Hey tweets, I managed to saw through the chain connecting me to my
desk this morning and escaped to the Fill for a silver-mist morning of
fabulous birds. The highlight of my day was a Bonaparte's Gull that
appeared out of the clouds, swooped around the Cove twice, and then
disappeared back into the ether. I rarely see Bonaparte's at the Fill
anymore, so this was a big treat.

Another gull gave quite a show, too: this one was a Herring Gull
outflying the Bald Eagle who was dead set on making the gull into
breakfast. The poor eagle had its best chance when it stooped twice
over gull. I honestly do not know how the gull managed to get away.
But after that, the gull danced lazy circles around the eagle, who was
huffing and puffing its very best to get close enough for another
grab. No chance. The gull was just too agile. I've always heard that
gulls are weak flyers, and I suppose you could say this one qualified,
in the sense that it didn't go very fast. On the other hand, it didn't
have to. Its ability to fly in tight circles around a raptor that had
the turning radius of a Pontiac made speed inconsequential.

Also on view today: a Band-tailed Pigeon flying around Hunn Meadow, a
flock of Hooded Mergansers on the lake, along with a flock of 11
Common Mergansers, and several Golden-crowned Kinglets foraging near
the Wedding Rock and also Leaky Pond. These birds are all uncommon at
the Fill, so it was a lot of fun watching them. Especially the
kinglets. Two of the kinglets got into a fight. They dueled by showing
each other their crowns. I know the fight was serious because they
went so far as to open their golden crowns to reveal a fiery orange
spark of feathers underneath the gold. I find it utterly charming that
kinglets fight by showing each other the colors on the tops of their
heads. If only we humans could do the same. - Connie, Seattle

constancesidles at gmail.com
www.constancypress.com
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