Tweets,

Today 9 of us braved the wind and walked Nisqually. Not surprisingly, not
many passerines were seen. I think they were all white knuckle holding on in the
thickets.

Highlights included a GREEN HERON in the slough near the ring dike and lots
of "H"...HARRIERS and HERONS, GREAT BLUE HERONS, that is. There were plenty of
both about. We also had 2 BALD EAGLES in a tree above the Nisqually River
overlook and a PEREGRINE FALCON along McAllister Creek and later in the trees
behind the visitor center.

There was a good supply of wintering ducks and geese, but nothing exotic. We
did get good looks at CANADA GEESE and CACKLING GEESE side by side. Pretty
dramatic size difference!

All told we had 36 species for the day, with nothing new for the year.

We did see our first MUSKRAT of the season, as well as an EASTERN GRAY
SQUIRREL, and a HARBOR SEAL in the muddy Nisqually River above the ring dike.

Hopefully next week will provide better weather and we will see more species.

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