Greetings Tweeters;

The goldfinch are rioting in the meadow above the Black River slough. I
birded there Tuesday morning, and the trees were lousy with them--the
pussywillows were like buttered popcorn, only I'm not sure which was the
butter and which was the popcorn. The birds were both very buttery and
popping all over the place, chasing each other, nibbling, bouncing
through the air; and the morning was glorious with their songs, it was
like listening to sunshine. The tree swallows are very interested in
their nest boxes, too...I guess. They sat on them a lot. It's hard to
gauge what they are thinking with those dark eyes. The birding was
invigorating, with all the happy finches and warblers and swallows
singing; it almost makes up for the trees coming into leaf and the ducks
and sparrows hunkering down into their nests. The herons are still quite
visible and very impressive--some are still building their nests, late
romancers, unlike those ducks at the sewage ponds across the street who
have somehow already managed to produce ducklings.

My favorite part of the day, though, happened nearly on the street, over
by the sewage ponds at Monster Road and Oakesdale: two white-crowned
sparrows singing their little hearts out from the tops of small trees,
across the street from each other, dump trucks and semis trundling by. A
South Seattle moment. And a 'song first' for me, too; the white-crowneds
only ever chipped and squeaked for me in SoCal. And I would miss the
little stripey-heads so much, after they left. I've been looking forward
to seeing them here, since I moved back in October (!) and this is the
first time I've run into them, and here they are singing for me. Such a
happy moment. And you know, next to such a passionate call, the song
sparrow sounds a little...what's the word I'm looking for? Top 40? (My
species list for the day is on ebird, under hotspots: "Black River", if
anyone's interested.)

On the home front, in Tukwila--has anyone seen my juncos? And my
golden-crowned sparrows have gone from scruffy, to disreputable, to
mauled-looking, to decidedly black around the head. I'm sure going to
miss those little pink-legged guys.

Norma Larson
Tukwila, WA
abbynorma at juno.com