Tweets,

Two of us walked Nisqually this morning. The weather was cold and we had a
high overcast, but the wind was down and it was dry...excellent conditions.

Nothing great, just the usual suspects, but still a good day.

Highlights included a KESTREL that flew into the trees at the start of the
boardwalk, three GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE that flew onto the small pond left
of the willows across from the parking lot, and a COOPER'S HAWK, that flew
across the trail as we returned from McAllister Creek. This hawk landed in a
small tree and spread his wings and tail as if mantling prey. When he turned
around we could see he had nothing in his talons. He wasn't trying to soak up
the sun, because the sun wasn't out. Maybe he had splashed down and was
trying to dry out.

The GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE were a pleasant surprise as we had scoped a
large number of CANADA and CACKLING GEESE across from the parking lot and at
the start of the trail to McAllister Creek when these three birds flew in to
an area frequented by COOT and RING-NECKED DUCKS. Their unusual calls alerted
us that they were not CANADAS and they landed giving us great looks and then
took off after we had passed them. Hmmm. Do you think they were posing?

We did find a couple of mixed flocks of passerines, but didn't see anything
unusual. We did find a couple (pair?) of PILEATED WOODPECKERS in a snag inside
the boardwalk near the hummingbird tree. Great bird to finish the day with.

All in all we had 47 species with nothing new for the year, so we are still
at 136 species for the year.

Mammals included 4 EASTERN GRAY SQUIRRELS in the picnic area near the Twin
Barns and some HARBOR SEALS chowing down on salmon in the Nisqually River.

Until next Thursday, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all.

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

"We were few and they were many. Now we are many and they are few."
Confucius