Tweets,

Today 6 of us walked the outer dike at Nisqually under partly cloudy skies
in a light breeze. The weather was good and the birds cooperated (mostly).
It did get quite breezy at times, but we stayed dry.

There were several highlights including a RUROUS HUMMINGBIRD on its nest.
The WARBLING VIREOS continue on their nest. There were at least 50 CASPIAN
TERNS on the flats at Nisqually Reach, and we had a pair of HAIRY WOODPECKERS.

The day started with the usual SWALLOWS at the visitor center: BARN, CLIFF,
and TREE. Later in the day we added VIOLET-GREEN and NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED.
On the trail to McAllister Creek we saw two (a pair?) of AMERICAN BITTERN
hovering over the trail. They then veered off toward McAllister Creek,
circled, and one flew back by us and landed in the tall grass near the service road
that goes through the riparian area near the parking lot. None of us had
seen this behavior by BITTERNS before.

We did see several CINNAMON TEAL, a single male BLUE-WINGED TEAL, and
several GREEN-WINGED TEAL. We had great looks a couple of families of PIED-BILLED
GREEBE and saw HOODED MERGANZER and WOOD DUCK families, as well as MALLARD
and CANADA GOOSE. We saw a GREATER SCAUP out on the sound.

CEDAR WAXWINGS and YELLOW WARBLERS were everywhere. The red elderberry are
in fruit, so the fruit eaters are having a feast. We also saw several
BAND-TAILED PIGEONS and SWAINSON'S THRUSHS. There was a BULLOCK'S ORIOLE in the
riparian area across from the visitor center and we also saw both BLACK-HEADED
GROSBEAK and EVENING GROSBEAK.

For the day we had 56 species and added GREATER SCAUP, HAIRY WOODPECKER,
BULLOCK'S ORIOLE, and EVENING GROSBEAK to the year list, giving us 132 species
for the year.

Mammals seen included a LONG-TAILED WEASEL, HARBOR SEALS, and a RACCOON.

Until next week when we will be back to a Thursday walk....

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




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