Subject: More Fill
Date: Aug 20 03:29:45 2002
From: Constance J. Sidles - csidles at mail.isomedia.com


Hey tweets, Yesterday at the Fill was so spectacular, I went twice, once in
the morning (for a cloudy, wet walk) and once in the afternoon (for a sunny
walk). I saw 36 species altogether. I guess the highlight would have to be
the Virginia rail, which was marching up and down on a log in Union Bay,
rather like a guard at Buckingham Palace - completely oblivious to gawking
tourists. I've noticed that Virginia rails are funny that way. They are
usually so shy you never see them at all, but every now and then they'll
come out into the open and act like they're still completely invisible.

Also on view: a green heron on the main pond, 17 killdeers (!), a flock of
five least sandpipers, two Steller's jays, four northern shovelers, two
wood ducks and an osprey. As if all that weren't enough, on the walk back
to my car, I was listening to the chickedees foraging in the cottonwoods
and willows opposite the lone pine tree, when I decided to sit down in the
shade for a while. Then I noticed that some of the chickadees weren't
flying like chickadees. So I clapped my binocs to my eyes and lo and
behold, the trees were stuffed with migrating passerines: mostly warbling
vireos and yellow warblers. I tried tracking them all, but they kept
disappearing among the giant cottonwood leaves. It was fun and frustrating
all at the same time. I reember when I was a beginner birder, I was
studying the warbler pages in Peterson's, and when I saw yellow warblers I
thought, Well, *those* will be easy to see; just look how bright yellow
they are; they'll really stand out. Right. Anyway, after 5 or 10 minutes,
the birds just seemed to melt away. I suspect they must have flown off
toward the dense trees and brush to the east of the greenhouses.

That, by the way, is an area that should be birded more heavily, I think.
If you can work your way into the brush, there is an overgrown trail along
the fence line. It takes you down to the water, where the kingfisher lives.
When I have tackled the bushwhacking, I've always been rewarded with good
birds. I don't go there often, but in the last month or two, I've seen
hermit thrushes there, Lincoln's sparrows, plenty of Wilson's warblers,
spotted towhees, and two days ago, a rufous hummingbird. - Connie, Seattle

csidles at isomedia.com