Subject: [Tweeters] Fill yesterday
Date: May 18 05:42:46 2008
From: Constance Sidles - constancesidles at gmail.com


Hey tweets, Birds at the Fill yesterday were way down in numbers and
diversity. The heat seems to have finally driven the Golden-crowned
Sparrows, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Buffleheads, American Wigeons, Common
Mergansers, and Double-crested Cormorants to their breeding grounds.
Not a one was to be seen yesterday. They were all so ubiquitous here
before that I had come to downgrade them as watchable birds -
especially the Yellow-rumps. They have been so numerous lately that
they distracted the eye from seeing any other kind of warbler. Over the
past two weeks in my efforts to see all the warbler species of our
state, I've had to keep repeating Dennis Paulson's mantra: Look at
every bird, look at every bird. Nine times out of ten, "the bird" was a
Yellow-rump. Now that they're gone, I miss them all. The "train
station" seems very empty without them. The only northern species left
yesterday was a lone American Pipit, foraging in the grass at the south
end of Shoveler Pond. No doubt the calm night last night would have
lured him away, too.

As compensation for the lack of birds, the Fill produced rare beauty
yesterday morning. Fog clung low to the fields and ponds, and the dawn
sun filtered through the leaves of the cottonwoods. Cotton from those
trees floated in midair, going nowhere. The air was very still. The
scene was so lovely that I set down my camp stool just to soak it in -
really, nothing else to look at. Birds were scarce - a few ducks on
Shoveler Pond, the pheasant trumpeting his gorgeousness and foofing
himself up just to reiterate the point, the Seattle Audubon Board
trudging around trying to find something for their birdathon day. They
got all excited at seeing a Cinnamon Teal and a Lesser Scaup - well,
that will tell you how little the Fill produced for them. I felt bad
for "my" spot. Where was that Steller's Eagle I've been wishing for, or
the Tufted Duck, or even a Chipping Sparrow? Alas.

Things did pick up a bit as the day grew warmer. Best birds of the day:
Spotted Sandpiper perched ridiculously on the point of a stick emerging
from the lake
American Pipit (mentioned above)
Red-eyed Vireo foraging in the big cottonwoods southwest of the CUH
building (Brad Waggoner assures me that while REVI are not supposed to
arrive in WA until a bit later, this would by no means be the earliest
appearance of one).

Altogether, I saw 45 species. - Connie, Seattle

constancesidles at gmail.com