Hello Tweeters,

Twenty-one of us enjoyed a sunny cool morning at the refuge. We met at the
visitor center pond overlook, the temperature was 47 degrees Fahrenheit, and
the light was fabulous. The pond had many Ringed-necked Duck, Mallard Duck,
Canada Geese and a pair of Hooded Mergansers. We also saw Red-winged
Blackbird, European Starling and Song Sparrow.

Across the parking lot and between the access road and the entrance road,
the water retention ponds provided distant looks at Northern Shoveler and
Northern Pintail. Later in the morning, as the temperature became warmer,
we had better close up views of the Northern Shoveler? s turning rapidly in
tight circles as they fed from the surface of other ponds. There is a small
earth dike, between the retention ponds, which had several Killdeer, some
appeared to be pairing up.

Along the access road, we scanned the fields and flooded fields southwest.
Large numbers of Turdus migratorius were doing that thing they do so well,
run stop feed, many males were brightly colored. Numbers may be down, but
we viewed a lot of waterfowl including Green-winged Teal, American Wigeon,
and Bufflehead. A pair of Wood Duck was spotted, several Gadwalls, and a
Eurasian Wigeon. Golden-crowned Sparrows fed along the gravel road. We had
fly-over by Double-crested Cormorants and Mew Gulls. In the snag tree at
the corner between the parking lot, access road, and southern entrance to
the boardwalk we saw both male and female Pileated Woodpeckers foraging for
food. A single Dunlin was seen.

An American Bittern was located in the reeds along the boardwalk. Initially
hunkered down, the Bittern did stand and fly across the pond, providing
continued good looks and silhouettes with the sun light from behind. A
large 10-inch diameter pond turtle basked in the sun on a log at our first
viewpoint. We also saw Ruby-crowned Kinglet. A Great Blue Heron greeted us
at the second boardwalk viewpoint. A mature adult, our quiet group of 21
walked by within 15 feet of this confident bird roosting in a tree at eye
level. Making our way towards the Twin Barns, we also saw Bewick?s, Winter
and Marsh Wren, Downy Woodpecker, and Black-capped Chickadee.

Tree Swallows were present in large numbers, perched and flying, and best
viewed at the Twin Barns overlook. We?ve seen the Tree Swallows at the
refuge the last three weeks. Two weeks ago a couple of Violet-green
Swallows were seen, but we could not find them this walk. We also saw
Northern Harrier, Northern Shrike, Rock Pigeon and two more Dunlin.

Our first pass by the fallen nest tree of the Great Horned Owl was
unsuccessful. We had nice looks at Common Mergansers, Hooded Merganser and
Common Goldeneyes at the Nisqually River overlook. Heading out on the new
dike, we saw River Otter on the inside and a male American Kestrel on the
outside in the restored riparian area. Additional waterfowl species in the
ponds on the inside of the new dike were Lesser Scaup and American Coot; we
saw good numbers and variety of previous listed ducks. Large numbers of
Canada and Cackler Geese flew into the refuge. Another Northern Harrier was
seen, a few Red-tailed Hawks, and several Bald Eagles. Many Great Blue
Herons were apparent in the new tidal zones between the new dike and the
demolished old dike. Several Glaucous-winged Gulls and American Crow were
seen. Scoping McAllister Creek we saw Red-breasted Merganser, and another
male Common Merganser was seen submerging his face and paddling quickly
forward in what we speculated was a feeding behavior. Fortunately on our
way back, the Great Horned Owl had returned to the nest tree, providing good
looks. Some of our group had to leave earlier and sadly missed this
terrific bird.

Along the old Nisqually River dike, we saw a pair of Bushtits, heard
Goldfinches, and had great looks at Spotted Towhee and Brown Creepers. We
ran into an interesting cluster of birds including our first female Rufus
Hummingbird of the season following a Red-breasted Sapsucker after working
the tree. Our presumption was that the hummingbird was feeding from the
sapsuckers holes, very interesting behavior to observe! We also saw
Dark-eyed Junco, Golden-crowned Kinglet and a Coyote.

A number of Yellow-rumped Warblers, Audubon?s form, were seen at the
Riparian overlook.

It seems spring has arrived early at the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge and there
is a lot of wildlife observation to enjoy. Many wonder what the Great
Horned Owl are up to, and I think the next several weeks will be very
interesting. Thanks to everyone for contributing to a fun bird walk, I
counted 54 species in total!

Good birding!

Shep Thorp
Browns Point
sthorp at theaec.com <mailto:sthorp at theaec.com>
253-370-3742