Subject: [Tweeters] Red-eyed Vireo at Nisqually NWR
Date: May 21 18:26:30 2006
From: Ruth and/or Patrick Sullivan - godwit513 at msn.com


Hello Tweets,

Today under cloudy skies we birded the Nisqually NWR by walking the entire outer loop trail,as in past visits. Birding conditions overall remained very slow throughout our visit between 9:30am-2pm with low numbers of passerines,waterfowl and shorebirds noted. Our main highlight of the day was a singing RED-EYED VIREO heard at 9:45am along the Nisqually River Loop Trail,where the bird sang several times from tall Black Cottonwood trees allowing other birders on site to also hear it. This represented one of very few personal records for us of this species at the Nisqually NWR. Our next highlight actually began our day at the refuge with 2 singing male LAZULI BUNTINGS noted from the lush riparian "greenbelt" along the south border of the main parking lot.


The remainder of our day was spent slowly hiking the outer loop trail including a thorough scoping of the Nisqually Delta during incoming tide and the wetland habitats south of the trail at the north end of the refuge. A list of the most noteworthy species encountered from our list of 78 species includes the following:

Double-crested Cormorant
2 large flocks in flight observed during our visit including a flock of 150+ along the Nisqually River followed by a smaller group of 65 birds flying downstream along McAllister Creek in the direction of the Nisqually Reach. Smaller scattered numbers of Double-crested Cormorants were also visible along the Nisqually Delta.

2 Am.Bitterns
8 Wood Ducks
2 Blue-winged Teal
7 Cinnamon Teal
6 Northern Shovelers
30 Am.Wigeon(observed with small numbers of gadwall at the Nisqually Delta)
45 Greater Scaup(Nisqually Reach)
15 White-winged Scoters(observed with 6+ Surf Scoters off the Nisqually Delta)
1 Common Goldeneye(Nisqually River)
7 Hooded Mergansers
3 Am.Coots(noted from the wetland area at the northwest corner of the refuge along with very good numbers of calling Sora and Virginia Rails)
1 Greater Yellowlegs
2 WHIMBREL(Nisqually Delta)
8 Dunlin
5 Wilson's Snipe(including several birds "winnowing" from various locations over the refuge)
25 Bonaparte's Gulls(Nisqually Delta)
40 Caspian Terns
4 Pigeon Guillemots(observed off the Nisqually Delta)
80 Band-tailed Pigeons
4 Mourning Doves
4 Red-breasted Sapsuckers
1 Olive-sided Flycatcher(observed and heard calling from atop a tall conifer tree above McAllister Creek)
7 Western Wood Pewees
8 Willow Flycatchers
1 Pacific-slope Flycatcher
7 Purple Martins(observed flying overhead at the northwest corner of the refuge)
9 Northern Rough-winged Swallows
3 Steller's Jays(observed and heard calling along the forested hillside along McAllister Creek)
14 Swainson's Thrushes
40+ Cedar Waxwings
5 Warbling Vireos
1 RED-EYED VIREO
1 MacGillivray's Warbler(heard singing from same location as in past visits near the Twin Barns)
2 Wilson's Warblers
8 Western Tanagers
7 Black-headed Grosbeaks
2 LAZULI BUNTINGS
1 Bullock's Oriole
5 Purple Finches
4 Red Crossbills(observed along the forested hillside above McAllister Creek)


Good birding,

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