Hey tweets, an artist I met once down at the Wooden Boat Festival told
me that it never rains when you can see the Dutchman's breeches. She
had set up her easel out in the open on an overcast day that looked
like the heavens could open at any moment, although there were patches
of blue here and there (hence, the breeches).

Now, usually I am gullibility itself. I tend to believe what anyone
tells me until I find out different for myself. But in this case, I
thought she was loony. Why should one cloud, heavy with rain, pay
attention to the lack of cloud in another part of the sky and hold off
dropping its buckets of water? Nevertheless, when I spotted a tiny
patch of blue yesterday afternoon, I was off like a shot to the Fill.
I've been working on my unbridled optimism lately, and maybe that
artist was right after all.

Unfortunately, no sooner did my husband drop me off and head over to
the Mac store with the car than the heavens opened and the rain came
down. Not to worry, though, because I think I must know every tree on
the site that is worth huddling under in a storm. In this case, my
tree was behind the baseball diamond, where a little service road goes
up to a sawdust pile and ends at the back of a polluted slough. You
wouldn't think this would be a good area to be forced to sit in while
hoping the rain would end. But it was utterly charming.

First, three American Goldfinches showed up to take a bath in a nearby
puddle. Why bathe when it's raining? Beats me. The male went first,
wading in until his stomach was underwater, then splashing decorously
with his wings. One of the females was more exuberant, motoring around
in the puddle like a rubber ducky with an outboard. The third female
had just entered the puddle when I had to cough. Blam! My cough
blasted her straight out of the water and onto the shore as she
checked to see what had just exploded. Meanwhile, a female BLACK-
HEADED GROSBEAK alit in a nearby tree and posed for a few seconds. A
Downy Woodpecker began to ratchet along a branch, and a family of
Bewick's Wrens began agitating for their parents to get busy and feed
them now now now. Near my tree, a female Common Yellowthroat showed
up. I thought she was there to huddle from the rain as I was, but no,
she was a lot more interested in catching the myriads of insects that
all this rain has fostered. We must be grateful to the mosquitoes, for
they nourish the birds. I have a couple of mosquito bites to remind me
to be thankful.

The rain finally slowed enough to encourage me to get moving, and by
the time I reached Shoveler's Pond, the bird activity was lively. Best
bird of the day: a PURPLE MARTIN among the other swallows, followed
by a CASPIAN TERN. Also on view: a Northern Shoveler mom with at least
six BABIES (on University Slough north of the Wooden Bridge). -
Connie, Seattle

constancesidles at gmail.com
www.constancypress.com

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman1.u.washington.edu/pipermail/tweeters/attachments/20100607/675e6876/attachment.htm