Two of at least 30 Common Redpoll Acanthis flammea seen this week in Tacoma at the Sha-Dax Wetlands.
In most years no Common Redpoll are sighted in Pierce County, Washington where I live, but this winter they have been seen in several places, and most local birders have been able to see them if they made the effort. It was just earlier this winter that I saw my "lifer" Common Redpoll in the county.
Common Redpoll are usually seen as one or two birds mixed in a flock of Pine Siskin or sometimes American Goldfinch, small species that also feed on the catkins of Alder and Birch trees. This winter we have been seeing larger flocks made up of mostly or completely one species flocks, just the Redpolls alone.
It's been so nice to find these small active birds so close to home. Most winters I need to travel to Eastern Washington and look really hard in hopes of maybe finding this species.
Good birding!
