Northern Mockingbird

Last month was among the ten most rainy Januarys in Olympia records. That’s pretty wet. Thus, on 2 February 2021, I did not bring my camera with Erika and me when we chased a Northern Mockingbird reported from a nearby backyard. I guess my iPhone is not a replacement for a real camera, but better a poor photo than no documentation at all. The mockingbird hung out deep within and holly hedge and made occasional forays to a backyard feeder. Usually mockingbirds occur north only to southwestern Oregon. Wahl et al. (2005) report four nesting records from central Washington, but write that, even there, the species is rare. Only a few dozen records exist across the state. Interestingly, Bill Tweit told me that in the early 1990s, a mockingbird spent about two weeks in the same neighborhood as the one we found.