Hey tweets, it was a magnificent evening at the Fill yesterday. The air was
filled with BARN and VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS, flying so low that one almost
crashed into me. I mean, I saw it coming straight at my forehead before it
veered away at the last minute. You know that TV ad for cheese that shows
an actor trying to injure himself, and one of his methods is to put his eye
in line with the cuckoo of a cuckoo clock? Now I know exactly how he felt
in the moment before impact.

What a thrill, but not as big a thrill as seeing a RED-EYED VIREO pop up
out of the bushes by the wedding rock (at the east entrance of Wahkiakum
Trail). I've heard birders tell me for years that red-eyed vireos come
through the Fill during migration, but I've never seen one before now. The
bird was busy, too, feeding vigorously on bugs he found all through the
bushes beside the trail.

I didn't see much on the main pond, I'm afraid. Just one KILLDEER and one
extremely skittish LEAST SANDPIPER. But in the bushes at the point, just
west of Union Bay (near the dead beaver trees), there was a WESTERN
WOOD-PEWEE. He was stationed on a twig overhanging the water and dashed out
periodically to catch bugs. No sign of the three WOOD DUCKS in the bay,
though I knew they were still there. I've been seeing them every day for a
couple of weeks now.

Also failed to see the green heron again. Are you folks sure you've seen
it, or are you just passing on another urban legend? I've been getting
private posts from several fellow tweets who have seen the darn bird on the
main pond *and* on the bay. I'm beginning to feel like I'm the only birder
in Seattle who hasn't seen him. Apparently he parades himself around so
conspicuously that even a child could spot him easily, that is, until he
sees me coming down the trail. Then he bops into the local black hole that
I'm convinced is located near the main pond and which also holds the
avocet, sharp-tailed sandpiper, northern saw-whet owl and northern
waterthrush that others have seen from time to time but that I have missed.
- Connie, Seattle

csidles at mail.isomedia.com