Tweets,

Today 16 of us enjoyed a great walk at Nisqually....without rain gear!!
It was cold when we started out but warmed up nicely as the day went on.
Lots of sunshine. And the birds were pretty good also.

Highlights included great looks at an AMERICAN BITTERN, a couple of
TOWNSEND'S WARBLERS, and a nice mix of waterfowl.

Not surprisingly, there was ample water on the refuge and the waterfowl
were scattered. The quality was better than the quantity. We had good looks
at EURASIAN WIGEON, HOODED and COMMON MERGANSER, LESSER SCAUP, COMMON
GOLDENEYE and all the expected waterfowl on the fresh water ponds.

The AMERICAN BITTERN was right beneath the second seating area on the way
to the twin barns. It was so close to the boardwalk that we were right on
top of it and couldn't see it's legs. It put on quite a show for all our
camera folks.

The TOWNSEND'S WARBLERS were seen on both sides of the boardwalk in with
both KINGLETS and some CHICKADEES. the best views we had were on the
Nisqually side. We also got great looks at a PILIATED WOODPECKER working on a
small tree along the Nisqually side.

The GREAT EGRET and the HERMIT THRUSH both eluded us today but the EGRET
was seen Monday. For some reason it disappears on Wednesday.

For the day we saw 48 species and now have 64 for the year.

The only mammal we saw was a HARBOR SEAL in the Nisqually River.

Until next week....

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