Subject: [Tweeters] Common Tern off the Nisqually Delta
Date: May 31 19:14:50 2005
From: Ruth and/or Patrick Sullivan - godwit at worldnet.att.net


Hello Tweets,

This afternoon we checked several areas at the Nisqually NWR between 12pm-5pm including the Twin Barns and along the McAllister Creek trail,then north to the mouth of McAllister Creek. We and several other birders were unable to relocate the White-faced Ibis/Glossy Ibis previously reported by Jason Paulios and others,but did locate a few noteworthy sightings of note. The weather was very unstable with off and on rain showers,but calm conditions too. There is good Ibis habitat at the NW corner of refuge along the McAllister Creek trail,as well as along the east-west McAllister Creek,but conditions at the Twin Barns seemed more overgrown with minimal wet areas remaining. Our best highlight of the afternoon was a single adult Common Tern observed foraging off the Nisqually Delta with good numbers of Caspian Terns and Ring-billed Gulls nearby. This is a rather late spring date for this location. Our best passerine species of the afternoon was a single adult Golden-crowned Sparrow near the Twin Barns,which is also a late spring date for this location. Several passerine species were noted singing along the forested hillside above McAllister Creek. Other notable highlights during our visit to the Nisqually including the following:

8 Pied-billed Grebes(4 adults,4 juvenile birds)
2 Am.Bitterns
2 Green Herons
1 Canada Goose(small race)
5 Wood Ducks
1 Northern Pintail
15 Blue-winged Teal
19 Cinnamon Teal
7 Gadwall
1 pair of Am.Wigeon
1 pair of Ring-necked Ducks
1 female Bufflehead
1 Osprey
2 Virginia Rails(heard only)
5 Sora(heard only)
1 Am.Coot
1 Long-billed Dowitcher(noteworthy late spring date for location)
1 Wilson's Phalarope
35 Band-tailed Pigeons
1 Downy Woodpecker
2 Western Wood Pewees
10 Willow Flycatchers
1 Pacific-slope Flycatcher
10 Purple Martins(perched together atop a dead tree along the boardwalk north of the visitor center)
4 Northern Rough-winged Swallows
5 Warbling Vireos
15+ Yellow Warblers
4 Wilson's Warblers
2 Western Tanagers
2 Black-headed Grosbeaks
2 Bullock's Orioles
3 Purple Finches
1 Evening Grosbeak


Good birding,

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
Fircrest,WA
godwit at worldnet.att.net