Just thought I'd do a little update to Keith's earlier message regarding the
Olympia CBC. Gene Revelas, Scott Pearson, Marian Bailey, and I covered the
Nisqually Wildlife Refuge for count day yesterday. This area covers all of
the refuge including closed areas and also Luhr Beach.

On the way out I was able to pick up a Saw-whet Owl not far from home.
Marian and I located 2 Great-horned on the refuge just before sunrise.
Conditions were near perfect for owls, the best I can remember in recent
years. Daytime conditions were a bit tougher. Sun was nice but late
morning gave way to some pretty biting winds. Most fresh water was frozen
and waterfowl numbers were way down. In fact I thought numbers of
individuals of many species was way low. Consider these numbers from the
river side: 2 Marsh Wrens, 2 Winter Wrens, and no Purple or House Finches.
Unheard of! How about this for a statistic, no grebes of any kind from
Luhr. Overall numbers of species were pretty good with 82 species total
between the 4 of us. Best bird would have to go to the American Tree
Sparrow, found in a group of about 10 Juncos on the outer dike in the closed
area. Perhaps the sparrow will winter and be around when the rest of the
refuge opens in February (end of January?).

Of most interest to folks is probably the Snowy Owl situation, we had a
total of 4 (there have been reports of 5 or even 6 (unconfirmed) in the
area). Three Snowys had moved onto the refuge and were visible from the
viewing deck at the Twin Barns. Two were a fair distance out sitting up on
a woodpile to the left of the center road. One was close, on the ground in
the field just across the slough north of the deck. It was not that obvious
in the heavy frost of the early morning. This bird had moved elsewhere
later in the afternoon. Only one bird was on the outer salt marsh and
visible from Luhr Beach, at least on count day, and this bird is a long way
out (you know the white dot, better have a scope experience).

Other interesting birds for the day included: 2 Northern Shrike (seen by
Gene and Scott in the middle of the refuge); 14 Snow Geese; 2 Peregrines; 1
Green Heron (boardwalk, right of visitor center (VC)); American Bittern (has
been reliable at the ponds in front of the VC); and some remarkably
cooperative Virginia Rails in the pond behind the VC. We missed Eurasian
Widgeon for the day, which is no doubt on the refuge, but fortunately other
areas had them for the count. Many birds did not show well, or show for
long. Smaller species often held tight to cover and were not particularly
vocal. And finally Short-eared Owls and Rough-legged Hawks are starting to
look like the spirits of count years past. It's been a few years since
we've had either of those species.

Good luck, good birding, and luck on the CBC

Bill Shelmerdine
Olympia
mailto: georn1 at hotmail.com

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