Hey tweets, I hope you are sitting down because this discovery is sure
to astonish you: The natural color of our sky is *blue,* not gray as
we had thought. What a pleasure it was this dawn to see colors in the
sky instead of monochome. We had the pale pink, gold, and blue of a
sunrise lighting up the clouds, instead of hiding behind them. Mt.
Rainier was glorious.

The birds were pretty great, too. Okay, fabulous. There were literally
hundreds and hundreds of warblers everywhere, but most concentrated in
the alder grove kitty-corner from the kiosk. Most were Yellow-rumps,
but mixed in were also Wilson's, Yellow, Orange-crowned, BLACK-
THROATED GRAY, and even a Common Yellowthroat in the brambles below.
Also in that grove was a CASSIN'S VIREO, not your everyday bird at the
Fill. It was singing in tune with a WESTERN WOOD-PEWEE - actually a
chorus of at least three pewees. Atop the snag in Sidles Swamp nearby
was perched an OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER. It stayed up there a long time,
fluffing out its white patches and catching the rays. Hammond's
Flycatchers were also present. As I was enjoying the flycatcher
fiesta, 4 WESTERN TANAGERS flew into the cottonwoods. You would think
that a big yellow bird with a flaming red head would stand out like
someone with their hair on fire, but such is not the case. The
tanagers like to hide their heads behind a big leaf, and their yellow
bodies somehow manage to blend into the green of the leaves, making
them extremely hard to see. Not at all like the 4 CEDAR WAXWINGS that
shared the same tree, and whose dove-gray/brown bodies stood out like
beacons.

Other birds on view today: at least one pair of Ring-necked Ducks has
been hanging out in the slough between Canoe Island and the mainland.
Given the lateness of the date, and the lovey-doveyness of the pair,
perhaps they will stay here to nest. Large numbers of Great Blue
Herons are coming to the Fill to hunt for fish, frogs, and snakes to
take back to their flourishing heronry near Drumheller Fountain. So
crowded is the landscape, they seem to have made up their minds to
tolerate people being close. I've come within 6 feet of one without
flushing it, not necessarily the most comfortable experience in the
world. The bird was almost as tall as I was and had a much pointier
beak. - Connie, Seattle

constancesidles at gmail.com
www.constancypress.com
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