Tweets,

Today we decided to walk the Brown's Farm Dike Trail at Nisqually assuming
it will close for good after Sunday and we were rewarded with a great
day!! We had a bit of drizzle at the start but that soon stopped and we had
good weather for the rest of the walk. We also made the right decision to do
the full loop.

Highlights were many and they started at the visitor center at 8:00 AM.
When I arrived we had a pair of CINNAMON TEAL, a pair of WOOD DUCKS and a
pair of HOODED MERGANSERS all in a line across the pond. As we watched them
a RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD landed in the brush right in front of us and then an
AMERICAN BITTERN flew in and landed in plain view, in full breeding plumage,
and proceeded to dance and call. Couldn't get much better than that,
right? Wrong.

When we walked around the corner on the access road we saw on the pond
toward the entrance road both GREATER and LESSER YELLOWLEGS, DUNLIN, and
WESTERN and LEAST SANDPIPERS. There were KILLDEER nearby also. On the pond we
had GADWALL, NORTHERN SHOVELERS, and GREEN-WINGED TEAL.

As we started out toward McAllister Creek we had our first sighting of a
MERLIN as it stooped on some shorebirds on the pond between that road and the
twin barns. It would not be the last we saw of the MERLIN. On the pond
on the left we saw both CINNAMON and BLUE-WINGED TEAL. Out past the trees
and before the new dike someone spotted three BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER. As we
scoped them I spotted an interesting strange nearby. It was a solitary
MARBLED GODWIT! Both the GODWIT and the BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS were the first
I've seen at Nisqually.

Out on McAllister Creek near the sound we had both HORNED and EARED GREBES
in breeding plumage as well as BONAPARTE'S GULLS and CASPIAN TERNS. Out
on the sound we had BRANT and COMMON LOONS. And there were PURPLE MARTINS
sitting on the nest boxes at Luhr Beach pier. We also saw the usual raft of
HARBOR SEALS near the mouth of the Nisqually River.

On the way back in we saw an adult GREAT HORNED OWL in the riparian area
near the cedar tree and we watched a juvenile move around inside the
boardwalk.

All told we saw 80 species for the day which I think is a new single day
record. We saw 13 new birds for the year today. New for the year were
BLUE-WINGED TEAL, CINNAMON TEAL, BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER, LESSER YELLOWLEGS,
WESTERN SANDPIPER, LEAST SANDPIPER, LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER, BONAPARTE'S GULL,
CASPIAN TERN, MOURNING DOVE, YELLOW WARBLER, BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD, MARBLED
GODWIT, and PURPLE MARTIN.

Mammals seen included HARBOR SEAL, RIVER OTTERN and LONG-TAILED WEASEL.

Until next week at 8:00 am when we will see what we can walk....


Phil Kelley
scrubjay323 at aol.com
Lacey, WA
360-459-1499
**************Access 350+ FREE radio stations anytime from anywhere on the
web. Get the Radio Toolbar!
(http://toolbar.aol.com/aolradio/download.html?ncid=emlcntusdown00000003)