Hello Tweets,

Today Jim Pruske and my mother and I slowly birded the entire outer loop trail at the Nisqually NWR between 8am-2pm. The morning started out cool,but by he time we reached the Nisqually Delta temperatures became very warm,as well as more people. Our main route consisted of birding the headquarters area and along the Nisqually River Trail for passerines,then working our way around the outer dike and scoping the Nisqually Delta thoroughly during outgoing tide. Increasing numbers of waterfowl were most persistent at the Nisqually Delta primarily just north of the Nisqually Delta Overlook. We worked our way back to the main parking via the McAllister Creek Trail,then walked to the Twin Barns then back along the Nisqually River to the main parking lot. The west McAllister Creek Trail was very slow for shorebirds most likely due to the tide conditions with only 12 Greater Yellowlegs and a scattering of Killdeer being the only shorebirds present.

We encountered a total of 75 species,of which our main highlight was a WHITE-TAILED KITE observed from the McAllister Creek Trail just south of the boardwalk to the photo blind,after receiving a "tip" about the bird by 2 people along the trail. From this location the bird was viewed through our spotting scope at a fair distance,where we were able to see the mostly white plumage,as well as some gray areas on the wing as the bird moved around atop a perch in a bushy area to the north. The bird was again viewed from the McAllister Creek Trail just west of the parking lot in presumably the same bush,as we scoped towards the northwest corner of the refuge then again a still a very great distance from the Twin Barns Overlook. The bird remained perched atop one bush,but it occasionally moved around such as preening as we watched it through our spotting scope,but the initial sighting from the 2 people was made along the McAllister Creek Trail during the mid morning. We also learned by talking with a refuge patrol officer that the bird was present yesterday too. It was a nice bird to see although the sighting itself was very poor,as far as viewing. It is possible the bird could move around the refuge and remain for just a few days,but if it is visible birders will see it!

Our other highlight of the day was a RED-EYED VIREO that actually began our day in a riparian area just south of the headquarters/main building and immediately west of a old apple.pear orchard,as we thoroughly looked for passerines. The bird was detected while "pishing" a thick willow grove,where several Warbling Vireos made their appearance then the Red-eyed Vireo popped out and offered us several quality,but brief views at eye level before returning back into thick cover. It was a great sighting considering the we normally just hear a Red-eyed Vireo or see them higher in trees. As we continued north along the Nisqually River Trail we encountered very few other passerines with just a few other species mostly encountered near or along the boardwalk east of the Twin Barns.

A list of additional highlights noted during our entire visit to the Nisqually NWR included the following:

1 Common Loon(Nisqually Reach)
3 Horned Grebes(Nisqually Reach)
1 Am.Bittern
2 Green Herons
6 Wood Ducks
200+ Green-winged Teal
120+ Northern Pintail
3 Gadwall
3 BUFFLEHEADS(observed together at the Nisqually Delta and first of the season for the Nisqually NWR)
1 Hooded Merganser
250+ Common Mergansers(Nisqually Delta)
2 Turkey Vultures
1 Osprey
4 Bald Eagles
5 Cooper's Hawks(1 adult bird and 4 immature birds)
2 Am.Kestrels(observed together along the outer dike,as they continued flying north together over he Nisqually Delta so perhaps they were in active migration)
12 Virginia Rails(heard only)
1 Am.Coot
13 Greater Yellowlegs
2 Least Sandpipers
300+ Western Sandpipers(Nisqually Delta only)
1 Baird's Sandpiper(observed along McAllister Creek at the McAllister Creek Overlook)
1 Pigeon Guillemot(Nisqually Reach)
1 Great Horned Owl(observed along the Nisqually River Trail in dense maple trees,after being flushed by a noisy flock of Black-capped Chickadees)
2 Vaux's Swifts
2 Hairy Woodpeckers
1 Western Wood Pewee
2 Purple Martins
2 Violet-green Swallows(observed amongst large numbers of Barn Swallows gathering up near the main parking lot)
1 Common Raven(observed flying south over the Twin Barns)
2 Hutton's Vireos
15 Warbling Vireos
1 Orange-crowned Warbler
9 Yellow Warblers
2 Black-throated Gray Warblers
11 Wilson's Warblers
4 Western Tanagers
8 Purple Finches



Good birding,

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