Tweets,

This morning four of us walked Nisqually under pretty miserable conditions.
We had wind, snow, rain, and sleet. And yeah, we had a little sunshine, but
not much. Water levels are still high, but not many birds out today.

It appears that many of the ducks have migrated north as waterfowl numbers
are way down from a couple of weeks ago.

Highlights included an AMERICAN BITTERN off the viewing platform at the
visitor center, a MOURNING DOVE inside the boardwalk along the Nisqually side,
and a MERLIN in a tree near the Nisqually overlook. I think we saw the same
MERLIN wiz down the trail over us toward the ring dike later in the morning.

We also saw a PILIATED WOODPECKER in the woods near where the boardwalk from
the twin barns intersects with the Nisqually River side.

All told we saw 42 species with the MERLIN and MOURNING DOVE being new for
the year. We now have 80 species for the year.

Mammals seen included BLACK-TAILED DEER, COTTONTAILED RABBIT, and EASTERN
GRAY SQUIRREL.

Until next week when I hope the weather is better....

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