Hey tweets, the Fill is getting ready for spring, and so are we all.
Canadas are pairing up and will no doubt start hissing soon. One
enterprising Northern Flicker has discovered how big his sound can be
if he grabs hold of one of the light standards near the baseball
diamond and starts banging away. He completely outdid a rival who was
stuck trying to make an impression on an ordinary wooden snag. No
contest. You had to feel sorry for the more conventional, old-school
flicker, who gamely kept up his drumming on wood. There were plenty of
light standards to go around, and he could have switched, but no, wood
was "good for our fathers and it's good enough for me," he must have
been humming.

Everyone was checking out potential homes - the cottonwood grove just
southwest of the CUH building seems especially popular. I think we'll
get at least two House Finch nests in there, a Bewick's Wren or two,
and some Downys. The little grove of pussy-willows that is springing up
just before the loop trail starts its looping is also going to be
popular, I suspect. Two pairs of Bushtits were checking it out, and
that was a very popular place for Common Yellowthroats last year (still
too early for them this year). The Bald Eagles are settling onto their
newly built nest at Talaris - the American Coots are so intimidated
that they go around in bunches at all times and stick pretty close to
shore, too. Fish are a second choice for this pair of eagles - they
seem to delight in snacking on coots, and the wigeons are convinced
that a side of wigeon wouldn't go amiss either. They were thick on the
main pond today, where they evidently felt more secure than out on the
open lake. As usual, I counted up to 100 and then got serious about
looking for the statistical Eurasian Wigeon amongst the flock. Sure
enough, there it was. The Northern Pintail was there this morning too,
and at least 3 Ruddy Ducks.

Altogether, I saw 44 species:

Canada Goose
Mallard
Gadwall
Green-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
American Wigeon
Eurasian Wigeon
Ring-necked Duck
Bufflehead
Hooded Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Rock Pigeon
Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Bald Eagle
Red-tailed Hawk
American Coot
Killdeer
Wilson's Snipe
Glaucous-winged Gull
Anna's Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
American Crow
Steller's Jay
Brown Creeper
Bewick's Wren
Marsh Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
American Robin
Cedar Waxwing
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Song Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
European Starling
House Finch
American Goldfinch - Connie, Seattle

constancesidles at gmail.com