Tweets,

Today 16 of us enjoyed a great walk at Nisqually. It was cold but the sun
was out and there was no wind...and the birds and animals cooperated!

Highlights were many including a couple of AMERICAN BITTERN, a NORTHERN
SHRIKE and great looks at a male AMERICAN KESTRAL. The KESTRAL seems to have
staked out a territory behind the twin barns. We also saw a BRANT among
the CACKLERS near the twin barns.

We wound up with 4 species of geese with CANADAS and GREATER WHITE-FRONTED
GEESE to go along with the CACKLERS and the lone BRANT. I believe we saw
the same bird earlier this year with the CACKLERS. It seems unusual to see
a lone BRANT among a flock of CACKLING GEESE on fresh water.

While the total waterfowl numbers were down from last week we did see 11
species of ducks including HOODED MERGANSER, COMMON GOLDENEYE, GADWALL, and
EURASIAN WIGEON.

Raptors were everywhere! Mostly sitting in the trees waiting for it to
warm up and give them some updrafts to use. At one time we counted 20 BALD
EAGLES in sight. We had at least one PEREGRINE fly over and saw RED-TAILED
HAWKS and NORTHERN HARRIERS as well.

We had a good day on finches and woodpeckers. For finches we saw PURPLE
FINCH, GOLDFINCH and PINE SISKINS. We had HAIRY and DOWNEY WOODPECKERS,
RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKERS and NORTHERN FLICKERS.

We also saw a couple of LINCOLN'S SPARROWS and some CEDAR WAXWINGS.
GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROWS and SONG SPARROWS were common.

All told we had 53 species for the day, but nothing new for the year.

It was a great day for mammals with EASTERN GRAY SQUIRRELS, a RIVER OTTER
near the Nisqually River overlook, both HARBOR SEALS and a CALIFORNIA SEA
LION in the Nisqually River, and, lastly, COLUMBIAN BLACK-TAILED DEER coming
back toward the visitor center.

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays until next
week....

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