Hello Tweets,

This evening before enjoying a wonderful butterfly program at the Nisqually NWR by Idie Ulch a short visit along McAllister Creek was made. During this short visit at 6:30pm the special emphasis was made on shorebirds,as they foraged in muddy areas inside the inner dike north of the end of the east-west McAllister Creek trail. Shorebird conditions look good,but not prime as areas are still quite flooded. As they warm,dry weather conditions these flooded areas will hopefully decline in water levels producing more feeding areas for shorebirds. Of the limited viewing this evening the most notable shorebird species was a single adult SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER foraging mostly alone fairly close to the trail along with fairly good numbers of Western Sandpipers nearby. The shorebird conditions were also good due to the evening high tide level at the Nisqually Delta that probably helped push many of the shorebirds to inland areas.

A count of other notable shorebird species along the McAllister Creek trail included the following:

1 SEMIPALMATED PLOVER
3 Greater Yellowlegs
1 Spotted Sandpiper
85+ Western Sandpipers
10+ Least Sandpipers
3 Long-billed Dowitchers

A few other species of note included the following:

1 female Northern Shoveler with 7 young
2 female Wood Ducks with broods
2 Band-tailed Pigeons
1 Mourning Dove


Good birding,

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