Hey tweets, The Fill has been jumping in the mornings lately. Yesterday
morning, the highlights were an osprey fishing over the lake, a northern
harrier being harrassed by a crow, and a Vaux's swift trying clumsily to
drink on the fly from the main pond and nearly dunking itself (unlike the
swallows, who seem to have this trick down pat). The day before that, I
spotted the oriole in the cottonwoods near the picnic tables. I also saw a
blue-winged teal and a hooded merganser on the main pond, as well as three
eagles.

The purple loosestrife is growing again, but it has been clearly inhibited
by the beetles chewing on the leaves and the weevils attacking the roots. I
have asked permission of Fred Hoyt, the urban hort director, for us to put
together a loosestrife-pulling effort again this year. They don't want us
to weed-whack, because they want to give the bugs a good chance to control
the loosestrife as they do in Europe. But I think it will be okay for us to
pull enough weeds by hand around the main pond to open up a good stretch of
mud for the fall migration. Which reminds me: a little flock of 5 least
sandpipers has been feeding on the main pond for the past two days. So fall
has arrived at the fill. Thank goodness - summer is my least favorite
season. I'll be looking for changing leaf colors any day now. By the way, I
have not yet received permission to pull loosestrife - since the big fire,
the Urban Hort has expressed a desire to formalize volunteer work like
this, so they want everyone to get permission in writing. Can't say as I
blame them any. When (or if) I get permission, I'll post on tweets and ask
for volunteers to pull some loosestrife. The lake is higher than usual this
year, and there is less mud for the shorebirds than in most years. - Connie

Connie Sidles, Seattle csidles at mail.isomedia.com