Hey tweets, the Fill was *incredible* this morning. I got there at 5
a.m. and saw an OSPREY being harried by a Bald Eagle. The Osprey
dropped his fish, and the eagle caught it with his claws in mid-air.
This did not make the Osprey happy, and he expressed himself
vociferously.

Although I felt sorry for the Osprey, I was glad to observe the
eagle's great catch, especially because there wasn't much else going
on that early. As usual at the Fill, things didn't start to pick up
until around 8 a.m.

At the Dime Parking Lot, the WESTERN KINGBIRD was still on duty. An
EVENING GROSBEAK perched at the top of a dead snag along the road
leading into the lot.

But the really hot spot was the alder grove southwest of the CUH
building. The trees here were alive with passerines, including:
TOWNSEND'S WARBLER, WILSON'S WARBLER, YELLOW WARBLER, WESTERN
TANAGER, and best of all, a CASSIN'S VIREO. Cassin's Vireos are
extremely rare at the Fill - I've seen them only three times before -
and this one was feeding pretty low, midway in the trees, out near the
edges. I got perfect looks in full sun. The warblers tended to stay up
much higher in the trees, even the Wilson's to my surprise. At one
point, on one branch there was a Yellow Warbler near a Wilson's, and
then a female Townsend's came in. It was a warbler convention.

In the lagoon was a late AMERICAN WIGEON, and flying over the cove was
a flock of COMMON MERGANSERS. A photographer reported a Blue-winged
Teal this morning, which I did not see today (though I saw one a
couple of days ago on Shoveler's Pond. CINNAMON TEAL were everywhere.
A great day. - Connie, Seattle

constancesidles at gmail.com