Tweets,

Today 14 of us enjoyed a nice but hurried walk at Nisqually. High clouds,
no wind, and warm...and I had to leave by noon. Oh well, I left before the
ring dike and the others continued.

Highlight included 2 WESTERN SCRUBJAYS on the trail out to McAllister Creek,
a female BULLOCK'S ORIOLE, and an AMERICAN BITTERN flying over the ring dike.

The female BULLOCK'S ORIOLE put on quite a show at the visitor center
observation deck as she flew in over the pond and landed on the wire mesh on the
walk way to the offices. She stayed there for a bit and then flew down to the
walk way and pecked at some debris from an old robin's nest that was on the
ground before she flew off. As she flew back over the pond she was joined be
a male BULLOCK'S ORIOLE.

The two SCRUBJAYS were spotted on the trail and flew up into a small tree on
the left of the trail before flying across the trail and working their way
out toward McAllister Creek giving all good looks. The BITTERN was flying
over the ring dike.

The ponds near the parking lot are just about gone and so are most of the
waterfowl. We did see CINNAMON TEAL, WOOD DUCKS, HOODED MERGANSERS, and
MALLARDS. We also had KILLDEER on the mud flats.

The Hummingbird nest along the boardwalk has a couple of babies in it but we
didn't see the female. the WARBLING VIREO nest also has young in it but the
adults were actively feeding them.

All told we had 43 species for the day with the WESTERN SCRUBJAYS being new
for the year. We now have 133 species for the year.

Mammals seen included EASTERN GRAY SQUIRREL, MINK, RACCOON, and RIVER OTTER.
We also heard a family (?) of COYOTE calling out near the ring dike.
Perhaps they got separated in the tall grass?

Until next week....

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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