Hey tweets, speaking of wonders of nature, I wonder where teenage boys keep
their brains? Apparently a couple of them went out to the Fill recently to
shoot off fireworks. What were they thinking? Were they thinking? They set
fire to the tinder-dry, head-high grass and burned a big swath, starting
just north of the cottonwood grove near the point and sweeping north almost
to Wahkiakum Trail.

In reality, little lasting harm was done, praise be. The grasses are prairie
species and supposedly adapted to periodic fire. The lone pine tree
(non-native) planted at the crest of the hill was badly scorched but looks
like it will survive. The little apple trees nearby were scorched too, but
not very much. All in all, things could have been so much worse. Thank
goodness for Seattle's finest firefighters, who arrived very quickly on the
scene.

I am a bit worried that the UW's CUH will react poorly to this
near-disaster, however. Liability, you know. They may very well think about
protecting skittish Laurelhurst neighbors' expensive homes by adopting an
aggressive grass-mowing plan as a preventive measure. They already cut down
a few tall cottonwoods near the picnic table for fear of being liable when
branches break off and crash down.

At any rate, the Fill was pretty quiet yesterday in the heat of the morning.
Most of the swallows, except the BARNS, seem to have departed. On the other
hand, new swallows arrive. The best was a pristine-plumaged BANK SWALLOW, a
rarity at the Fill. Other than a few LEASTS on the mud of the main pond, I
can't report anything of note. In fact, I had trouble finding my
self-required 20 species before heading home. Maybe today's cloudy weather
will produce a better crop of birds. - Connie, Seattle

csidles at isomedia.com