just after noon and seemed
well described and, very appropriately, the vocalization was characterized
by the reporter as " downright bizarre". No quarrel here, instead a
contribution: there I was lying awake in bed pre-6 a.m. yesterday when
through the open window I hear, perhaps 6-8 times, a.... Varied Thrush?
This is in N. Tabor in Ptown, elevation ~400 ft.
As many will know VATH is kinda up there with Hutton's Vireo in the
johnny-one-note competition--- not too tough to recognize or confuse with
something else. Hmmm. A few hours later, I remarked about it to my wife
(up and outta the bedroom by the time I heard it, never to be caught
"sleeping in" at the slacker hour of 5:50) and she said "yes!, I heard that
too and was going to tell you".
Options would seem to break along the lines of some sort of mimic, though I
can't ever recall hearing a starling, a Lesser Goldfinch or a Steller's Jay
doing a VATH (still, I won't put anything past these rascals) or some LOUD
playback enthusiast/wag .... who then took a bus up to northeast Portland
for the noon show? Uh, maybe not.
There ya go. Tom
