Had a nice day at Nisqually NWLR, south of Tacoma, WA today. Observed a
large, very beautiful imm Rough-legged Hawk perching and flying near
McAllister Creek. Then it flew out to the tide flats and I didn't see it
again. Observed it from 10:00-10:30AM. During the day, several kinds of
Canada Geese flew in and flew out before I could get good looks at them.
I'm still learning these, but I know I saw common large Canada Geese
(Western), Cackling Canada Geese, and one smaller dark Canada Goose w/ a
ring around its neck (possible Aleutian). The Cacklers were in the
hundreds. They didn't stay long. There were a number of raptors in the
area and all the geese, ducks, and starlings were kept moving. A small
flock of Greater White-fronted Geese dropped in too.
We had a Sparrow show out at the Twin Barns at noon. A group of school kids
plus some adults were eating lunch and observing the birds. Below the
platform, we had Lincoln's, Golden-crowned, White-crowned, and Song Sparrows
flitting around, oblivious to our chatter. The Lincoln's Sparrows were not
skulking for a change. Even the kids got good looks at them. The skulking
sparrows today were the Fox Sparrows back near the parking lot. You could
hear them in the berry bushes.
They have closed off the trail out to the tide flats as usual for hunting
season. It doesn't matter, because there is so much action out on the
fields. They have mowed the grass and the viewing is great. The rains have
created some puddles in the field for the birds.
In close to the Headquarters Bldg., they are doing some bulldozing of
non-native plants, and are widening some of the channels of the wetlands.
They apparently will be flooding it again soon, as soon as some plugged
drains are opened up. They have removed some non-native and invasive
plants. There are plans to plant native plants to enhance birds and
wildlife habitat. It looks sorta bad right in there, but the birding was
okay in the nearby areas.
I had a great time today w/ my "birding optimizer" (82mm Kowa scope). Man,
it's the best.
See you birding.
Carol Schulz
DesMoines
linusq at worlnet.att.net