Subject: [Tweeters] Fill Today, Part II
Date: Dec 8 17:03:30 2009
From: Jeffrey Bryant - jbryant_68 at yahoo.com






A quick afternoon stop at the Fill today was pretty
productive, considering the hour.? While
watching Connie?s aforementioned swan trio preening on the newest mud island in
the bay, I caught sight of a handsome drake REDHEAD swimming nearby.? He seemed to be eschewing the company of
several nearby Aythyas?Ring-necks and Scaup?preferring to swim alone.

Most of my time there was spent picking through a good
variety of sparrows.? Nothing terribly
unusual, but a very cooperative Fox Sparrow along the brushy fenceline behind
the CUH was an uncommon treat.? Also
plenty of towhees, Song, Lincoln?s, White- and Golden-crowns about.? Most entertaining sparrow sighting took
place where the main pond drains, via a tiny iced-over rivulet that passes
under the trail.? A towhee, a Lincoln?s
Sparrow and two or three Song Sparrows were foraging in this area.? None of the three species seemed averse to
carefully hopping across the ice, but one Song Sparrow was visibly taken aback
when he attempted a landing on the ice, and ?skated? several inches beyond his
intended touchdown point!?

Also watched four Golden-crowned Sparrows in the blue
forest, squabbling over what must have been a particularly delectable
dandelion.? Not the seeds, but the
greens, which they tore off in bite-size chunks and gobbled down.

Add to all this the fact that I was able to SEE all
three of the UBNA?s regular wrens in one visit (more difficult to accomplish
than you might think,) and it was a perfect day at the Fill!