Hello Tweets,

Today Jim Pruske and my mother I birded the entire "loop" trail at the Nisqually NWR between 8am-12:30pm from McAllister Creek to the Nisqually River. Our main efforts were again made for shorebirds along the inner portion of the McAllister Creek Trail,which during our visit were in less number than previous visits. Our main highlight of the day was a single adult PECTORAL SANDPIPER observed foraging alone along the inner dike in more extensive muddy areas just north of the McAllister Creek Overlook. This was our personal first Pectoral Sandpiper for the season and one of very few that we have encountered in Washington during early August! It was a nice unexpected surprise to see this bird,as shorebird continue to migrate through the Nisqually NWR. Our other highlights during our visit included a female Green-winged Teal with 9 young and a single albino Barn Swallow both observed along the McAllister Creek Trail. The remainder of the hike along the outer dike at the Nisqually Delta was very slow due to very low tide conditions,as well as heat waves,etc. and our return hike along the Nisqually River was very slow for passerines most likely due to the bad time of day. A list of additional highlights encountered during our visit to the Nisqually NWR included the following:

6 juvenile Pied-billed Grebes
3 Green Herons
11 juvenile Wood Ducks
1 female with 3 young(osberved in the wetland inside the Ring Dike Trail)
20 Green-winged Teal(including 9 young)
4 Northern Pintail
4 Cinnamon Teal
1 Northern Shoveler
1 immature male Hooded Merganser
200+ Common Mergansers(Nisqually Delta)
1 Osprey
3 Northern Harriers
1 male California Quail(observed along a brushy portion of the McAllister Creek Trail north of the photo blind boardwalk and currently a somewhat noteworthy species for the Nisqually NWR)
2 Semipalmated Plovers
24 Greater Yellowlegs
13 Lesser Yellowlegs
2 SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS
28 Western Sandpipers
73 Least Sandpipers
6 Long-billed Dowitchers
8 Wilson's Snipe
1 Pigeon Guillemot(Nisqually Reach)
25 Band-tailed Pigeons(observed flying along the forested hillside above McAllister Creek)
2 Mourning Doves
3 Western Wood Pewees
30+ Willow Flycatchers
25+ Purple Martins
8 Wilson's Warblers
1 Black-headed Grosbeak
9 Purple Finches


Good shorebirding,

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
Fircrest,WA
godwit513 at msn.com