Tweets,

Today five of us walked Nisqually in mixed conditions. We started in steady
rain which soon abated so most of the walk was dry. The last 30 minutes or
so saw us getting rained on again. Nothing serious, just a bit annoying. As
if we need more water on the refuge.

Highlights included an AMERICAN BITTERN, NORTHERN SHRIKE, AMERICAN KESTRAL,
and EURASIAN WIGEON.

We saw the BITTERN as we returned from McAllister Creek at the end of the
marsh near the maintenance road. The SHRIKE and EURASIAN WIGEON were seen off
the twin barns viewing platform. And the KESTRAL was atop one of the trees
behind the visitor center as we finished the walk.

It was a great day for raptors as we saw several NORTHERN HARRIER,
RED-TAILED HAWKS, and BALD EAGLES, both adult and juvenile. We also saw two PEREGRINE
FALCONS fly across the Nisqually River near the overlook. One lit in the
trees just across the river and afforded good looks. We also saw the above
mentioned KESTRAL, a COOPER'S HARK and a ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK.

With the ground so saturated prey must be easy to find. There were loads of
ducks around as well as both CACKLING and CANADA GEESE. PINTAILS,
MALLARDS, and GREEN-WINGED TEAL were common waterfowl and we saw a couple of COMMON
MERGANSER on the Nisqually River. There were both RING-BILLED and MEW GULLS
in the field between the parking lots and the twin barns as well as a flock of
DUNLIN.

All told we saw 48 species for the day. Mammals seen included EASTERN GRAY
SQUIRREL, HARBOR SEAL and CALIFORNIA SEA LION.

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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