I swung by Montlake Fill en route to work this morning about 9:15, in search of a Lazuli Bunting. I heard him singing as I cut westward along the gravel ?road? across the northern boundary of the Fill, just north of the P-patch, and saw him almost as soon as I cleared the giant green compost bins. He was perched on the barbed wire atop the blackberry-clad fence there, just singing his little heart out. I assumed the loud, prolonged songfest was going on in desperate hope of attracting a mate. It is, after all, getting late in the season, and female buntings must be pretty hard to come by ?round these parts. My theory was (happily) soon dashed to pieces, as a female popped up from the grass below the fence, and perched briefly on an adjoining bit of barbed wire. Here?s to range expansion, preservation of grassland & edge habitat, and beautiful blue things in general!
Jeff Bryant
Seattle
jbryant_68 AT yahoo DOT com