I had a nice day at Nisqually yesterday also, though with fewer warblers
than I'd like to have seen. Mammals included a seal twice (same one?),
the 2nd time at the river overlook where common mergansers frequent, a
deer near the barns, and a muskrat.



>From the watchtower overlook out to the water we saw a couple hundred
unidentified ducks, a couple terns also too small to identify, and 8
bald eagles fishing and harassing the ducks. Wow, if they built a spur
trail out toward the water there it would be great!



Additional highlights included a momma hooded merganser with 8 tiny
chicks in tow, no bigger than tennis balls, a long clear look at a
cinnamon teal pair from about 10 meters away, and a couple dozen
goldfinches.





One question please: twice we saw a lone white goose with orange feet
and bill, white tip of bill, and some grey/dark on its back. A leftover
snow goose? A domesticated something-or-other? Do you know?





Thanks,

jerry





________________________________

From: Ruth Sullivan [mailto:godwit at worldnet.att.net]
Sent: Sunday, May 02, 2004 7:48 PM
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Subject: Nisqually NWR and yard sightings May2nd



Hello Tweets,



My mother and I observed a single male Black-headed Grosbeak singing in
our front yard at 9am,which was began our day along with a single
Warbling Vireo foraging in our Paper Birch tree. We birded to the
Nisqually NWR between 1pm-5:30pm and walked the McAllister Creek trail
from the main parking lot north to the NW corner of the refuge during
incoming tide. We were joined by Dave Hayden,then later by Jim Pruske as
we checked most of the lingering shorebird habitat that is quickly
drying up along McAllister Creek trail.Overall shorebird numbers seemed
far less than our visit on the 25th of April,but Least Sandpiper
remained the most abundant shorebird species with good numbers noted at
almost all muddy,wet areas including several large pure flocks flying in
from McAllister Creek during a return walk back to the parking lot. In
addition to shorebirds we noted a few passerines,but overall conditions
were quite slow. Another highlight during our visit to the Nisqually NWR
was encountering up to 5 Am.Bittern with only one bird heard calling and
4 birds seen along the McAllister Creek trail west of the main parking
lot. A list of our entire list of highlights noted included the
following:



5 Am.Bitterns

2"Black"Brant(observed on the Nisqually Delta)

6"Cackling"Canada Geese

1 Wood Duck

12 Northern Pintails

6 Blue-winged Teal

13 Cinnamon Teal

5 Northern Shovelers

2 Am.Wigeons

all three mergansers,including 6 Hooded Mergansers

4(2 pair)of Northern Harriers

1 male Am.Kestrel

1 Ring-necked Pheasant(heard only)

1 Sora(heard only)

18 Greater Yellowlegs

3 Lesser Yellowlegs

1 Solitary Sandpiper(observed during our outgoing and incoming walk in
the lingering wetland habitat north of the McAllister Creek trail)

95+ Western Sandpipers

280+ Least Sandpipers

9 Dunlin

3 Short-billed Dowitchers

2 Mourning Doves

1 Vaux's Swift

14 Rufous Hummingbirds

12+ Northern Rough-winged Swallows

2 Steller's Jays

45+ Am.Pipits(observed in the drying shorebird habitat in the NW corner
of the refuge)

2 Warbling Vireos

1 Orange-crowned Warbler

1 Yellow-rumped Warbler

8 Yellow Warblers

6 Western Tanagers

1 Black-headed Grosbeak(heard calling along the hillside across
McAllister Creek)

9 Golden-crowned Sparrows

2 Purple Finches

2 Evening Grosbeaks





Now,as we write this message we have the male Black-headed Grosbeak
coming to our hanging sunflower seed platform feeder that we placed out
just for him followed by a single male Wilson's Warbler foraging in our
Paper Birch tree in out front yard.





Good birding,



Ruth and Patrick Sullivan

Fircrest,WA

godwit at worldnet.att.net















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