Tweets,

Yesterday seven of us walked Nisqually on a generally partly cloudy day. We
had a brief shower when we got to the Twin Barns, but other than that we
stayed dry. Two of our group were a father son duo from California who happened to
stop at the refuge on their way to north. The son, Justin, is a very good
birder. He attended the ABA young birder conference recently.

The day got off to the usual start with the welcoming committee of three
GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE at the base of the boardwalk with a couple of CANADA
GEESE. The ponds on the left and right heading toward McAllister Creek held
the usual suspects, although not in numbers we have seen in the past. The
NORTHERN SHRIKE was present on the right out toward McAllister Creek, but well
off the trail. At McAllister Creek we saw COMMON GOLDENEYE, COMMON MERGANSERS,
and a male EURASIAN WIGEON. We did see our first WOOD DUCKS of the year in
the sloughs along the Nisqually River side.
We had RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS in the Nisqually River.

MARSH WREN were quite active all day and we spotted many YELLOW-RUMPED
WARBLERS, but no other warbler species. We had both KINGLETS, BROWN CREEPERS,
BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE, and a pair of BUSHTITS building a nest along the
boardwalk on the way to the Twin Barns. Seems awful close to traffic to me. Hope they
can be successful. We also saw our first RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRDS of the year.

Raptors were scarce for some reason, although we did see a GREAT HORNED OWL
inside the crossover trail from the Twin Barns to the Nisqually River side.
Raptors seen included a couple of NORTHERN HARRIERS, a couple of RED-TAILED
HAWKS, a PEREGRINE FALCON, behind the visitor center, and an immature COOPER'S
HAWK along the trail behind the ring dike.

Total species for the day was 51, with WOOD DUCK, GREAT HORNED OWL, and
RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD being new for the year. Total for the year is 86 species.

Mammals seen included MINK, seen on two occasions, one out near McAllister
Creek and the other in the rocks next to the Nisqually River Overlook, a
RACCOON, on the trial out toward the Ring Dike, a CALIFORNIA SEA LION in the
Nisqually River, and an OPOSSUM, in the tree at the end of the Ring Dike.

Until next 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