Tweets,

Today 9 of us enjoyed a productive walk around the outer dike at Nisqually.
It was cold and foggy when we started but the fog had lifted by the time we
got to McAllister Creek. Unfortunately the tide was falling and pretty far
out when we got to the sound so we were limited in what we saw on the salt.

Highlights included the GREAT HORNED OWLS and the BALD EAGLES at the nest
tree. We saw a good variety of birds but not many of any species. It is clear
we are between seasons.

We had a couple of NORTHERN SHRIKE sightings. One was an adult well to our
left off the trail to McAllister Creek and the other was a juvenile well out
along McAllister Creek toward Luhr Beach. We were looking at HORNED GREBES
and MEW GULLS when the second SHRIKE showed up. There were also several
GREATER YELLOWLEGS along McAllister Creek and both TREE and VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS
flying over the ponds.

The BALD EAGLES were both at the nest tree and it appeared one of them was
on the nest in the lone fir on the other side of McAllister Creek.

The GREAT HORNED OWLS have moved to inside the boardwalk close to the
Nisqually River trail. The adult was pretty easy to see sitting out on a limb but
the youngsters were harder to find separated from the adult and closer to a
tree trunk. They are starting to develop flight feathers.

There were at least 3 EURASIAN WIGEON on the refuge today and lots of SCAUP
out on the sound. We also saw some SURF SCOTERS out on the sound among the
WIGEON and BUFFLE HEAD.

All told we saw 55 species with VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW, GREATER YELLOWLEGS,
and CALIFORNIA GULL being new for the year. The gull was out near the sound.
We now have 82 species for the year.

Mammals seen were RIVER OTTER, MUSKRAT, HARBOR SEAL, and EASTERN GRAY
SQUIRREL.

Just a note that beginning in April we will do the walks on Wednesdays in
stead of Thursdays.

Until next Thursday....

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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