Subject: [Tweeters] Fill today
Date: Dec 25 16:36:30 2008
From: Constance Sidles - constancesidles at gmail.com


Hey tweets, my but the days are short this time of year! My husband and
I waited and waited for a break in the weather, which finally came at
2:00 p.m. By 3:30, the sky was pink and the light was going. We might
as well have been living north of the Arctic Circle. Except, glory be,
we could actually see the pavement of the streets. Haven't been able to
do that for a while. The ice is fast melting from the lagoon, and I
think things will be back to normal by this weekend.

The Trumpeter Swans are still hanging around on the lake. I'm hoping
they will find enough to eat so that they stick around till January 1
and can be counted as 2009 birds. Wouldn't that be something?

The 8 Snow Geese were foraging in the frisbee field when we first drove
in, looking very beautiful against the white snow. By the time we drove
back out, they were near their favorite pickup truck again. I guess
they are just junkyard geese at heart, despite their obvious advantages
of beauty and grace.

The ducks were out in force on the lake today in huge rafts. I suspect
they believed there was safety in numbers, as Ma and Pa Eagle kept
flapping by from time to time, checking out who's naughty and nice, as
it were. In the flock were: Gadwalls, American Wigeons, Northern
Pintails, Canvasbcks, Ring-necked Ducks, Greater and Lesser Scaup,
Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Common Mergansers and Hooded Mergansers.

Someone has anchored a big log out near the 520 bridge, reminiscent of
years past. The logs out there used to be reliable places to find gulls
such as Bonaparte's, which are now very scarce at the Fill. Perhaps
they'll return now that they have a perch to rest on out in the deeper
water. At the moment, the Double-crested Cormorants have ganged up on
the log.

A new Red-tailed Hawk was present today, a very beautiful one with
chestnut leg warmers. It had caught some gigantic animal and was dining
in the tree at Shoveler's Pond. I tried to make out what kind of animal
it had caught, but all I could see was that it was a whopper. I didn't
want to get too close. The hawk was definitely aware of me and my
husband looking at it, and I didn't want to give it the notion that we
were planning on grand larceny.

It was a great Christmas, with nature giving us peace and beauty in
abundance. May that abundant joy spread out over the Earth and bring
peace to us all.- Connie, Seattle

constancesidles at gmail.com