It was relatively quiet at the Fill this morning, so it was a nice
surprise to find the VESPER SPARROW (see Evan Houston's post for details
and photos). This is the first one I have seen on this side of the
Cascades. I'm glad Evan was there to get some pictures. In addition to
the other birds reported by Evan, there was a tailless BEWICK'S WREN in
the cottonwood grove, looking like an over-grown Winter (Pacific) Wren,
and a flock of 25-30 CEDAR WAXWINGS.

Later, another birder and I watched one of the GREEN HERONS in the cove,
a juvenile bird, catch four little fish in quick succession. After
swallowing the last one, it stuck a long, snaky tongue out the side of
its bill and licked it back and forth along both sides of the bill for
at least ten seconds. I guess the heron was cleaning off the fish
slime. I have never seen this behavior before, and I had no idea a
heron tongue was flexible enough to do that.

I also was surprised to see two huge soft-shelled turtles in the cove.
How long have they been there, and how did they get there? Just what
the Fill needs...another weird introduced species.

Rachel Lawson
Seattle
rachelwl at msn.com