Tweets,

Today 10 of us braved the rain and enjoyed a productive walk at Nisqually.
The day started out well with a GREEN HERON flyby at the visitor center.
It then jumped up into a bare tree and gave several early arrivals great
views. We also had a brief encounter with an early RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET that
landed in a bush within 5 feet of us before bouncing about a bit and then
flying off not to be seen again. We also saw WOOD DUCKS, HOODED
MERGANSERS, and PIED-BILLED GREBE in the pond there.

Along the boardwalk to the twin barns we encountered a mixed flock of
passerines that included YELLOW WARBLERS, COMMON YELLOWTHROAT, BLACK-THROATED
GRAY WARBLERS, and WARBLING VIREO. There may have been other species in the
flock but the lighting was poor and the rain made our optics less than
perfect.

Out in the reclamation area we saw a juvenile COOPER'S HAWK sitting in a
snag looking very forlorn and very wet. We also saw 6 GREATER
WHITE-FRONTED GEESE for the first time this fall (?). Seems a bit early but waterfowl
are moving about a bit. There are a couple hundred CANADA GEESE on the
refuge now and more are arriving every day. Construction continues and water
levels are low but still they come.

We saw two GREAT HORNED OWLS inside the boardwalk near the junction of the
cross over trail from the twin barns and the Nisqually side. They appeared
to be an adult and a juvenile sitting on the same branch about 15 feet
apart. They were pretty conspicuous sitting out in the open.

All told we saw 43 species today with the GREEN HERON being new for the
year. The only mammal seen was COLUMBIAN BLACK-TAILED DEER, and we had three
different sighting of them.

Until next week when Shep and Eric will lead in my absence....


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