Subject: [Tweeters] Photo contest
Date: Sep 15 04:51:50 2016
From: Constance Sidles - constancesidles at gmail.com


Hey tweets, just thought all you amateur photographers out there ought to know about Seattle Audubon's Centennial Photo Contest, which is being run through the Seattle Times Reader's Lens. First prize for the Seattle Audubon contest is a trip to Baja for two. Second prize is a San Juans tour for two. Details on Seattle Times' website and in this past WeekenderPlus (p. 29). The ad there says to submit bird photos to:
seattletimes.com/submit-photos <http://seattletimes.com/submit-photos>.

In other news, migrants are coming through the Fill: last Friday a Bank Swallow, very unusual for us. The 3 baby Ospreys have fledged - I saw one of the youngsters crying for fish from the nearby baseball diamond light standard. Nobody answering its cry, it eventually swooped down and caught its own fish. A lesson for all good parents? Also on view: a Pileated Woodpecker, a Merlin, a Peregrine, and a small tern, possibly Forster's or Common.

FYI, mitigation work continues apace at the Fill, so the Loop Trail is still occasionally closed, though mostly open now. It depends on whether WSDOT is using heavy equipment or not, I guess. There are mountains of chips here and there, which apparently they are using to spread over black cloth in an attempt to kill the Himalayan blackberry. The Dime Lot (E-5) has been dug out, and there is now a shallow basin covering most of the old parking lot. Like the ponds installed at Magnuson, the sides are fairly steep - not made with shorebirds in mind, though shorebirds will (I hope) use the new pond at least until the willows to be planted along the edges close out line of sight (as they have for the most part at Magnuson).

I'm still trying to get over my broken heart that WSDOT and UWBG would not listen to the thousands of us who asked them to use this mitigation opportunity to restore shorebird and prairie habitat. The Fill is still beautiful, and it used to be a dump, I tell myself. Birds - even uncommon birds - still come here in droves, as shown last Friday. This site will remain open space under the UW's new 20-year plan - no buildings will be built on the site, and nothing will be turned into a parking lot - on the contrary, a parking lot will be turned into habitat. All this is wonderful. Best of all, the Fill will still provide magical encounters with wildlife in the heart of a great city. On Main Pond, a young Coyote popped out and stared at us for a moment, ears up, eyes bright, fur plush. We didn't see the young buck that has been reported, but I know someday I will. Perhaps it will be on the day the Osprey pair return to their little post, add a few new sticks to their platform, and raise another brood right in front of our eyes. - Connie, Seattle

csidles at constancypress.com