Tweets,

Yesterday 4 of us walked Nisqually NWR. We started out at 8:15 in light fog
(weather, not brains...) and finished up in bright sunshine.

Michael, I know why there were so few waterfowl at Marymoor on Wednesday.
They were all at Nisqually. There must have been the state mallard convention
there yesterday. In addition to MALLARDS there were NORTHERN PINTAILS, NORTHERN
SHOVELERS, AMERICAN WIGEON, one EURASIAN WIGEON (behind the twin barns),
GREEN-WINGED TEAL, BUFFLEHEAD, and a pair of HOODED MERGANSERS (out on
McAllister Creek). There were also lots of COOT around.


We had a 4 AMERICAN BITTERN day! On the way out to McAllister Creek we had a
bird in the marsh on the left side of the trail and on the way back we saw
another bird in Johnson Slough on the other side of the trail. The third
BITTERN was near the willows next to the ponds near the parking lot, and we saw the
last one in the slough just beyond the ring dike.

Gulls made their first appearance of the year in the ponds close to the
parking lot. RING-BILLED GULLS and MEW GULLS were present when we went by and
more flew in later.


We also had a great day for raptors. There were several NORTHERN HARRIERS
about, several RED-TAILED HAWKS, and a SHARP-SHINNED HAWK out near the ring
dike. The PEREGRINE FALCON was in the doug fir behind the visitor center and the
BALD EAGLES are busy building a nest in the cottonwoods near the twin barns.
This may be the pair that have nested on the other side of McAllister Creek
relocating their nest. Then again..... We also saw a ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK out
behind the ponds on the way to McAllister Creek.

We saw a couple of small flocks of BUSHTITS and a flock of at least 150 PINE
SISKINS along the trail between the Nisqually overlook and the ring dike. We
also got good looks at a RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER and a PILIATED WOODPECKER.

Mammals for the day included GRAY SQUIRREL and HARBOR SEAL in the Nisqually
River near the ring dike.

All told we had 46 species for the day, but nothing new for the year. Year
total remains 132.

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