Subject: [Tweeters] Fill today
Date: Jul 24 16:39:39 2008
From: Constance Sidles - constancesidles at gmail.com


Hey tweets, the calendar may say July, but we birders know it's really
fall. This morning was cool, cloudy - perfect Seattle weather. We live
in paradise, don't we?

At this time of year, I look for all the signs of fall that I can find
- summer, for me, is a season to endure, not enjoy. I would prefer a
new Ice Age. So what were the signs of fall today? They were numerous,
including:

? slanting sunlight filtering through the trees as the low clouds
reluctantly parted
? the rank smell of weeds all done for the year and ready to rest,
thank goodness (as an aside, I visited my Dad in Florida one time in
October to find that plants were still growing strong - it seemed so
alien that the plants never rest there, like the movie "Mars Attacks,"
only with magnolias and mulch)
? a Greater Yellowlegs teetering on Shoveler Pond
? two Least Sandpipers on the main pond
? three juvenile Hooded Mergansers tucked up for a nap on Union Bay
? swallows in newly brown feathers in a big hurry to fatten up for the
flight south
? Steller's Jays out from their breeding purdah and ready to be raucous
again
? a juvenile Bewick's Wren still fluffy with adolescence, trying out a
new song - just one more reminder that any time I can't identify a
given bird song, it's highly likely to be a Bewick's (I pass this tip
along to any potential birding trip leaders who may feel, as I do, a
bit shaky about their bird songs - just be sure that you say, "Oh,
that's a Bewick's Wren," with confidence. As my husband's orthopaedic
friends joke, "Sometimes wrong, never in doubt."

By the way, the two young eaglets at Talaris have left the nest.
Yesterday, Junior A was clinging to a branch two feet above and to the
west of the nest, while Junior B was four feet above and to the east.
They both look highly disgruntled, waiting for Ma or Pa to bring some
grub. Junior A, my husband reports, spread out his wings and rose a
little above his perch, much to his own amazement. John said you could
almost hear the eaglet thinking, "So that's what these things are for.
Say, they look like fun." It won't be long now before they're out and
about. - Connie, Seattle

constancesidles at gmail.com