Subject: [Tweeters] Veery at Nisqually NWR 5-18-07
Date: May 18 17:51:36 2007
From: Ruth and/or Patrick Sullivan - godwit513 at msn.com


Hello Tweets,

Today while walking the outer dike a VEERY was briefly observed along the brushy trail at the northwest corner of the Nisqually NWR. The bird was completely silent during the entire 5-6 second observation unlike almost all the Swainson's Thrushes we encountered at other locations on the refuge. The Veery was first detected flying along the north side of the trail between 2 sets of wooden benches,where the bright reddish-brown coloration was observed as the bird flew into fairly thick cover amongst a row of rose and other vegetation. The bird was soon relocated in the thick vegetation where at this time the buffy area of fain spotting was limited to the upperbreast contrasting to pale gray that extended to the nearly white belly. There was no hint of any spotting on the sides or flanks and the bird seemed to show an extremely faint eye ring of the limited view that was obtained. The face seemed very plain overall unlike all the Swainson's Thrushes we encountered,which of the latter all appeared more of a drabber warn brown color unlike the richer tones of the Veery. The size of the bird seemed just slightly smaller and more delicate than that of all the Swainson's Thrushes we saw eventhough most field guides illustrate the Veery as the same size as a Swainson's Thrush.

This bird was very nice and unexpected bird to see and added to great excitement from our very slow visit to the Nisqually NWR. This bird appears to represent the 2nd Thurston Co. record with the 1st record of this species also being found at the Nisqually NWR by Bill Shelmerdine on the 29th of May,2006. Due to the surroundings we believe the bird observed today was in active migration since after being located in dense cover the bird somehow disappeared. The weather at the time of the sighting was rather calm with no direct winds with an increasing overcast sky so we figure the bird probably moved along the greenbelt of vegetation. 2 of our 4 adult Golden-crowned Sparrows for the day were noted on the ground at this location,which seems to be getting towards the late end for being still in Washington. We encountered the other 2 Golden-crowned Sparrows along the Nisqually River side of the refuge between the Twin Barns and the Primitive Trail.

As mentioned our visit to the Nisqually NWR was exceedingly slow with many species believe to be breeding along with presence of no shorebirds and very few waterfowl species. Passerine numbers and diversity was also quite low with just the main expected species encountered including our personal first of the season Willow Flycatchers noted at various locations on the refuge with 5 birds. Upon arriving to the refuge this morning a singing male LAZULI BUNTING was noted in the riparian area bordering a large field southeast of the main parking lot,as well as a late LINCOLN'S SPARROW that was attracted to heavy "pishing". Most abundant species went to Common Yellowthroats that were almost everywhere either seen or heard singing followed by good numbers of Cedar Waxwings,Am.Goldfinches and Wilson's Warblers. It was interesting to see such good numbers of Wilson's Warblers for this date in May,which were most plentiful especially along the lush riparian areas on the Nisqually River side of the refuge. Our best highlight while scoping what we could out over the Nisqually Delta went to a single COMMON TERN observed after one of many Bald Eagles flushed up a large group of gulls and Caspian Terns.

Conditions at the refuge include still large areas of water along the McAllister Creek side of the refuge,but as you walk further north he water levels begin to become lower. This is especially true in the northwest corner of the refuge,where moderate levels of mud now exist in a few areas. Although the main push of shorebird migration is over lingering birds could still exist here or perhaps conditions will be better during fall migration unless the entire area dries up over the summer. Anyhow, these were our observations. A short list of other species of note during our 4 hour visit to the Nisqually included the following:

1 Greater White-fronted Goose(observed flying north high over McAllister Creek with a flock of Canada Geese)
20 Wood Ducks
1 Northern Pintail
4 Green-winged Teal
8 Blue-winged Teal
17 Cinnamon Teal
3 Northern Shovelers
14 Gadwall
1 pair of Lesser Scaup
6 Hooded Mergansers
3 Am.Bittern(including 2 birds soaring over the Ring Dike Trail before dropping down into the wetland areas)
1 Northern Harrier
15 Band-tailed Pigeons
1 Red-breasted Sapsucker
1 Olive-sided Flycatcher(heard singing along the forested hillside above McAllister Creek)
8 Western Wood Pewees
4 Pacific-slope Flycatchers
10+ Purple Martins
8 Black-headed Grosbeaks


We have placed a few photos onto our website taken during our visit at the Nisqually NWR,which can be accessed at the following link:
http://www.pbase.com/godwit/recent_photos/





Good birding,

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