Hey tweets, yesterday may very well have been the best day I ever
spent at the Fill. The whole place was so loaded with birds, my head
is still spinning. The alder grove kitty-corner from the kiosk was
among the most active sites. In it and in the corner where it meets
Sidles Swamp were:
SWAINSON'S THRUSHES (eating ivy berries and coming out into the open
many times)
TOWNSEND'S WARBLERS (numerous ones, both male and female - more than I
ever saw before in one place)
Yellow Warblers
Wilson's Warblers
Orange-crowned Warblers
Yellow-rumped Warblers (both Myrtle and Audubon's)
Warbling Vireo
Western Wood-Pewee
WILLOW FLYCATCHERS (two, FOY, dueling with their FITZ-bews)
Western Tanagers (many, both high and low)
Eurasian Collared-Dove
not to mention the usual suspects: American Robins, nesting European
Starlings, Song Sparrows, Savannah Sparrows, swallows, swifts,
chickadees, towhees, and flickers.

Everywhere else on the Fill was filled with birds, too, especially
warblers, tanagers, and thrushes. The walk along the service road
bordering University Slough was notably gorgeous, quiet, and birdy.
This is a walk I like to take on Sunday mornings. I park for free in
the Dime Lot or sometimes near the crewhouse, walk north along the
service road to the golf driving range, turn east to Douglas Road, and
then walk south back to the Dime Lot. It's among the most peaceful of
all the walks at the Fill, and usually very birdy because of all the
plants bordering the slough. Another Swainson's Thrush popped out
there and sat looking at me for a long time. Usually as soon as they
see me, they dive into a deep bush, never to emerge again, so it was
quite a treat to be able to study one close-up.

It was the kind of day where every new spot had fabulous birds to
offer: Osprey fishing, baby crows in the nest, Killdeer fast-walking
and appearing to have a hundred legs, swifts and swallows riding a
roller-coaster over my head. I always love going to the Fill, as you
know, because there is always some new activity to witness, some new
insight to gain. But yesterday, it was as though nature had been
holding its breath all year and then let it out all at once with a
mighty whoosh. - Connie, Seattle

constancesidles at gmail.com
www.constancypress.com
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