Tweets,

Six hardy souls walked the outer dike trail this morning in rainy
conditions. At least the wind wasn't blowing..most of the day. We were rewarded with 64
species, including 6 new species for the year.

Highlights were 2 SANDHILL CRANES, seen from the viewing tower overlooking
Nisqually Reach. They were off to the North, but easily seen. We also saw our
first GREEN HERON of the year, in the slough near the Nisqually River
Overlook. Another interesting sight was a female HOODED MERGANSER, jumping out of a
wood duck box. Her presumed mate was in the water below and they swam off
together.

As reported elsewhere, YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS were everywhere, as were
SWALLOWS, especially TREE and VIOLET GREENS. We also saw one NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED
SWALLOW, and a couple CLIFF SWALLOWS. COMMON YELLOWTHROAT were, well,
common. Sorry, I couldn't resist that one. We only saw 3 GREATER WHITE-FRONTED
GEESE, and we did see a pair of CINNAMON TEAL, near the trail out to McAllister
Creek.

Out on the mud flats on Nisqually Reach we saw a LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER with
a couple of KILLDEER. We also had a KILLDEER on a nest across from the parking
lot. Two young GREAT HORNED OWLS were present today in the nest tree, with
dad nearby and mom in a tree out beyond the ring dike. We also saw a part
albino LINCOLN'S SPARROW off the trail toward McAllister Creek. Beautiful bird
with white around both eyes. Very striking.

Most of the ducks appear to be paired up and nesting has begun. GREAT BLUE
HERON have reestablished a rookery out toward the end of McAllister Creek.
There were at least 20 birds sitting on nests today.

Raptors were scarce except for several BALD EAGLES, a lone NORTHERN HARRIER,
a PEREGRINE FALCON on the other side of the Nisqually River out past the
ring dike, and a MERLIN that overflew the Nisqually River Overlook.

New for the year were the SANDHILL CRANES, LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER, COMMON
YELLOWTHROAT, LINCOLN'S SPARROW, NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW, and CLIFF
SWALLOW.

Mammals seen included EASTERN GRAY SQUIRREL, RIVER OTTER, and BLACK-TAILED
DEER.

In spite of the weather we had one of our better days on the refuge. Can't
wait until next week when more migrants should arrive and the weather
(hopefully) will be better. Until then...

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