Hey tweets, when the Fill gives, it gives bountifully. Today there were
three (3!) LESSER YELLOWLEGS on the main pond. I have never seen so
many here before. It was fantastic to see them fly in, wheeling around
the pond at first to check it out, looking like miniature cranes with
their feet stuck out behind.

I was reminded of the time when I lived in Chicago near the
miniature-boat pool in Hyde Park. In the summer, people would sail
their miniature sailboats here. After a while, I would lose all sense
of scale, to the point where, if I looked out at Lake Michigan and saw
real sailboats sailing around, I couldn't quite believe they were big
enough to hold real people.

For me, birds' sizes seem to change from time to time, kind of like
Alice taking the "Drink me" potion. Swallows, especially, can seem
inordinately huge some days and tiny at other times. The Virginia Rail
who is tending her babies south of the main pond looks dinky to me,
even though I'm so close to her I could probably touch her with my toe.
Virginia Rails that I see at the other sites this year seem much
larger, even though they are farther away. It is a most ingenious
paradox.

Other birds of note:
7 Least Sandpipers (on main pond)
3 Long-billed Dowitchers (on main pond)
2 Belted Kingfishers (one one main pond; one on lagoon south of Dime
Parking Lot)
2 Green Herons (one on Union Bay; one prancing on the logs at the
lagoon south of Dime Parking Lot)
1 Ruddy Duck (still on main pond)
1 Cinnamon Teal (on main pond)
1 Merlin (flyover)
the two baby Bald Eagles at Talaris have taken their first flights. It
was a little like watching your teenager take the driver's ed test.
Boy, was I glad when that was over. - Connie, Seattle

constancesidles at gmail.com