Subject: A Nisqually saunter
Date: Feb 29 23:24:31 2004
From: Rob McNair-Huff - rob at whiterabbits.com


Natalie and I meandered around at the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge
this morning and early afternoon and had a great time watching the
arrival of spring birds and spring blooms. After setting out in the
bright sun at 10 a.m. we walked through sporadic sprinkles before ending
our visit around 2 p.m. There was a lot to see in between, totaling 49
species for our visit. Among the highlights: a pair of NORTHERN SHRIKE,
at least two PEREGRINE FALCON, and the best display of TREE SPARROWS we
have seen so far this spring, including a swooping and chattering flock
of at least 25 birds along McAllister Creek.

Here is the complete list, in the order they were seen, of what we saw
between the flooded fields, the blooming Indian plum, and the budding trees.

- Brewer's Blackbird
- Red-winged Blackbird
- Tree Swallow
- American Robin
- Pied-billed Grebe
- American Wigeon
- Eurasian Wigeon
- Canada Goose (Cackling, Common, and Dusky sub-species, stirred up
frequently by Bald Eagles passing overhead)
- Northern Shoveler
- Green-winged Teal
- Northern Pintail
- Song Sparrow
- Mew Gull
- Ring-billed Gull
- Great Blue Heron
- American Coot
- Mallard
- Red-tailed Hawk
- Northern Harrier
- Bufflehead
- Killdeer
- Peregrine Falcon (two seen flying and one closely observed and
photographed in a cottonwood along the banks of the Nisqually River)
- Lesser Scaup
- Marsh Wren
- Spotted Towhee
- Northern Shrike (one seen hunting in the bushes along McAllister Creek,
and a second seen and photographed along the road from the creek back to
the visitor center)
- Black-capped Chickadee
- House Finch
- Bald Eagle (three mature, one immature)
- White-crowned Sparrow
- Golden-crowned Sparrow (23 feeding on the trail alongside McAllister Creek)
- Belted Kingfisher
- Ring-necked Duck
- Barrow's Goldeneye
- European Starling
- Band-tailed Pigeon
- American Crow
- Red-breasted Sapsucker
- Common Merganser (three in the Nisqually River)
- Dark-eyed Junco
- Double-crested Cormorant
- Hairy Woodpecker (two seen along the boardwalk)
- Downy Woodpecker
- Brown Creeper (six)
- Golden-crowned Kinglet
- Winter Wren
- Bewick's Wren
- Northern Flicker
- Rock Pigeon

Happy birding!


--
Rob McNair-Huff ---------- Tacoma, WA
Author of Birding Washington (Falcon Publishing, 2004)
and Insider's Guide to the Olympic Peninsula (Globe Pequot, 2001)
White Rabbit Publishing ---- http://www.whiterabbits.com
Mac Net Journal ---------- http://www.macnetjournal.com
The Equinox Project ------ http://www.whiterabbits.com/weblog.html