Good morning all,
Yesterday I spent a couple of hours birding Nisqually Refuge in the AM. Gene Revelas and I walked walked the dike and the boardwalk to its end. We did not cover the river side. The best bird was a Bank Swallow flying over the ponds inside the dike and out past the Twin Barns. There was also a distinct increase in shorebird numbers, with southbound migrants picking up and mostly (all?) adult birds seen. On the ponds inside the dike there were 11 Short-billed Dowitchers, one Least and at least 200 Western Sandpipers. There were also a number of Killdeer and one each Greater Yellowlegs and Wilsons Snipe. We talked with Dennis Ellison and he indicated that the last day the Pacific Golden Plover was seen was on the 27th. We spent some time searching yesterday with no luck. There were many vocal Sora and 3 each Blue-winged and Green-winged Teal as well as good numbers of the regulars.

Cheers and good birding,
Bill Shelmerdine, Olympia
mailto: georn1 at hotmail.com