Hey tweets, another absolutely fabulous day at the Fill. For one thing,
the Swamp Sparrow put in a brief and skulking appearance around 1:30,
in the same area I saw him before. I heard him first and tramped
through the uneven field south of the CUH building to find him. When I
got to the treeline, the place fell silent, naturally, but I set up my
camp stool and prepared to out-sit the birds. After half an hour of
steadily freezing my buns until I began to wonder if I would have to
roll back to the car instead of walk back, the Swamp Sparrow hopped
into view on the east side of the bowl-shaped area I described before
(near the fallen-down cottonwood tree covered with brambles). "Into
view" is a generous way to put it. He stuck his head out of the brush,
saw me, and immediately retreated deeper into the bushes. I was able to
spot him only because he halted and tried to blend in with the
background. He did an excellent job of that. If I hadn't seen him pop
out first, I never would have seen him at all. He definitely did not
like me looking at him, and after a short stand-off, during which he
clearly hoped I would go away and I clearly hoped he would come out, he
disappeared.

Other great birds today:
2 Greater Yellowlegs on the main pond, in company with a Dunlin in
breeding plumage
1 Varied Thrush (of all things) in the restored glade east of the
greenhouses
2 Orange-crowned Warblers in the same glade
1 Wilson's Snipe in plain view on the main pond
1 Virginia Rail, as described by Brett Wolfe, seemingly oblivious to us
watching him only a few feet away
3 Pine Siskins taking a bath in the scummy swampwater where the Swamp
Sparrow was.
1 pair Cinnamon Teal in that same scummy water

I'm sad to report that the Pied-billed Grebe egg I saw yesterday has
disappeared. I'm not really surprised. Yesterday, the parents were
ignoring the egg completely. It lay in the nest in plain sight, while
both parents swam around and dove for fish. At one point, they both
approached the nest, touched bills, and began gobbling at each other.
It reminded me of the discussions my husband and I used to have about
whose turn it was to change the baby's diaper. The grebes apparently
couldn't agree, and they both moved off, leaving the egg to fend for
itself. Perhaps these were new parents and didn't really understand
that there is no such thing as quality time when it comes to caring for
newborns (or new-laids) - there is only quantity time. I hope they'll
try again.

Altogether today I saw 61 species. - Connie, Seattle

constancesidles at gmail.com