Tweeters;

This morning I walked the open trails at Nisqually NWR. Overall it was a
good day for raptors, beginning with an adult PEREGRINE FALCON making
repeated passes at the waterfowl flocks near the parking lot.

>From the Ring Dike Trail I watched a WHITE-TAILED KITE swooping down at a
perched ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK.

>From the observation platform at the barns I was able to see 3 ROUGH-LEGGED
HAWKS all at one time, a handsome adult dark morph RED-TAILED HAWK, and
several NORTHERN HARRIERS.

The resident BALD EAGLE pair was making visits to the grassy fields,
swooping down and grabbing talon full clumps of grasses and taking them back
to their nest.

Additional hawks seen included an immature COOPER'S HAWK near McAllister
Creek and an immature SHARP-SHINNED HAWK in the forest along the Nisqually
River.

Additional highlights: AMERICAN BITTERN along the trail to McAllister Creek
and two RIVER OTTERS at the Ring Dike Trail.

I spoke with the volunteer who had spotted the SNOWY OWL a while back at
Nisqually, and he informed me that it has not been seen since the intial
sighting.

That's all for now. Good Birding!

Steve Nord
Lacey, WA
birdersteve at home.com