Tweeters:

There were six of us on the walk today. The weather was mostly sunny, with beautiful distant cloud formations surrounding the refuge. There were four NORHERN FLICKERS near the parking lot just as we started our walk. We saw the usual ducks, but not many in number, with NORTHERN SHOVELERS and NORTHERN PINTAILS having the most representatives. A COMMON LOON was one of the highlights when we reached McAllister Creek. A HORNED GREBE gave us quick views in-between frequent dives. There were also TREE SWALLOWS as we reached the creek.

We saw all three MERGANSERS, each in different locations. An AMERICAN KESTREL was in a snag near the visitor center, and a MERLIN sat for several minutes in the top of a tree just past the river overlook. A NORTHERN SHRIKE was spotted just as we were returning from the ring dike. We also saw several RED TAILED HAWKS and NORTHERN HARRIERS; and a juvenile and adult BALD EAGLE.

It was a good day, with 47 species total. Next week Phil Kelly will be back and we will walk the full outer dike around the refuge.

Eric Slagle
Olympia, WA
hannaslagle at comcast.net