Hey tweets, today was a noisy day at the Fill, with the mowing machine
making hay and hordes of toddlers out doing their toddler thing. I got
out there myself a little after 7:00, before the hordes arrived, and
saw two Long-billed Dowitchers on the main pond, and five Leasts. There
were more shorebirds flying around here and there - I think they're
using the lily pads on the lake.

When the Fill filled up with people, the birds left, naturally. Ah
well. Two of the toddlers made their way into the willow at the south
end of the pond and began thrashing around breaking off boughs and
such.I could see the appeal of that place to a small child - it's like
a secret labyrinth in there, if you're short enough. However, their
thrashing was disturbing the shorebirds, so I asked their oblivious mom
to get the kids out, which she did. Then I enticed them over to the
clearing to show them the dowitchers. The little boys were entranced,
but at the same time, being little boys, they were very reluctant to
give up their thrashing. So I put them to work slashing at the irises
that grow on the edge of the pond. This may be a great idea for a
future work party: little kids who like to hit things can hit invasive
plants. The boys went at it with a will for about 5 minutes. Then the
older one said, "This plant is tougher than it looks." Indeed.

There was one wonderful spot today: Evan Houston found a juvenile
Lazuli Bunting begging for food from its mother at Shoveler Pond. I've
been seeing this juvenile and mom for several days now, but not
together like this. I think that juvenile must have been bred right
here at the Fill. Is that great, or what?

Other birds of note:
Cooper's Hawk flyover
Osprey hunting on the lake
Cinnamon Teal juvies are growing up fast
American Coots are back
Silent Cal, the uncharacteristically quiet Belted Kingfisher, was
perched unobtrusively on a branch in the southwest pond- Connie,
Seattle

constancesidles at gmail.com