Hi tweeters,



I led a Seattle Audubon field trip to Nisqually yesterday. All in all, it
was a great day. The weather was mild and calm, and we ended up with 62
species for the day including some wonderful views of some very cooperative
birds. We did the Ring Dike trail in the morning, then Luhr Beach after
lunch, and some of us returned to the refuge after spotting a Snowy Owl from
Luhr Beach. After locating that owl, we noticed another just beyond it, so
we continued around, and had some wonderful looks at both birds.



The trip highlights:

* Great views of 2 SNOWY OWLs remaining in the outer mudflats. Both
seemed in adult plumage, with one having slightly more dark barring on the
tail and crown.
* At least one male EURASIAN WIGEON among American Wigeons inside the
dike near McAllister Creek.
* One WHITE-THROATED SPARROW was spotted with some Golden-crowned
Sparrows right on the trail just short of the ring dike trail.
* Great looks at three falcons (a KESTREL at the visitor's center, a
MERLIN at the Twin Barns, and a PEREGRINE along the Nisqually river side
trail.
* None of us had seen a MINK swim before, but this time we saw one
swimming in the inner ponds along the outer dike. For a second, we almost
mistook it for an otter!



Bird list:

Pied-billed grebe- 1

Horned grebe - lots in McAllister Creek, from Luhr Beach

Double-crested Cormorant

Great Blue Heron

Canada Goose

Brant- small flock on outer mudflats

Gadwall

Eurasian Wigeon - 1

American Wigeon

Mallard

Northern Shoveler

Northern Pintail

Ring-necked Duck- 1 pair plus one male

Surf Scoter

White-winged Scoter - 1 pair seen from Luhr Beach

Bufflehead

Common Goldeneye

Hooded Merganser

Common Merganser

Bald Eagle

Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1 juv. S of visitor's center

Cooper's Hawk - 1 juv. near Twin Barns

Red-tailed Hawk

American Kestrel - 1 male at visitor's center

Merlin - 1 in treetop near Twin Barns

Peregrine Falcon - 1

Greater Yellowlegs- 6-8 in McAllister Creek

Dunlin - 1 flock near freeway

Ring-billed Gull

Western Gull

Glaucous-winged Gull

Rock Pigeon

Band-tailed Pigeon - 1

SNOWY OWL - 2 sitting on driftwood in outer mudflats

Belted Kingfisher - only 1 heard

Red-breasted Sapsucker - 1

Downy Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

Pileated Woodpecker - 1 heard

American Crow

Tree Swallow - 1 small flock

Black-capped Chickadee

Chestnut-backed Chickadee - 2

Bushtit

Brown Creeper - 1

Bewick's Wren

Winter Wren - 1 seen well and almost flew into us!

Marsh Wren

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

American Robin

European Starling

Yellow-rumped Warbler - 1 male, 2 females

Spotted Towhee

Fox Sparrow

Song Sparrow

White-throated Sparrow - 1 along river side of the trail with Golden-crowns

White-crowned Sparrow

Golden-crowned Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Red-winged Blackbird

Purple Finch - 1 singing male



Mammals:

Black-tailed Deer

Eastern Cottontail

Eastern Gray Squirrel

Vole sp.

Mink



Good birding,

Christine Vadai

Kirkland, WA

cvadai at verizon.net