Tweets,

Hurray, hurray!! The first of May Spring migration is underway!! Finally.
And a cast of thousands got to enjoy it yesterday. Well, it seemed that
way. There were 38 of us at the start of a long day at the refuge.

We had 9 firsts of the year as well as some great looks at some of the
usual species.

We got off to a great start at the visitor with WOOD DUCKS, RUFOUS
HUMMINGBIRD, juvenile BALD EAGLES, and our first of the year WARBLING VIREO.
There are many CLIFF SWALLOWS building nests on the viewing platform eaves as
well as some BARN SWALLOWS on the inside. TREE and VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS
were flying over the pond. Later we added VAUX'S SWIFTS and a few folks saw
NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOWS. At the end of the new boardwalk we could
see PURPLE MARTINS working off the pier at Luhr Beach across McAllister
Creek.

In the riparian areas along the boardwalk we saw ORANGE CROWNED WARBLERS
and scads of YELLOW RUMPED WARBLERS as well as first of the year YELLOW,
WILSON'S and BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLERS. WE also got looks at a RUFOUS
HUMMINGBIRD nest in what is now a fallen tree. The nest is now on an angle
pointing toward the boardwalk giving great views into the nest. It is located
at the second overlook on the way to the twin barns. There are 2 chicks in
the nest and mom was busy flying back and forth foraging and feeding the
young. The tree was upright last week.

Shorebirds seen were KILDEER, DUNLIN, WESTERN and LEAST SANDPIPERS, and
both LONG and SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS, all on the interior pond toward the
twin barns. We added a GREATER YELLOWLEGS at the start of the new boardwalk.

We got to the new boardwalk at about noon to find the tide way out (it was
a minus tide) so all we saw was mud. Next week the tide will be better so
we'll try again.

We found the GREAT HORNED OWL family off the riparian stub just like last
week and also picked up BROWN CREEPER, BUSHTIT and more BLACK-THROATED GRAY
WARBLERS there.

For raptors we saw several BALD EAGLES, a RED-TAILED HAWK and the female
KESTRAL sitting in the nest box on the twin barns. We had an OSPREY fly
over, another first of the year sighting.

We also had a couple of sightings of GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE, with 15
or so feeding in the field near the fresh water pond inside the new dike.

For the day we had 66 species with 9 being new for the year, giving us 118
species for the year.

Mammals seen were several very active EASTERN GRAY SQUIRRELS.

Until next week.....

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