Greetings all,

I birded the Nisqually NWR today with Tracey Norris between 7:00 and 11:30AM.? Great weather and many passerines were about.

Highlights were my 3 Blue-winged Teal, a hybrid Cinnamon x Blue-winged Teal, 11 Semipalmated Plovers on the mud seen from the dike trail towards the boardwalk. 1 Whimbrel fly-over and 4 Wilson's Phalaropes (3 females chasing around 1 male) on the pond seen from the dike towards the boardwalk.? Tide was way out so not alot seen from the boardwalk itself.?

Also my first Swainson's Thrush of the year, at least 16 were observed/heard.? I also had 1 Willow Flycatcher, I believe it is my earliest I have recorded on the west side, which is odd since everything else seems late.

Also had 4 Yellow-headed Blackbirds at various locations and 3 Bullock's Orioles near the visitor center.

Species list below:

Canada Goose (moffitti/maxima) 18
Wood Duck 8
Gadwall 6
American Wigeon 4
Mallard 12
Blue-winged Teal 3
Blue-winged x Cinnamon Teal (hybrid) 1 Male bird - a bit paler red than surrounding Cinnamon Teal males with the white crescent on the face of a Blue-wing
Cinnamon Teal 11
Northern Shoveler 9
Northern Pintail 2
Green-winged Teal 6
Bufflehead 1
Hooded Merganser 7
Common Merganser 12
Pied-billed Grebe 2
Double-crested Cormorant 12
American Bittern 1
Great Blue Heron 70
Bald Eagle 7
Virginia Rail 2
Semipalmated Plover 11 Most I have seen in the South Sound
Killdeer 8
Spotted Sandpiper 3
Greater Yellowlegs 2
Whimbrel 1
Western Sandpiper 2
Least Sandpiper 6
Long-billed Dowitcher 5
Wilson's Phalarope 4
Ring-billed Gull 18
Western x Glaucous-winged Gull (hybrid) 4
Glaucous-winged Gull 8
Caspian Tern 1
Rock Pigeon 18
Mourning Dove 4
Vaux's Swift 8
Rufous Hummingbird 10
Belted Kingfisher 2
Downy Woodpecker 2
Northern Flicker (Red-shafted) 4
Pileated Woodpecker 1
Willow Flycatcher 1
Pacific-slope Flycatcher 2
Warbling Vireo (Western) 6
American Crow 4
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 16
Purple Martin 6
Tree Swallow 60
Barn Swallow 100
Cliff Swallow 300
Black-capped Chickadee 3
Chestnut-backed Chickadee 2
Bushtit (Pacific) 3
Brown Creeper 3
Bewick's Wren 1
Marsh Wren 12
Golden-crowned Kinglet 1
Swainson's Thrush (Russet-backed) 16
American Robin 4
European Starling 10
Orange-crowned Warbler (orestera) 1
Orange-crowned Warbler (lutescens) 6
Yellow Warbler 10
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 6
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's) 50
Black-throated Gray Warbler 1
Common Yellowthroat 12
Wilson's Warbler 10
Spotted Towhee (Pacific) 2
Savannah Sparrow 18
Song Sparrow 8
White-crowned Sparrow (Puget Sound) 2
Golden-crowned Sparrow 4
Western Tanager 4
Black-headed Grosbeak 2
Red-winged Blackbird 40
Yellow-headed Blackbird 4
Brown-headed Cowbird 20
Bullock's Oriole 3
Red Crossbill (type 4) 6
Pine Siskin 4
American Goldfinch 16
Evening Grosbeak 10Cheers and Good Birding,

Ryan Shaw
Tacoma, WA
rtshaw80 at hotmail.com