Hey tweets, Today was a stolen day at the Fill. It was supposed to
rain, so I had scheduled myself to actually do some work. But when
dawn arrived, I looked up from my computer, and there was the sun. I
wrestled with myself - the good, hard-working Connie vs. the real me.
There was never any doubt about the outcome, but I had to put up a
fight, if just for my own self-respect.

And so to the Fill.

Things are perking up for the birds. The Mallards are already mating,
the Bald Eagles are building up the mom's fat in preparation for egg-
laying (I saw one eagle catch a coot today), and a pair of Pied-billed
Grebes was building a nest on the south side of the mud island in the
lagoon. I sat down to watch.

Both prospective parents brought beakfuls of sedge and laid them on
top of a base of plants floating in the water. The female (the one
with the slightly more gracile bill, I assume) was the more finicky
one, sometimes rearranging the male's rather slapdash laying-on of the
plants. I have to say it was great to see the male helping, however
messily. Most males I know.... well, I simply can't go on. It's too
much of a soft pitch across the plate.

Best bird of the day for me was a TREE SWALLOW chasing a Cooper's Hawk
away from the snag where Tree Swallows like best to nest. One swallow
does not a spring make, I know, but it sure was a smile-bringer to see
this little guy show up.

Altogether I saw 50 species this morning. - Connie, Seattle

constancesidles at gmail.com