Hey tweets, My lovely camp stool continues to produce results, as I sit
quietly and observe birds who don't know I'm there. Today was a day for
firsts:
? A three-wader day at the Fill: great blue heron; green heron (two, an
adult and an immature on Union Bay); American bittern (haven't seen one of
*those* in a while).
? A band-tailed pigeon (first time at the Fill for me)
? Two American kestrels (when it rains, it pours)
? Four lesser yellowlegs in a flock on the main pond

The great thing about my camp stool is that it is so comfortable. I carry it
over my shoulder and open it in two seconds. Then I sit for as long as I
like without a bit of keester fatigue. My husband John, on the other hand,
told me that he was walking around the Fill yesterday afternoon and saw a
homeless man asleep near the main pond. John approached quietly, with the
idea of gently urging the man to leave, only to discover that the guy was
really Stuart McKay under a canvas "blind."

Now, I'm the first to admit that birding needs people like Stuart, who are
so willing to disregard personal comfort in the field. I've read about such
birders, who contribute so much to our knowledge, birders who risk life and
limb to scale cliffs to observe peregrines, or who slog through snake-ridden
swamps to try to find ivory-billed woodpeckers.

As you know, I always respect those who are able to do more than I ever
could. So my hat is off to all of them. But my pants seat is not. I'm going
to continue to sit on my camp stool no matter how wussy I look. Some things
are just too important to give up.

Here's a list of everything I saw this morning:

pied-billed grebe
double-crested cormorant
American bittern
great blue heron
green heron
Canada goose
mallard
gadwall
northern pintail
northern shoveler
wood duck
American coot
killdeer
lesser yellowlegs
glaucous-winged gull
osprey
red-tailed hawk
American kestrel
ring-necked pheasant
band-tailed pigeon
rock dove
Vaux's swift
Anna's hummingbird
belted kingfisher
northern flicker
downy woodpecker
barn swallow
Steller's jay
American crow
black-capped chickadee
Bewick's wren
American robin
cedar waxwing
European starling
common yellowthroat
savannah sparrow
song sparrow
white-crowned sparrow
red-winged blackbird
house sparrow
American goldfinch
house finch - Connie, Seattle

csidles at isomedia.com