Hey tweets, I took a dash around the Fill today (well, dash for me is
more like amble for most folks, or even ooze) and found the warblers
are coming through now!! Over the past couple of days, I've seen
several YELLOW WARBLERS, two WILSON'S WARBLERS, and today a
MACGILLIVRAY'S, my very favorite warbler. This one was a beautiful
male, hanging out around Kern's Restoration Pond.

The shorebirds are also stopping by in good numbers and diversity. In
the past couple of weeks we've had: SOLITARY SANDPIPER, GREATER
YELLOWLEGS, at least 7 LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS, several LEAST
SANDPIPERS, some WESTERNS, and yesterday a SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER.
Today there were two SPOTTED SANDPIPERS. Mostly the sandpipers confine
themselves to Main Pond, but I've also been checking out the lily
pads, as shorebirds often hunt and peck on them this time of year. The
mud around Main Pond is looking good. The water keeps retreating
slowly, revealing more new mud each day. So we should continue to
provide a good buffet for fall migration.

The swallows are pretty much gone already, having left at least two
weeks early. Vaux's Swifts have been in short supply too, although
there are usually a few around by mid-morning. Most of the blackbirds
have fled as well. So it can be eerily quiet out there at times, which
is uncharacteristic. As an aside, one of my minor indulgences is
apocalyptic movies - you know, the kind where the earth gets destroyed
by something or another, be it a rogue asteroid, a change in the
Gulfstream current, or neutrons suddenly acting like microwave ovens.
I've noticed that in all these movies, just before the big shoe drops,
all the birds suddenly band together in one big flock and fly away
south. After they're gone, there is an eery silence. Hmm. Maybe we'd
all better check our emergency supplies of water, blankets, and
chocolate, the three essentials of life. - Connie, Seattle

constancesidles at gmail.com
www.constancypress.com
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