I had today pencilled in for a trip to Nisqually, so I called at the Boeing
Ponds on the way to look for the Wilson's phalarope so well described by Bob.
Sadly, the only shorebird I saw was a spotted sandpiper. But I did find a
glorious male common yellowthroat who was willing to pose for photos on the tips
of reeds for over ten minutes. I eventually gave up before he did. The bushes by
the pond edge were full of secretive Wilson's warblers, and an osprey came along
for a few low fly-bys too, always a sight worth appreciating.

And when I got to Nisqually, what did I spy swimming around in the first pond on
the right after the visitor centre? A female Wilson's phalarope in near-complete
breeding plumage. Sometimes, that's just the way the birds go!

Plenty of other birds to see at Nisqually too, with multiple yellow and Wilson's
warblers to add to the yellowthroats, a pair of black-headed grosbeaks, and several flocks of
cedar waxwing, including a pair indulging in some courtship pass-the-berry.
There was a photographable bittern in the ponds near McAllister creek - many
thanks to the man who told me it was there. Two male wood duck were sitting on a
mossy log in a small pond by the boardwalk, one preening to show off all his
wing markings in a perfect photogenic setting. I was so involved in
photographing the splendid wood duck, I almost missed the first of year
Swainson's thrush pecking along the gravel trail behind me with the robins.

The barn and cliff swallows at the visitor centre now have their nests fully
built and on the go - quite a feat, given that the first blobs of mud were just
being set in place when I was last there eight days ago. The energy of some of
those tiny birds is astonishing to see.

A beautiful morning's birding in the sunshine.

Louise Rutter
Kirkland