Hi Tweets -
To follow up on Connie's earlier post, the Cattle Egret was still
present between 12:30 & 1:00pm in the big field near the Montlake
Fill [UBNA...].

Matt Dufort's directions from yesterday are still the clearest for this field:
The Cattle Egret was out in the open grassy playing field north of
the soccer stadium - north and west of the "dime" lot [aka the E5
Lot]. This field is reached by crossing the footbridge at the
western edge of the Fill - the field is then on your right.

While I was watching, the Egret was way across the field on the
northwest corner -- as Connie said, it didn't seem disturbed by the
passing students and approaching birders -- feeding continued without
much interest in us.

Glad I was able to see the bird -- in a drastic violation of
protocol, I even cut out of the weekly Marymoor walk a little early
to give me time to chase this little guy. OK, so 'early' in Marymoor
terms meant I was only over there for 5 1/2 hrs, but still!

Matt Bartels
Seattle, WA




>Date: Thu, 8 Nov 2007 12:28:09 -0800 (PST)
>From: csidles at isomedia.com
>
>Hey tweets, The Cattle Egret showed up today at the Fill around noon. I
>had been looking for it since 9:30 a.m. and had pretty much given up when
>a birder came by the main pond to say the bird was perched on the
>bleachers of the baseball diamond. This is not what you might call a shy,
>stay-in-the-rural-outreaches-away-from-people type bird.
>
>I hoofed it over to the bleachers to discover that the egret had flown
>north to the far end of the grass field. It was foraging right next to the
>parking lot. As I watched, a UW student walked right by the bird - neither
>one of them looked up. They were like two New Yorkers passing each other
>on the street, whose motto is: "Don't make eye contact."
>
>I remember several years ago, there was a Kumlien's Iceland Gull in the
>Simpson Paper Company parking lot. When John and I drove up, we could tell
>the bird was still around because the numerous birders with expensive
>optics were milling around talking to each other - it was clear they had
>had their fill of seeing the bird. John and I asked where it was, and one
>of them pointed to a beat-up pickup truck. Sure enough, the bird was
>walking around under the truck. With its injured leg and its typical gull
>air of mine-mine-mine-mine, it was a real junkyard bird. The Cattle Egret
>gives me a bit of the same feeling - not that I'm complaining, mind you.
>it's wonderful to see this bird, no matter its urbanized habits. - Connie,
>Seattle
>
>constancesidles at gmail.com
>
>
>
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