Hey tweets, a very nice-looking Western Gull appeared in the frisbee
field north of the Fill today. It looked pure Western, but who really
knows? It had pink legs, a pretty dark mantle (noticeably darker than
accompanying Glaucous-winged Gulls), a white head with just a few
brown streaks, black wing tips (not gray or dark gray), and a dark
yellow eye. Not a Slaty-backed, as the gray had a slight blue cast,
not the completely neutral gray of the birds I saw at the Cedar River
mouth in past years.

I would have said this is a picture-perfect Western, except that it
seems improbable that a Western Gull would be here in Seattle in that
field. However, birds do fly, and that field has been very productive
for gulls this calendar year and last year as well. I've seen Glaucous-
winged, California, Ring-billed, Mew, Thayer's, and Herring.

The gulls apparently are quite fond of worms that they pull out of the
ground. They congregate here early in the morning for their worm-
pulling sessions and are usually completely gone by around 10:00 a.m.,
when people and dogs begin to show up.

Also at the Fill this morning: a MERLIN, several singing WINTER WRENS,
and the BARN SWALLOW I first saw several days ago. The swallow has
been very reliable about showing up on the lagoon between 10 and 11
a.m. It comes to drink on the fly and must choose that time for the
same reason that office workers gather around the water cooler at
about the same hour. There were ten TRUMPETER SWANS foraging in the
lake, as usual. Think about being able to say: "as usual," for
Trumpeter Swans in Seattle! Ma and Pa Eagle are bringing big sticks to
their Talaris nest. One of the two RUDDY DUCKS on the main pond is
beginning to look just a little chestnut in the bright light. Spring
is in the air. - Connie, Seattle

constancesidles at gmail.com