Hi tweets,

It was great to meet or run into so many of you out on the Fill this afternoon. Naturally, my exciting find of the day (for me) happened when there was no one around, and I wasn't confident enough to report it until I came home for a look in my guidebook, where I confirmed the bill length, light buff longitudinal stripes on head/back, short tail, and barred flanks. I know that Wilson's Snipe isn't a rarity, but it's a lifer for me.

The snipe was foraging along the north end of the southwest pond, just to the north of where the pied-billed grebe has her nest.

I also saw my first orange-crowned warbler (I think) foraging silently in a crabapple near a very vocal goldfinch. Two kingbirds, maybe three, also seen today. Alas, no cross-bills. What a fantastic day for my favorite spot in the city.

Meg Matthews
Communications Specialist
(T/Th/afternoons on Fridays)
UW Botanic Gardens
206-543-2608
gavigan at u dot washington dot edu

Celebrating 75 years of the Washington Park Arboretum in 2009