Hi Tweeters,

I hiked the Nisqually NWR loop with my wife late this morning/early afternoon. It was a very birdy day for July. As Ruth mentioned a couple of days ago, the shorebirds are beginning to make an appearence, although the numbers were still pretty low. We saw 1 SPOTTED SANDPIPER, a few scattered GREATER YELLOWLEGS, and a small number of WESTERN SANDPIPERS on the inner side of the dike as we walked along the McAllister Creek section. Inside one of the last bends where the trail cuts away from the creek we found the most productive mud flat of the morning, with a small flock of WESTERN SANDPIPERS and a smaller flock of LEAST SANDPIPERS nearby. To the edge of the Western Sandpiper flock was a lone BAIRD'S SANDPIPER (my wife actually spotted it first). I ran into Ruth later on and she mentioned that it was much farther up the trail than the one that she had seen a couple of days earlier. Off toward the Nature Center, a couple of CASPIAN TERNS were putting on a good show, divi!
ng for
fish. Going clockwise, 2 benches before the observation platform in a stand of cattails inside the dike, we heard a VIRGINIA RAIL clucking. We watched for about 10 minutes while a single adult came into view a number of times. Just passed the gate, we heard a calling RED-EYED VIREO, which then flew onto a branch perhaps 5 feet above our heads and stayed in view for 30 seconds or so before continuing on. It was only my second Red-eyed Vireo at Nisqually. A bit further on, a Long-tailed Weasel ran across the trail in front of us and less than 5 minutes later a Mink did the same. There are still quite a number of vocalizing YELLOW WARBLERS, SWAINSON'S THRUSHES, WILLOW FLYCATCHERS, AND W. WOOD-PEWEES. We also had a BEWICK'S WREN land on the rail of the boardwalk right in front of us and commence singing. A nice day to be out and about.

Good birding,

Lonnie Somer
Olympia, WA
wheelermombi at comcast.net