Hi folks,

Took the day off - too nice a day to sit inside or to do yard work, so went
out to Nisqually NWR at noon, for a 2-hour walk that turned into a 4-1/2
hour walkabout. The leaves are just now bursting out on the maples, ash and
alder, so it was pretty easy to get good views of the 'brush birds'.

There were a bazillion butter-butts, and they were all singing - listening
to them, I was finally starting to remember the call differences for
Audubon's vs. Myrtles.. I kept track of the Yellow-rumps I had good views
of, and tallied 34 Audubon's and 48 Myrtles.

I saw 68 species, all told. Not bad for mid-day without a 'scope.

Pied-billed Grebe
Horned Grebe - Good views of Beautiful Breeding Plumage!
Double-crested Cormorant
American Bittern - from 15 feet away!!
Great Blue Heron
Canada Goose - B.c. moffitti
Black Brant
Mallard
Gadwall
Pintail
American Wigeon
Green-winged Teal
Cinnamon Teal
Shoveler
Wood Duck
Hooded Merganser
Common Merganser
Ring-necked Duck
Common Goldeneye
Bufflehead
Glaucous-winged Gull
UnIdentified Gull - Herring? California? - a bit too far to tell...
Caspian Tern
Greater Yellowlegs
Killdeer
Coot
Ring-necked Pheasant
Bald Eagle - 4 adults, 1 2nd year bird
Red-tailed Hawk
Northern Harrier
Belted Kingfisher
Rufous Hummingbird
Band-tailed Pigeon
Pileated Woodpecker
Red-shafted Flicker
Hairy Woodpecker - 1
Downy Woodpecker - several
Red-breasted Sapsucker
Tree Swallow
Violet-green Swallow
Barn Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Rough-winged Swallow - 1 seen half-way toward McAllister Creek
Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
Bushtit
Marsh Wren
Bewick's Wren
Brown Creeper
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Golden-crowned Kinglet
American Robin
Audubon's Warbler
Myrtle Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Starling
Red-winged Blackbird
Spotted Towhee
Song Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
Oregon Junco
Puget Sound White-crowned Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
American Goldfinch
House Finch
Purple Finch
Pine Siskin

I was told that I walked right past a Great Horned Owl.... just not the
birder that I used to be, obviously!

Saw just one Eastern Cottontail. Quite a few Mourning Cloak butterflies,
one (Cabbage?) White, and several medium-sized orange butterflies that I can
never remember the names of.... Not too many flowers blooming, yet. I
noted bleeding heart, salmonberry, elderberry, red flowering currant, annual
bluegrass and meadow foxtail grasses, chickweed, that little white-flowered
mustard, dandelions, Big-leaf maple, cherry, candy flower, cranesbill
geraniums, and Oregon grape. I watched several groups of Golden-crowned
Sparrows eating the ovary ends from the feral cherry blossoms along the dike
trail. I plucked one and tasted it; it was sweet, and obviously these birds
are using the carbs to put on fat for their northward journey.

Back to the real world tomorrow....

Jon. Anderson
Olympia, Washington
festuca at olywa.net