Hi Tweets,

Bill and I were out at the Montlake Fill enjoying the lovely
afternoon today. We were scoping the mud island in the bay between the
southeast point of the Fill and Laurelhurst and Bill noticed some shorebirds
on the mud island. I didn't think these birds were either Western or Least
Sandpipers because I figured those birds would have been nearly invisible at
the 300 to 500 foot distance from us to them. On the other hand, they
weren't big enough to be Dowitchers. They were soon joined by
Double-Crested Cormorants and gulls and were near many ducks in the water
next to the island. Bill proceeded to take a few pictures of the shorebirds
as the birds rambled along the edge of the island and fed in the water. He
then compared their size to that of a Common Merganser and female scaup. He
calculated that the birds were 8-8.5 inches long. The birds looked like
they could be Dunlin, so that's my best guess. These would be the first
Dunlin we've seen at the Fill this year.

If anyone wants to see the pictures, we'll send you a couple.
Cheers, Charlotte Byers, Seattle