Hey tweets, Rebecca Galloway was kind enough to call me yesterday evening to
hurry down to the Fill and observe a flock of six LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS
feeding frantically at the north end of the main pond.

Many people have likened dowitchers' feeding style to a sewing machine
because they move their heads up and down so methodically as they "stitch"
along shallow water. For some reason, these particular dowitchers were in a
tearing hurry to eat as fast as they could. Their speed reminded me of my
seventh-grade sewing class as we neared the end of the semester and tried
desperately to finish stitching our skirts in time to get a good grade. My
own skirt was an eye-popping concoction of enormous purple flowers on a
black background, gathered into a peasant rendition that could have raised
Christian Dior from the dead.

The dowitchers were stitching just as fast as I had all those years ago as
the clock ticked inexorably toward the end of the class period and my
rapidly diminishing hopes of passing. Then as suddenly as if a
vice-principal had rung the bell, one of the dowitchers quit feeding,
preened its chest feathers briefly, then tucked its long bill into its back
and went to sleep, not 15 feet away from us. The sun backlit its feathers,
and we could see light filtering through in a symphony of beige, cinnamon,
and white. Rebecca said what a perfect picture that would have made for a
photographer, but we didn't really need a camera. The image of that
dowitcher is burned into my brain and will remain a snapshot in my memory -
just one more indelible image to add to the hundreds that live in my
thoughts. Ain't birding grand?

Also on view at the Fill last night: four LEAST SANDPIPERS, hordes of VAUX'S
SWIFTS in the late evening, and numerous WOOD DUCKS out in plain sight now
that the breeding season is over. - Connie, Seattle

csidles at isomedia.com