Hey tweets, re quail at the Fill: you have to be really, really
careful about quail calls at the Fill because the starlings can
imitate the quail. The difference, in my experience, is that when the
starlings imitate, they do only a short burst of quail-call. Real
quails tend to keep up their calling to make a complete song, if that
makes sense.

FYI, I believe there is a small breeding population of quails
somewhere behind the Villa Academy, which is half a mile east of the
Fill. I've heard them calling from here in the early morning, absent
any starlings.

I heard a quail calling at the Fill repeatedly back in February and
finally found one near the 4 yellow posts at Surber. I figured it had
come to forage at the neighbor's feeder on the south side of the hedge
that borders the Fill here.

So I'd say it's very possible Ema heard a quail.

Also at the Fill this morning was a pair (!) of Blue-winged Teal (on
Main Pond). I hope they stay to nest. Certainly, Cinnamon Teal have
found plenty of habitat at the Fill in the past few years. There is at
least one pair on every pond and slough this season. Blue-winged Teals
like similar habitat but in more open country; however, as the land
continues to sink at the Fill, we're getting quite a few prairie
potholes (mini-sized) out in the fields now. So maybe that's open
country enough.

In other news: A young male Western Tanager has been singing his
little heart out in the alder grove southwest of the kiosk. No girl
tanager responds, at least not yet. A baby Brown Creeper has been
learning how to ratchet up tree trunks and forage at Boy Scout Pond,
at the urging of its parents, who, I think, are tired of feeding it
anymore (see my blog for details: www.constancesidles.com). A juvenile
Dark-eyed Junco has been hanging out around the Wedding Rock, a very
rare sight at the Fill, as our deepest forest is only about 8 trees
wide. - Connie, Seattle

constancesidles at gmail.com
www.constancypress.com


On May 26, 2012, at 10:36 AM, Ema Nakao wrote:

> Hello!
>
> This morning at around 9:40 AM, I heard a California Quail at the
> Montlake Fill near the grassy knoll area facing the CUH. I thought I
> was crazy because I've never heard quails at the fill before! A few
> moments later, two other birders about to leave also heard the quail
> and came back. We waited for a bit to hear/see the quail with no
> luck. I heard the quails once more at around 10 AM behind me (facing
> opposite the CUH) but never saw them.
>
> Ema Nakao
> Seattle, WA
> _______________________________________________
> Tweeters mailing list
> Tweeters at u.washington.edu
> http://mailman1.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters

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