Hi Connie, and thanks to all others who responded as well,

Consensus says no to the Northern Waterthrush for a number of reasons. I will say that I felt the bird was larger than a Savannah Sparrow, closer to a pipit or blackbird. I did hear plenty of Savannah's singing elsewhere on the Fill, so I will go with consensus now and just say that the bird was out of normal habitat. Still, taking that bird off left me with a nice 47 species yesterday. Thanks again everyone!

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

csidles at isomedia.com wrote:
Dear Brett, This morning I was over at the pond you mentioned, and I saw
two critters you might have seen. One was a least sandpiper, standing
uncharacteristically still. The other was a savannah sparrow. Given what
you said about the yellow eye-stripe, I wonder if you saw a savannah
sparrow and expected something more exotic, in that habitat and in that
light? - Connie

> Hey gang,
>
> Today at the Montlake Fill, around 1 - 1:30pm, I saw what I first
> thought was an American Pipit near the eastern end of the Fill, in the
> ephemeral pond under the trees. Had seen some ducklings and scanned the
> area and came across a smallish bird. Shaped and sized about like a
> pipit, colored mostly like a pipit except that it had a bright yellow
> streak across the face. Not a pipit. Doesn't look like a Horned Lark or
> a Western Meadowlark. Also, this bird was not bobbing it's tail like a
> pipit would. It was being very quiet, feeding in the mud along the
> waters edge, somewhat like a peep, except shaped like a pipit or thrush.
> Could it be that I finally saw an ever elusive Northern Waterthrush at
> the Montlake Fill today? Sure looks like the best possibility in my
> Kaufman & Sibley guides. Other ideas, or did any of the other many
> birders see the same bird today?
>
> Brett A. Wolfe
> Seattle, WA
> m_lincolnii at yahoo.com
>
>
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