Tweets,

Today three of us walked Nisqually under cold, overcast skies. No rain, no
wind, so I guess we should be thankful.

On what seemed to be a rather uneventful day we wound up with 53 species of
birds and lots of mammals.

The day got off to a good start as we saw 2 GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE in
the grass by the pond immediately across from the parking lot. Behind them were
CACKLING GEESE, NORTHERN PINTAIL, NORTHERN SHOVELERS, MALLARDS, COOT,
AMERICAN WIGEON, BUFFLEHEAD, and GREEN-WINGED TEAL, as well as CANADA GEESE. On
the way out to McAllister Creek we added MEW. RING BILLED, and GLAUCOUS-WINGED
GULLS, as well as DUNLIN. We flushed a WILSON'S SNIPE on the way back to the
visitors center from McAllister Creek.

Raptors were literally everywhere including RED-TAILED HAWKS, NORTHERN
HARRIERS, BALD EAGLES, a SHARP-SHINNED HAWK, PEREGRINE FALCON, and an AMERICAN
KESTREL. We also found a NORTHERN SHRIKE out behind the Ring Dike.

We had the usual assortment of SPARROWS and other PASSERINES and did see a
RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER in the woods near the Nisqually River overlook.

We saw a total of 6 BLACK-TAILED DEER, several EASTERN GRAY SQUIRRELS, and 6
or more HARBOR SEALS in the Nisqually River. Reports are the chum salmon are
in the Nisqually and the HARBOR SEALS seem to prove this.

We did not find the GREAT EGRET that was reported at Nisqually a couple of
days ago...I guess he didn't want to be a statistic on the Olympia CBC this
Sunday. Bummer.

Until next Thursday.

Phil Kelley
scrubjay323 at aol.com
Lacey, WA
360-459-1499

"We were few and they were many, now we are many and they are few."
Confucius