Hi Tweeters:

Phil Kelly is somewhere between Olympia and Tulsa, Oklahoma, so the Nisqually Thursday walk (eleven of us) carried on without him today. It was a beautiful day, with lots of sunshine and a light breeze. Just for a different perspective we decided to do the walk in reverse. So instead of heading towards McAllister Creek, we started off down the board walk on the river side.

As we moved down the first stretch of the boardwalk we were treated to two SANDHILL CRANES flying over the refuge at a distance. There was lots of action at the WARBLING VIREO nest. The male and female were changing places in the nest and gave us lots of great views. No signs of little ones yet.

A bit further down, we had a great view of a RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD on her nest. The nest is located on a maple branch just over the water near a place where the boardwalk takes a bit of a jog.

There were many SWAINSON'S THRUSH on this leg of the walk, and they gave us great views also. A family of adult and juvenile BROWN CREEPERS were working a tree just before the ring dike. An OSPREY circle above us as we finished our walk around the ring dike. There was also a female WOOD DUCK with nine youngsters just inside the dike on the river side. The number of flycatchers is clearly up, including WILLOW and WESTERN WOOD PEWEE. We got a great look at a BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK as we approached the twin barns. An AMERICAN BITTERN flew across as we looked from the deck.

On the walk to McAllister Creek, water levels were lower, and the number and species of ducks are way down. There were several CINNAMON TEAL and a female HOODED MERGANSER with eight young. There were also two KILLDEAR on the first part of the trail.

Noted by their absence were any woodpeckers, blue heron, or gulls. Species for the day were down from recent weeks (42 total). Mammals included a mink and rabbit.

That's it until next week. Eric Slagle hannaslage at comcast.net