Hey tweets, Okay, you can quit drooling. I didn't really experience a
fallout at the Fill this morning, but it was about as close as I've ever
come to one there. The bushes were so stuffed with warblers, vireos and
hummingbirds, I could plotz (please don't ask me what plotz means; it's
Yiddish for feeling like exactly as it sounds).

Jeff Cohen and I were transfixed near the bushes on the east side of the
main pond, where we found hordes of YELLOW WARBLERS. We also saw CASSIN'S
VIREO, YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS and ORANGE-CROWNED. VAUX'S SWIFTS, BARN
SWALLOWS and TREE SWALLOWS were flying overhead. As an added bonus, we had a
duck divertissement on the main pond: NORTHERN SHOVELERS, NORTHERN PINTAILS,
GREEN-WINGED TEALS, MALLARDS, a HOODED MERGANSER, and GADWALLS. On Union
Bay, we saw a zebra-striped baby PIED-BILLED GREBE and a flock of WOOD
DUCKS, with the males coming into full and spectacular breeding plumage. A
GREEN HERON entertained us on a log near the overlook. I think we also found
AMERICAN WIGEONS, but they were pretty distant in bad light. I'm going by
their head shape an slash of white on their folded wings.

At the Urban Hort gardens and fountain, my husband and I sat entranced by
more than 15 ANNA'S and RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRDS coming to a large bleeding-heart
bush to feed and fight. Also present in the shrubbery were some WARBLING
VIREOS and CEDAR WAXWINGS.

RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS and SAVANNAH SPARROWS were coming through in numbers,
and altogether, it was a lively scene. Here's everything we saw:

pied-billed grebe
green heron
Canada goose
mallard
gadwall
green-winged teal
American wigeon
northern pintail
northern shoveler
wood duck
hooded merganser
American coot
glaucous-winged gull
ring-necked pheasant
rock pigeon
Vaux's swift
rufous hummingbird
Anna's hummingbird
belted kingfisher
northern flicker
tree swallow
barn swallow
Steller's jay
American crow
black-capped chickadee
Bewick's wren
American robin
cedar waxwing
European starling
warbling vireo
Cassin's vireo
orange-crowned warbler
yellow-rumped warbler
yellow warbler
common yellowthroat (heard)
savannah sparrow
song sparrow
white-crowned sparrow
red-winged blackbird
American goldfinch
house finch - Connie, Seattle

csidles at isomedia.com