About two years ago Kris Baker and I saw a mink near the blind along the
Nisqually River trail, and it was missing one of its front legs. It somehow
managed to push itself along the path with its hind legs, and then seemed to
swim fairly normally across a side channel. The leg appeared to have been
lost through some trauma, not a pretty sight.

Kevin Li
Seattle, WA
e-mail: kevin.li at metrokc.gov

-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Nord [mailto:birdersteve at home.com]
Sent: Monday, January 01, 2001 6:13 PM
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Subject: Predator vs. Prey at Nisqually NWR


Tweeters:

Birded the refuge early this morning (7:30-11:30). Sounds like the
Sullivan's did much better than I. I looked for the AM TREE SPARROWS where
I had last seen them near McAllister with no luck. Apparently they slept in
to be seen later in the day. The fog was so thick at times that I was unable
to see the opposite shore of the Nisqually River, resulting in many birds
being missed.

The highlight was an AMERICAN BITTERN in a small pond just before McAllister
Creek. I've seen this bird here several times in the recent past, but today
was different. As I watched this bird standing motionless against the
cattails, a MINK pounced upon the BITTERN grabbing it by its neck. I
watched as the bird struggled against it's much smaller predator, but the
MINK was much stronger. The BITTERN soon laid motionless against the
cattails. The new year starts off with mixed emotions for me - sadness for a
bird that I've come to "know" and joy for a predators success on the hunt.

That's all for now.
Good Birding!

Steve Nord
Lacey, WA
birdersteve at home.com