Tweets,

Today 7 of us walked Nisqually NWR under sunny and warm conditions. Even
with the recent rain the water levels on the ponds is low and the grass is high,
so it is tough to see some of the birds.

Highlights of the day were 2 AMERICAN BITTERN seen calling on the pond on
the left at the end of the willows on the way out to McAllister Creek and 2
different sightings of VIRGINIA RAIL farther out toward McAllister Creek. We
also had SORA calling in the same area.

We saw a mother WOOD DUCK with 15 young on the slough at the end of the pond
on the left on the way to McAllister Creek. She was in the running for
mother of the year while the other female WOOD DUCK we saw on the pond behind the
visitor center with only 2 young was not.

We found 2 active BUSHTIT nests along the boardwalk on the Nisqually River
side and we did have a BROWN CREEPER show up in the same area. Nesting and/or
rearing of young is in full swing as things are fairly quiet compared to a
month ago or so.

We had a COOPER'S HAWK fly down the trail out toward McAllister Creek and it
startled a BLUE-WINGED TEAL on the pond. The teal was ready to move out when
it apparently realized the hawk was not a threat.

We did see a female BULLOCK'S ORIOLE near the visitor center and a couple of
BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAKS along the Nisqually side.

All told we had 43 species with nothing new for the year, leaving us with
126 species for the year. We saw no mammals or reptiles today.

Until nest week....


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