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Accidental Pleasure

“Accidentals” do happen and it is a pleasure to see them when they migrate near you.  In birding parlance, an “accidental” is a species living outside of its native distributional range.  This time, for those of us fortunate enough to see it in suburban Seattle, it was a Brambling.

Bramblings are Eurasian finches that rarely migrate to our area.  They are attractively colored in orange, black and gray tones with a distinctive pattern set off by a yellow bill.  They feed on seeds and some insects. The one we watched in Issaquah, Washington consumed cherry blossoms.

Bramblings are common in Europe and in Asia.  They often appear in small numbers in Alaska in autumn via the relatively short crossing from Siberia to across the Bering Sea.  Some who make the crossing continue south.  The Brambling we saw apparently traveled well over 2,000 miles from Alaska on the second leg of its journey.

When rare birds like Bramblings are posted on websites and list serves like Tweeters and E-Bird, impromptu groups of birders appear at specific locations (often GPS coordinates) where the bird was last seen.  I’m not keen on chasing rarities that are great distances away, due to the large carbon footprint of driving so far, but when one comes to my “neighborhood,” I’m in!

I went twice to see the Brambling – once with my friend, Dave, and another time with my wife, Lori.  Each time, we were among half-a-dozen other birders with scopes and binoculars, staking out the area.  These are friendly occasions where you compare notes on sightings, talk about birds in general, gear, photography, nature and the weather among other things. Such impromptu gatherings provide a sense of community to otherwise far-flung birders.

After about 15 minutes on both visits, we found the Brambling.  Its russet and black tones were especially beautiful against the pink backdrop of a blooming cherry tree.  We all exchanged scope views, tried to photograph it (challenging due to distance, dim light and frequent movement), and uttered expressions of joy ranging from passionate, to high fives, to understated smiles.

For all of us, it was a special experience:  a chance encounter with a rare and beautiful creature from another continent.  Life can be enriched by an accidental.