AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS at Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. On December
5, Julia Lippert, biologist at the refuge, netted and banded one bird. On
Dec 12, I accompanied her and she netted another in the same spot, different
net. We saw both birds, and possibly a third, a number of times that
morning. The location is on the dike at the far north end, near where the
central road hits the dike. Birds were associating primarily with juncos,
secondarily with golden-crowned sparrows. Unfortunately, we were unable to
locate the birds on the CBC. For those who might want to try to find these
birds, the area is not accessible to the public until Jan 22, when hunting
season is over and the northern section of the dike trail is open again.
The dike is seasonally closed to give waterfowl a sanctuary where they will
not be disturbed by walkers who flush birds into hunting areas. The netting
is part of a project to better document landbird use of the refuge.

On December 9, we saw a WHITE-TAILED KITE at the Mima Mounds Natural Area
Preserve, Thurston County.

Chris Chappell
Olympia, WA
cchappell at thurston.com