Subject: [Tweeters] Fill update
Date: Sep 27 07:18:05 2009
From: Connie Sidles - constancesidles at gmail.com


Hey tweets, the Fill has been indescribably beautiful in the early
fall sunlight. The mornings start out with mist lying pale on the
fields. On cloudy days, the tops of the cottonwood trees glow with
yellow leaves, making them appear to be touched by the sun even when
they're not. When the sun finally does come out, they burst into
molten gold. How can you bear to stay away?

I can't. So I've been trudging around in the mornings trying to find
migrants. They are there, but you have to winkle them out with
patience and luck. Yesterday was a three-grebe day: Horned, Pied-
billed and Western. I ran into two birders on the Loop Trail who told
me they had just seen a Western Grebe out on the lake, so I hustled
over to find it. Within a matter of minutes, I saw a grebe flying,
neck stretched out, head looking like a bulb on a socket. When it
splashed down, it turned into a Horned Grebe, so naturally I thought
the birders had been mistaken. But then I wandered over to the Lagoon,
and sure enough, there was the Western, gliding along and occasionally
diving for fish.

The songbirds were a bit sparse yesterday, but the wonderful thing
about the Fill is, you never know what might turn up. Every twist of
the trail brings new possibilities. I found 46 species yesterday. Who
knows what will be there today? - Connie, Seattle

constancesidles at gmail.com