Hello Tweets,

Today we birded the Nisqually NWR between 11am-3:45pm with rather slow conditions overall,although our visit was quite windy at times. We hiked along a portion of the McAllister Creek Trail north to just north of the photo blind then checked the riparian area around he main parking lot,as well as east of the Twin Barns. The WHITE-TAILED KITE was still present in the same vicinity as we last reported at the northwest corner of the refuge. The bird was observed today from 2 distant locations along the McAllister Creek Trail both north and south of the photo blind,where it perched atop a low dead bush in open areas. The bird never flew from this perch and views were still rather poor due to the distance and heat waves,but other birders also observed the bird during the day too. Despite high tide conditions shorebird numbers along the inner dike along the McAllister Creek Trail were very low,but Greater Yellowlegs numbers remained stable. The shorebird habitat continues to decrease rapidly,as conditions remain dry but some areas of standing water still remain. Our land bird highlights of the day began with a Western Scrub Jay observed soon after our arrival perched atop a bush,as we left the main parking lot and walked west towards McAllister Creek. The bird remained atop the bush for sometime north of the trail at a distance from us before flying off to the north towards the Twin Barns. This is always a good species for the Nisqually NWR,where they occur mainly as migrants,although they do occur more uncommonly just east of I-5 along the Nisqually Cut-Off Rd. and vicinity. Secondly,a single adult CHIPPING SPARROW was noted alone foraging along the gravel service road immediately south of the main parking lot.

Additional highlights noted during our visit to the Nisqually NWR included the following:

12 Pied-billed Grebes(a single gathering of birds observed in the canal at the McAllister Creek photo blind)
2 Am.Bitterns
2 Green Herons
5 Wood Ducks
8 Green-winged Teal
2 Cinnamon Teal
2 Northern Shovelers
1 Hooded Merganser
1 Turkey Vulture
2 Osprey
1 Northern Harrier
1 Sharp-shinned Hawk
4+ Cooper's Hawks
1 Am.Kestrel
2 Am.Coots
18 Greater Yellowlegs
2 Lesser Yellowlegs
2 Spotted Sandpipers
18 Western Sandpipers
35+ Least Sandpipers
1 Short-billed Dowitcher
1 Wilson's Snipe
1 Band-tailed Pigeon
1 Vaux's Swift
good numbers of Barn Swallows with just a few Violet-green Swallows remaining too
4 Chestnut-backed Chickadees
4 Golden-crowned Kinglets
1 Hutton's Vireo
2 Yellow Warblers
1 Wilson's Warbler
2 Red Crossbills
3 Purple Finches



Good birding,

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