Hey tweets, the Fill has been wonderful but strange the past couple of
days. It can seem mostly deserted by even the most common of birds,
but then I find a Northern Shrike at the Snag at West Point on Sunday,
and then discover the bird has been parked there since Oct. 7. There
were no Canada Geese at the Fill this morning (unheard-of), but a vee
of 27 Cackling Geese flew overhead, followed by another vee of 9 geese
that I'm pretty sure were Greater White-fronted. Underneath the geese
was a vee of Common Mergansers - all these birds were headed *north*,
making me wonder if the Earth's magnetic poles have reversed
themselves (as they have done many times in the past).

Other oddities: Fox Sparrows have been easy to find; White-crowned
Sparrows practically nonexistent. Wilson's Snipes have been more
common than Killdeers. Winter kinglets have been scarce, but a summer
Black-headed Grosbeak was still hanging around.

I failed to see even one Western Grebe all last year; now three of
them have set up shop at the crewhouse at Conibear. These usually
people-averse birds pay no heed whatever to the constant coming and
going of shells loaded with hunky rowers. (My husband has accused me
of pretending to look at the grebes while really ogling the crewmen, a
gross misstatement if ever there was one. Well, a slight exaggeration
at least.)

Talk about Fill of surprises. 'Tis the season when anything can
happen, I guess. Do we live on a great planet, or what? - Connie,
Seattle

constancesidles at gmail.com
www.constancypress.com


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