Tweets,

Today three of us walked Nisqually from 8:30 AM to 1:30 PM. The walk took
longer than usual because there was so much to check out! Spring is here and the
migrants are here to prove it. The most common bird was the YELLOW-RUMPED
WARBLER, but we had to check each one out looking for other warblers, and we
had some success.

For the day we saw ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS, WILSON'S WARBLERS, AMERICAN
GOLDFINCH, COMMON YELLOWTHROAT, WARBLING VIREO, and HUTTON'S VIREO. We also had
BUSHTIT and BROWN CREEPER, as well as both CHICKADEES. We also had a couple of
PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHERS.

Waterfowl numbers were down but there were lots of paired up birds. We had
our first BLUE-WINGED TEAL of the year seeing 8 or so males. CINNAMON TEAL were
also quite common today. WOOD DUCKS were scarce, but we did see 3 GREATER W
HITE-FRONTED GEESE. There was a male BUFFLEHEAD on the Nisqually River with 11
females in tow. Busy boy. Also on the Nisqually River were all three
MERGANSERS.

All told we tallied 67 species for the day. New for the year were:
BLUE-WINGED TEAL, LEAST SANDPIPER, PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHER, WARBLING VIREO, and
WILSON'S WARBLER. New for the year seen on Saturday were: TURKEY VULTURE, SPOTTED
SANDPIPER, WESTERN SANDPIPER, YELLOW WARBLER, and BLACK-THROATED GRAY
WARBLER, giving a total for the year of 112.

Mammals seen today include a RACCOON, out near McAllister Creek, a MINK off
the Nisqually River Overlook. A MUSKRAT, inside the Ring Dike, Several EASTERN
GRAY SQUIRRELS a DEER MOUSE, and a COLOMBIAN BLACK-TAILED DEER. We also saw
a RED-EARED SLIDER (turtle) pulled up on a log.

Next week we do the full loop, so we should be able to add some more species
to the year list.

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