Hi tweeters,

Yesterday (Wednesday the 2nd) seemed like it still might be nice for a while in the afternoon, so I grabbed the bins and hopped on a bus to the UW and the Fill. I had a good start on the road between the stadium and the water, the highlight in this area being a rooster Ring-necked Pheasant. I continued on around, making the shortcut past the UW Crew docks, making my way along the dirt road to Wahkiakum Lane and the Fill. Along the dirt road, I saw some movement and stood still for a few minutes, and was rewarded with a family of Golden-crowned Sparrows. A little further on, by the south walk-bridge (the closed one), I heard, then saw, a Virginia Rail. Very nice sighting!

On to the Fill! I worked around the western edge, near the water, and got a Brewer's Blackbird in one of the huge flocks of starlings. The Red-winged Blackbirds were singing and chirpin' like mad things, and then a furtive running something in the brush and up popped my first pair - 2 Common Snipe! I've seen them at the Fill before, but never two at once. It was also in this area that I decided that the number of Violet-green Swallows could only be called a plethora. There really were a great many, at least 4 or 5 dozen zinging and careering around, chirping happily. There were also a few Barn Swallows mixed in, but the VG's were positively thick. I was just finishing up my viewing here (and getting dumped on by hail and rain by this time) when I got my second pair - 2 Downy Woodpeckers! They were both pecking away at a couple of the thicker willow trunks, and I actually had one of them in the bins at the same time as our new City Bird, a Great Blue Heron stalking the shallo!
ws.

I then headed to the central pond and there was a nice variety of ducks (see day list below for all species). Good numbers as well. I also got a glimpse of some of the Yellow-rumped Warblers that seemingly spent the whole winter here.

I continued on around the edges and sedges and made my way over towards the wedding rocks. I first heard, and after a couple of minutes of searching, saw a singing and displaying male Anna's Hummingbird. He was very handsome in his sparkling bib of ruby and fire, and singing as pretty as any hummer ever did. This sighting coinsided with a brief return of the sun (soon followed by more rain, hail and bitter wind), so I got to see the little guy in all his glory. Even as a year-round bird, Anna's are always a treat. Here is the full list, 42 species, in order seen:

Black-capped Chickadee

Red-winged Blackbird

American Robin

Bufflehead

Ring-necked Duck

Bushtit

European Starling

Canada Goose

Lesser Canada Goose

Mallard

Double-crested Cormorant

Pied-billed Grebe

American Cot

House Finch

Barn Swallow

Violet-green Swallow (My plethora - they were all over)

Ring-necked Pheasant (2 different males & 1 hen)

Crow

Rock Dove

Song Sparrow

House Sparrow

Golden-crowned Sparrow

Dark-eyed (Oregon) Junco

Virginia Rail (heard and seen)

Great Blue Heron

Brewer's Blackbird

Killdeer

Gadwall

American Widgeon

Green-winged Teal

Blue-winged Teal

Northern Shoveler

Lesser Scaup

Ruddy Duck

Marsh Wren

Glaucous-winged Gull

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's)

Common Snipe (One of my two pairs)

Downy Woodpecker (My second pair)

Northern Flicker (Red-shafted)

Bewick's Wren

Anna's Hummingbird

Brett A. Wolfe gismybabe at yahoo.com Seattle, WA



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