I?ve been spending WAY too much time at the Fill of late, knowing I?ll be on the coast for a four-day weekend, during which the next fabulous Fill rarity is sure to be found.?
No such oddities over the last two days, but some definite trends are developing, as breeders and common migrants are fast disappearing, while the winter residents are starting to trickle in.? For example, yesterday was the first day in recent history that I couldn?t scare up a Vaux?s Swift or an Orange-crowned Warbler.? While yesterday offered exactly one each Yellow Warbler and Warbling Vireo in the alder grove, two short visits today yielded neither.? Barn Swallows, too, have gone from uncountable to nearly nonexistent in the past few days.? This afternoon, I had almost assumed they were finally ALL gone, until a passing Cooper?s Hawk brought them out of the woodwork.? Still, only five.? Yellow-rumps, on the other hand, started trickling in less than a week ago, and are now one of the commonest passerines around.? They seem to fill every available niche:? some flitting about the weedy areas with the goldfinches and sparrows, some
emulating flycatchers in the willows, some even replacing the noticeably absent peeps on the mud around the main pond.? The vanguard of winter ducks has been arriving this week, including at least three American Wigeon, eight Ring-necked Ducks, and a lone scaup I saw way out today.? The last one refused to pull his head up from napping position to be identified to species.? Even as the Savannah Sparrows amass, staging for their southbound flight, their replacements are popping up in small numbers.? Two or three Lincoln?s Sparrows have deigned to show themselves over the past two days (especially behind the Port-a-Potties by the dime lot,) and this afternoon, among numerous goldfinches, savvies and butterbutts on the south side of the main pond, appeared my first Golden-crowned Sparrow of the season, intently tearing apart a nightshade berry.?
Now, I?m not saying it?s time to give up on any sexy new migrants at the Fill--I refuse to abandon hope of, say, Chestnut-sided Warbler--but it IS time to think of more wintry possibilities:? Harris? Sparrow, longspurs, Snow Bunting, Short-eared Owl, Palm Warbler, Rough-legged Hawk?
Just please don?t find them until Monday.

Jeff Bryant
Seattle
Jbryant_68 AT yahoo