Tweets,

Yesterday 17 of us enjoyed a great walk at Nisqually under mostly cloudy
skies and cool temperatures. Spring is finally here! We had our first
COMMON YELLOWTHROAT of the year yesterday seeing several bright males singing
loudly. What a beautiful sight.

Other highlights included great views of an AMERICAN BITTERN, our first of
the year SAVANAH SPARROW, all three MERGANZERS, and finally (for me) seeing
the juvenile GREAT HORNED OWLS.

When we first passed the OWL nest tree we saw an adult roosting just above
the nest cavity but no young. When we returned about an hour later both
young were sitting by the cavity with the adult just above them. Later in
the day the young had climbed out of the cavity and were sitting side by
side just above the adult. Great views and definitely a Kodak moment.

Waterfowl were plentiful including a couple pair of WOOD DUCKS and HOODED
MERGANZERS on the interior ponds and COMMON MERGANZERS on the Nisqually
River and RED-BREASTED MERGANZERS on McAllister Creek. We also saw an
EURASIAN WIGEON and more GADWALL then we've seen the rest of the year combined.
CANADA GEESE are already on the nest inside the boardwalk and other waterfowl
are pairing up.

Off the twin barns overlook we got great views of a LINCOLN'S SPARROW as it
preened in a low bush and we saw a MARSH WREN nest building and a couple
of the male COMMON YELLOWTHROAT proclaiming their territory. There were
scads of YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS about but not much else in way of passerines.

Significant missed were RED-TAILED HAWKS and NORTHERN HARRIERS, although I
did see a HARRIER in the afternoon, and WOODPECKERS of any kind.

We found RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD nests, both high in the trees and difficult to
find, and an active BUSHTIT nest inside the boardwalk along the Nisqually
River side.

All told we had 50 species for the day with the SAVANAH SPARROW and COMMON
YELLOWTHROAT being new for the year. WE now have 88 species for the year.

Mammals seen were a COYOTE, EASTERN GRAY SQUIRRELS, and a BEAVER.

Of note is the fact that construction has started on the planned boardwalk
out along McAllister Creek toward the sound. Unfortunately, they will
have to close part of the new dike during construction. The plan is to
complete the project this year. Some of the best shorebird viewing should be in
the area of this temporary closure. Ratz! At least they will finish the
project this year instead of taking 2 years as originally planned

Until next week when we continue to look for signs of Spring.....





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