Tweets,

Today 8 of us enjoyed a good day at Nisqually. It started out cool and
overcast and ended up warm and sunny. A great change from HOT recently. The birds
even cooperated somewhat!

Highlights included a GREAT HORNED OWL in the trees on the entrance road at
8:00. Awful close to I-5. It was gone later in the day. We had 2 AMERICAN
BITTERN fly-bys and saw a TURKEY VULTURE out past the twin barns.

We had some shorebirds out on the mud flats near McAllister Creek that
included several LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS, several KILLDEER, and a LEAST SANDPIPER.
The tide was in so not much was on McAllister Creek..or the Nisqually River
for that matter. We also saw a couple of SEMIPALMATED PLOVER, our first of the
year.

There was a small flock of 4 RAVEN flying past the twin barns toward the
Nisqually valley, and we saw at least 4 WARBLING VIREO in mixed flock of
BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEES, YELLOW WARBLERS, and YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS along the
Nisqually River.

All told we saw 47 species today with SEMIPALMATED PLOVER, LONG-BILLED
DOWITCHER, RAVEN, and TURKEY VULTURE being new for the year. We now have 124
species for the year.

Until next week when we walk the outer dike trail....

Phil Kelley
Lacey, WA
scrubjay323 at aol.com
360-459-1499

" We were few and they were many. Now we are many and they are few"
Confucius