Hello Tweets,

This afternoon my mother and I headed down to the Nisqually NWR in possible search of the juvenile Sharp-tailed Sandpiper located by Charlie Wright yesterday morning with still remaining cool,clear weather. We arrived at 12:30pm and walked the McAllister Creek trail from the main parking lot and checked the entire area along the trail to Medicine Creek thoroughly with ample habitat available for the Sharp-tailed Sandpiper. We walked back to the main parking lot,then north to the Twin Barns when a brief scan of the flooded area produced the Sharp-tailed Sandpiper observed briefly in flight at 2pm amongst a flock of 40+ Long-billed Dowitchers, as the circled low of the wetland area once before landing amongst heavy,thick vegetation and waterfowl flocks. Overall the Sharp-tailed Sandpiper stood out amongst the much drabber,longer-billed,noticeably larger Long-billed Dowitchers along with lacking any white on the rump, and having noticeably lighter underwings along with showing a noticeable clear rufous upper breast area. Although the bird was observed only briefly and in good light it was good enough to confirm the sighting and the general location hosted very large numbers of waterfowl consisting of primarily Northern Pintails,American Wigeon,Mallards,Green-winged Teal and Gadwall amongst a few additional species of waterfowl. The locations is flooded,but also host large amounts of vegetation clumps and can be further viewed southwest of the observation platform overlook at the Twin Barns in variable lighting conditions, of which did produce 2 separate Long-billed Dowitchers flocks with a total of 64 birds present along with up to 20+ Dunlin noted at the location. We spent 30 minutes thoroughly scoping the flooded area until 2:40pm from the Twin Barns,but were unable to relocate the Sharp-tailed Sandpiper along with a check of the location on a return visit from Luhr Beach at the Twin Barns made at 3:45pm-5pm along with Gary Wiles and Joe Higbee. The 2 Ross' Geese were again noted from two locations during our visit(s)amongst the very large flocks of "Cackling"Canada Geese beginning during our first visit in an extensive mowed grassy area north of the McAllister Creek trail and flooded area and viewed later from the Twin Barns. The second and closer observation was made in the large,mowed,grassy area immediately north of the Twin Barns during our entire evening visit. In addition we thoroughly scanned the vast open area northwest of the Twin Barns in search of Short-eared Owls during our evening visit,which only produced one bird with good numbers of Northern Harriers noted that may have moved the other Short-eared Owls away and created some competition. Other noted highlights noted during both visits at the Nisqually NWR included the following:

2 Am.Bitterns(observed yesterday evening along the McAllister Creek trail,but not today)
1 male Eurasian Wigeon
1 male Ring-necked Duck
3 Bald Eagles
15+ Northern Harriers(2 immature males,13 females)
2 Cooper's Hawks
2 Sharp-shinned Hawk
7 Red-tailed Hawks(including the previously reported dark-morph adult bird observed from the Twin Barns during our early afternoon visit)
1 adult Peregrine Falcon
1 Virginia Rail(heard only)
5 Black-bellied Plovers(flying over north of the Twin Barns towards the Nisqually Delta)
1 Wilson's Snipe
47 Ring-billed Gulls(with lesser numbers of Mew Gulls)
3 Mourning Doves
1 Brown Creeper
54 Am.Pipits(observed and counted in the large mowed area immediately north of the Twin Barns)
18 Cedar Waxwings
2 Northern Shrikes(1 adult and 1 immature observed along the McAllister Creek trail with at one occasion both birds perched atop a small bush with one bird becoming agitated and heard calling once)
1 Yellow-rumped"Audubon's"Warbler
4 Lincoln's Sparrows
25 Western Meadowlarks(observed west of the Twin Barns overlook)
1 Purple Finch

We checked the open waters off Luhr Beach between 3pm-3:40pm along with Gary Wiles,who later joined us after we arrived. Conditions were fairly calm with just a slight wind,but we managed to locate a few highlights that were noteworthy. We thoroughly scanned and scoped the open waters,but were unable to relocate any Northern Fulmars previously reported in the past two days. Our main highlight while carefully scoping north of Luhr Beach was a single Ancient Murrelet observed flying just south of Anderson Island westerly towards Tolmie State Park or possibly Johnson Point in both Pierce and Thurston Cos.. The bird was only briefly observed in our spotting scope,but good lighting conditions revealed the definite light bill and noticeably smooth gray back,black chin and throat area and eliminated to Common Murre by smaller,chunkier size. This is a species we had initially looked for at this location last fall after good numbers were observed last November in the Dash Point area and as far south as Steilacoom in Pierce Co. Perhaps more individuals will occur from Luhr Beach or other Thurston Co. locations with enough searching,primarily areas hosting ample amounts of current action. Other highlights noted at Luhr Beach during our visit included the following:

2 Red-throated Loons
5 Red-necked Grebes
5 Eared Grebes
250+ Dunlin(observed on the Nisqually Delta)
450+ Bonaparte's Gulls
4 Common Murres
1 Rhinoceros Auklet


Good birding,

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
godwit at worldnet.att.net

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