Hi Tweets,

I took a quick walk out along the estuary trail at Nisqually NWR this morning. 2 GREAT EGRETS proved the most interesting birds present. One fed with a group of about a dozen great blues at the point the trail is blocked, and one skulked about around a half dozen Bald Eagles picking apart something on the ground back near the Nisqually river end of the trail just north of the barns.

Aside from the very cool, very dark, very fresh, juvenile plumaged gull that I think is probably a California Gull, the only other excitement came while watching a young MERLIN get pestered by a Kestrel and a Red-tail. Then he found some space to himself, took a large insect in the air, consumed it on the wing, and then grabbed a Savannah Sparrow off the mud and had an early lunch.

Good Birding,
Matt

Matt Pike
hoodedcrow3b at yahoo.com
Lacey WA