I finally had a chance to get some shots of my own, but she pretty much stuck to the dark shady areas, so my pictures are fairly grainy. It was also a beautiful sunny day, which helped. This worked remarkably well since the Bluetail was out foraging all afternoon. The rule was that you had to leave once you got a good view to make room for those that had not seen it. I had 40 to 50 birders show up on Tuesday, and every single one of them got a good view of the bird. This kept the gawkers from trying to look over my back fence.
I put out a call on Tweeters that I had a viewing area set up for all to enjoy. I put up a rope to keep encroachment at bay, and it worked very well. This area is a safe distance from my back fence, and has a very clear view of the Bluetail's favorite foraging areas. I then figured out a solution to this problem: I set up a viewing area in my side yard. Within one hour, the Bluetail returned and foraged in my yard for the rest of the afternoon. I had to ask my neighbor to deny access to her back yard. This was where the Bluetail hangs out, but was frightened off. The main problem was that folks were trying to get a view into my back yard, so they entered my neighbor's yard (with permission) and flocked to the back fence. The end result was that the Bluetail was chased out of my yard, and was not seen for the next two days. They were covering every spot they could get access to. By Friday, my neighborhood was overrun with birders. By late afternoon that day, I was well aware of the uniqueness of the find. I had not yet seen the tail, as it was dark and rainy when I first spotted her. I honestly thought it it was some juvenile form of a Yellow-rumped Warbler. Here is the yucky photo that got the birding world in an uproar (shot through my kitchen window from 40 yards away):
For only the 3rd time in history, this bird has been spotted in Washington State. I laughed and decided to post my querie on the Tweeters Listserve for a "real" answer. There were many random guesses, but one gal thought it was a Red-flanked Bluetail. So, I posted a picture on a birding site on Facebook. I spotted a bird in my back yard that I did not recognize. I have had the surprise of a lifetime this week.
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