Tweets,

Happy Thanksgiving to all! It was a great day at Nisqually today as 11 of
us enjoyed mostly sunny skies and lots of birds. There is water everywhere so
waterfowl were the highlight today.

The majority of the waterfowl were CACKLING GEESE (4000+) throughout the
refuge with a few CANADAS and 2 SNOW GEESE and a juvenile GREATER WHITE-FRONTED
GOOSE thrown in. On the ponds near the visitor center were mostly MALLARDS
with AMERICAN WIGEON, NORTHERN SHOVELERS, GREEN WINGED TEAL and a few PINTAILS
thrown in.

At the last pond before McAllister Creek was a flock of 250 or so NORTHERN
PINTAILS. There were a few MALLARDS and a couple of AMERICAN WIGEON there but
the vast majority of the birds were PINTAILS.

We also saw a couple of PIED-BILLED GREEBE in that area.

We saw 5 species of gulls on the pond toward the twin barns. They flew in
after we headed out toward McAllister Creek. WE had RING-BILLED, MEW,
GLAUCOUS-WINGED, GLAUCIOUS-WINGED X WESTERN, and a CALIFORNIA GULL.

Raptors were everywhere with RED-TAILED HAWKS and NORTHERN HARRIERS being
the most common. We also saw both adult and juvenile BALD EAGLES, a PEREGRINE
FALCON, a COOPER'S HAWK, and a MERLIN out over McAllister Creek.

Songbirds were scarce but we did manage to see WESTERN MEADOWLARKS out near
McAllister Creek, both CHICKADEES and both KINGLETS.

All told we saw 45 species for the day.

Mammals seen included a nice buck COLUMBIAN BLACK-TAILED DEER, EASTERN GRAY
SQUIRREL and a HARBOR SEAL off the Nisqually overlook.

Until next week....

Phil Kelley
scrubjay323 at aol.com
Lacey, WA
360-459-1499

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