Tweets,

Today 16 of us enjoyed a productive walk at Nisqually. It was cold and
clear when we started but it got breezy and started to rain as we walked out
the new dike. It got downright unpleasant for a while. We did have a
pretty birdy day though as there was lots of bird chatter early on.

Highlights included an AMERICAN BITTERN close up, a probable THAYER'S GULL
(some might disagree) and a couple of mammals.

The BITTERN flew in near the boardwalk on the way to the twin barns and
landed about 15 feet away and stayed for some time. It provided great photo
ops for those with cameras. On the pond opposite the boardwalk we saw a
GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE with some CACKLING GEESE and an EURASIAN WIGEON
feeding on the bank with some AMERICAN WIGEON.

We also saw HOODED and COMMON MERGANSERS, COMMON GOLDENEYE and both LESSER
and GREATER SCAUP in addition to the usual suspects.

A few BALD EAGLES were about as were RED-TAILED HAWKS, an AMERICAN KESTRAL,
and a couple of NORTHERN HARRIERS and a COOPER'S HAWK.

The probable first winter THAYER'S GULL was hunkered down outside the new
dike on the mud flats. It had a very "dove-like" head and a short bill,
dark at the tip and dull greenish at the base. The eye was dark with a
smudge mark behind it. It had a very pale brownish white mantle and the wings
were similar, with a distinct white line between the primaries and
secondaries. When it stood up its legs were pale pink. When it flew it had a
light brown band at the base of the tail. There was lots of debate with little
consensus and a lot of could bes and maybes. Hopefully some of the photos
taken will help clear up the mystery.

The RIVER OTTER was on a grass bar just off the boardwalk as we turned to
go to the twin barns. It didn't seem to care the we were 20 foot away and
frolicked for a couple of minutes before swimming off. The BEAVER was on
the bank of the new dike out past the gate. It appeared sluggish and to be
foraging on the straw mulch used to hold the planted grass in place. Our
resident Veterinarian said it appeared to be in survival mode.

All told we saw 53 species for the day and now have 72 for the year.

Until next week when Shep and Eric will lead the walk....

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