Hey tweets, thanks to a heads-up from Doug Parrott, I scurried down to
the Main Pond yesterday around 2 p.m. to observe the Red-necked
Phalarope that has graced the Fill with its beautiful self.

I've been watching "Avatar" this week because I'm interested in seeing
how Hollywood designers imagine an alien Paradise. Pandora, their
fantasy world, is a magical place, lushly filled with strangely
beautiful wildlife that the hero comes to believe is worth saving at
any cost. Caught up in the loveliness of the scenery, I too come to
think the same, and to wish that somewhere in our galaxy, Pandora
exists.

It's good to step outside our own reality now and then to see how
someone else somewhere else views beauty - I get the same thrill from
watching "Nature" or "Art Wolfe's Travels to the Edge." All of these
shows, both real and un-, remind me to stop a moment and reflect on
the fact that we ourselves live in a paradise of beauty, right here in
Seattle. Pandora, for all its alien wonders, has nothing as really
wonderful as our little Red-necked Phalarope, who is paddling serenely
on Main Pond for now but who will soon spend the winter storms
swimming in the deep ocean. How can such a fragile-looking creature
survive the power of the sea? I don't know. It's a wonder. Art Wolfe
and the videographers of "Nature" spend untold money and effort to
film the exotica of our planet, yet we ourselves are hosting one of
the most exotic of birds, a living, breathing miracle of life in the
heart of a big city.

The Red-necked Phalarope was not the only amazing bird at the Fill
yesterday. Also on Main Pond were two Spotted Sandpipers bobbing their
clownish derrieres on the shore, paying no attention to two Wilson's
Warblers who spent more time chasing each other than chasing bugs to
eat. A Yellow Warbler was not so distracted and caught numerous prey
while the Wilson's were arguing. A Willow Flycatcher flew in to perch
among the willow wands as it searched for its own brand of bug,
finding much to eat in the rich mud of the pond. Earlier in the day, a
Western Wood-pewee put on a masterful flying exhibit as it too looked
for insects to snatch in mid-air. I also saw a Green Heron fishing on
the Turtle Logs, while a Great Blue Heron nearby opened its wings like
a living umbrella to shade its fishing hole. Over on Surber, a Band-
tailed Pigeon (our native forest pigeon) surveyed its domain from the
top of a conifer. I tried to tell it to be on the lookout for the
Peregrine Falcon I had seen in the dawn, but the pigeon was much to
lofty to pay any attention to me, beyond one look down its beak at the
lowly human who must slog around on the ground and cannot ever hope to
reach its heights. Mirabile dictu. - Connie, Seattle