Hello Tweets,

Today my mother and I spent a half day doing some local birding, including a quick stop at what used to be known as the Lacey Clearcut,then from 1:30pm-5pm at the Nisqually NWR. The weather was quite cool and windy at times with slight occasional light showers at times. Our main highlight of the day was a single VAUX'S SWIFT observed flying over the recently built wetland area northwest of the headquarters presumably to join a mixed swallow flock,being our first of the season. At the "old" Lacey Clearcut we were able to locate 3 singing Chipping Sparrows,before heading back north to the Nisqually NWR at 1:30pm,where we extensively checked the recently developed shorebird habitat immediately north and west of the headquarters parking lot,then walked the east loop trail north to the observation tower,as well as scoped areas from the Twin Barns. Shorebird numbers were very evident and comparable at the shorebird mudflats and shoreline habitat north and south of the McAllister Creek Trail with excellent close views of both breeding plumaged Western and Least Sandpipers,as well as lesser numbers of breeding plumaged Dunlin,but were quite scattered after a immature Peregrine Falcon flew in during our arriving visit to the location. On our way back from hiking and birding we ran into Linda Wakeman and a birding friend of hers,who also both saw the Vaux's Swift too before we unable to follow it as it flew northwest. Later,we were joined by Steve and Jan Watson who just arrived back from the Twin Barns on their way back to the parking lot,as were my mother and I. A few notable highlights during our visit to the Nisqually NWR included:

27 Horned Grebes off the Nisqually Delta in breeding plumage
6 Greater White-fronted Geese
104 Black Brant on the Nisqually Delta
1 male Common/Am.Green-winged Teal hybrid
6(3 pair)Cinnamon Teal
2 male Eurasian Wigeon
2 female Common Goldeneyes along the Nisqually River
all 3 species of mergansers,including 1 pair of Red-breasted Mergansers off the Nisqually Delta and 1 pair of Hooded Mergansers in the pond southwest of the Twin Barns
1 Turkey Vulture
1 immature Peregrine Falcon
1 male Ring-necked Pheasant
3 Greater Yellowlegs
27 Western Sandpipers
64 Least Sandpipers
280+ Dunlin
4 Common Snipe
67+ Bonaparte's Gulls
23 Caspian Terns
1 Vaux's Swift
1 Pileated Woodpecker
5 species of swallows,including 3 Northern Rough-winged Swallows
3 Orange-crowned Warblers
good numbers of Yellow-rumped Warblers with "Myrtle" type being the predominant race with lesser numbers of "Audubon's" also noted.
13 adult Golden-crowned Sparrows


Good birding,

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
GODWIT at worldnet.att.net