Hey tweets, the Fill was fantabulous today, although perhaps I should
choose an adjective with more gravitas. How about: celestial? No.
Edenic? Yikes, who says that? Ethereal? True but not birdy. I need
more coffee.

Anyhow, I got there this morning at 5:40 to find a misty shroud of fog
veiling the fields. Mt. Rainier was pink with alpenglow, and the sky
was daubed with golden clouds. I've often thought that Fill birds are
slugabeds compared to the birds of other sites, but not today. Today,
even at dawn, the trees and bushes were alive with warblers, finches,
vireos, and sparrows.

I started out at the helipad, where I like to roust out the Brewer's
Blackbirds if they're still asleep, which they usually are. "Up and at
'em," I cried, then hummed reveille - offensively no doubt. The
blackbirds popped up out of the bushes that drape the fence and
glared. My mission accomplished, I drove over to the Dime Lot to look
for grit-gatherers and almost ran over a MOURNING DOVE gathering grit
in the road. Backing up, I ceded the whole Dime Lot to this wonderful
dove and parked near the CUH instead.

A Cinnamon Teal was on Shoveler's Pond. Numerous Wilson' Warblers were
in every grove. A WESTERN WOOD-PEWEE was singing down at East Point.
Off in the distance, I could hear Western Tanagers but never did find
them. FYI, I participated in the Arboretum's "Bioblitz" on Saturday -
a 24-hour effort to document every living species in the Arboretum. We
on the birding team found good numbers of Western Tanagers, which was
a real treat. Best bird of the day for me, though, was a singing
Hutton's Vireo. I've never seen a Hutton's at the Fill, so finding a
singing one was jaw-dropping. Maybe I need to get out more.

Anyway, if you're interested in tanagers, check out my latest blog
post on www.constancesidles.com
I think you'll get a chuckle for the day. - Connie, Seattle

constancesidles at gmail.com
www.constancypress.com
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