Date: 10/28/26 10:00 am From: William Stafford Noble via Tweeters <tweeters...> Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Montlake Fill today
Hi Connie,
Thanks for the updates on the fill. FYI, we saw all four grebes at the
fill on Saturday morning, near the boathouse. Also, I saw one western
grebe on Monday morning on Lake Union, hanging out amongst a small group of
mallards just alongside the houseboat at the end of the pier next to
Gasworks Park. This morning, I saw a grebe (probably a western, but too
far to be sure) fishing midway between the point at Gasworks and the green
ship buoy. I don't remember seeing them on the lake in recent years.
We also had a barred owl land on our patio furniture on Monday evening. I
guess it's a birdy time of year.
Bill
On Tue, Oct 27, 2026 at 11:39 PM Constance Sidles via Tweeters <
<tweeters...> wrote:
> Hey tweets, Montlake Fill's waterways were really lively today:
>
> • 4 (!) Western Grebes in the water off the crewhouse at Conibear. I
> can't remember ever seeing so many Western Grebes at the Fill at once.
> There have been two grebes present at this location for some days now;
> joined by a third grebe a couple of days ago, and now this. Extraordinary.
>
> • The coots and ducks are back: 2 gigantic rafts were out on the lake
> today, numbering in the thousands, I estimate.
>
> • Wood Ducks are in breeding plumage, and so are at least some of the male
> Mallards. Other male Mallards still have a ways to go. I always feel for
> these males, as they must race to get handsome enough to attract a female
> for the breeding season to come, and yet they must also be aware of their
> vulnerability to predators because of being conspicuous. What a choice.
>
> • Two large flocks of finches were foraging in the conifers at the marina
> today. I tried to make them into crossbills, given reports of a crossbill
> eruption in western WA, but I believe instead they were Pine Siskins - they
> were so high up in the canopy, so active, and generally so silent it was
> hard to be sure.
>
> • It looks like the chafer beetle larvae are at it again. Vast areas of
> turf are chopped up and brown, like some gigantic aerator has been at work.
> The crows are in heaven, turning over divots of grass killed by the beetles
> and finding untold thousands - probably millions - of insects to eat. This,
> at a time of year when other food sources might be more scarce. It makes me
> wonder if this bonanza of food will allow the crow population to burgeon
> even more than it already has.
>
> • Barred Owls have been calling in my neighborhood (I live close to the
> Fill), a truly wild and hauntng chorus to listen to in the middle of the
> night. We live on a beautiful planet. - Connie, Seattle
>
> <constancesidles...>
> <csidles...>
>
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