Tweets,

On Wednesday 17 of us braved rain and wind to walk Nisqually. It must
have been some storm because my computer was messed up until today. Not
surprisingly not all of us completed the walk...and some folks walked the new
boardwalk. Hopefully the weather will be more cooperative next week.

Highlights included getting to watch a GREAT BLUE HERON catch and swallow
what appeared to be a mole. The hunt took place right next to the new dike
and then the bird took the prey to a nearby puddle and washed it off before
swallowing it. Not very appetizing but then we didn't have to eat it.

We also saw our first of the year VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS in with some TREE
SWALLOWS. We also saw BARN SWALLOWS. Waterfowl numbers continue to drop
but we still had good diversity.

We flushed a BITTERN inside the boardwalk near the downed tree on the way
to the twin barns and watched a PEREGRINE FALCON take cover under the eaves
of the barns sitting on a bran owl box.

Still no spring passerines but they should start arriving soon. We did
see both CHICKADEES and KINGLETS as well as BUSHTITS and BROWN CREEPER as
well as a YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER sitting on the door of one of the barns.

The GREAT EGRET is still on the refuge and was seen out behind the pond
just off the parking lot near the old McAllister Creek trail.

All told we saw 57 species for the day and now have 88 for the year.

Mammals seen included BLACK-TAILED DEER, RIVER OTTER, MUSKRAT, and EASTERN
GRAY SQUIRREL.

Until next week....

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