Hi Tweets,

18 of us plus some late arriving additions enjoyed a very birdy day at the
Refuge with partly sunny skies, temperatures between 50-65 degrees
Fahrenheit, breezy conditions and high 13'8" tide at 6:44am and a low 2'11"
tide at 12:45pm.

Early in the parking lot an immature Red-tailed Hawk was perched on a snag,
Band-tailed Pigeon and Osprey were observed flying over. Starting out at
the Visitor Center Pond Overlook at 8am, we had nice observations of
Pied-billed Grebe eating fish, Common Ravens flying over, and Red-winged
Blackbird.

At the Access Road view point south, over the flooded fields south between
the access road and entrance road, we observed our first of the year Greater
White-fronted Goose. There were three to four Greater White-fronted Geese
mixed in with approximately 60 Cackling Geese, all appeared to be *Branta
canadensis minima*, which were new arrivals for Fall. Mallard, Northern
Shoveler, Northern Pintail, and Green-winged Teal were foraging in the
shallow pond. We observed Wilson's Snipe and Peregrine Falcon fly over.

At the Access Road view point west, scanning the mowed/plowed fields south
of the Twin Barns and old McAllister Creak road, we saw Glaucous-winged
Gull, White-crowned Sparrow and Bald Eagle.

The western portion of the Twin Barns Boardwalk Loop Trail between the
parking lot and the Twin Barns cut-off we saw two or three mixed flocks of
migrating passerines, and needless to say our group spread out to enjoy the
variety of species observed. Black-capped Chickadee, Chestnut-backed
Chickadee, Bushtit, Bewick's Wren, Golden-crowned Kinglet first of the Fall,
Ruby-crowned Kinglet first of the Fall, Brown Creeper, Orange-crowned
Warbler, Black-throated Gray Warbler x 3, Townsend's Warbler, MacGillivray's
Warbler x 2, Common Yellowthroat, Wilson's Warbler, Spotted Towhee, Song
Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, and American Goldfinch. We also saw Downy
Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, and probably Willow Flycatcher-quick looks
with no eye ring.

At the Twin Barns Overlook, we had a fabulous view of an immature Red-Tailed
Hawk landing on the roof of the close barn. An immature Cooper's Hawk
landed on the roof as well, and harassed the Red-tailed Hawk as it flew
away. The Cooper's Hawk perched in Elder Berry bush adjacent to the slough
to provide continued nice observation. Prior to the hawk display, we saw
Lincoln Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow and Golden-crowned Sparrow. The overlook
platform provides good line of sight for scoping the restored riparian surge
plain to the north of the Dike Estuarine Trail with less heat waves then on
the dike itself. We scoped Dowitchers, presumably Long-billed Dowitchers
which are more likely to be seen on brackish mud flats at Nisqually, and
Western Sandpipers.

On the Dike Estuarine Trail, we observed Great Blue Heron, Canada Goose,
American Wigeon, additional Bald Eagle, Northern Harrier x 3, Killdeer,
Greater Yellowlegs, Least Sandpiper, Ring-billed Gull, Rock Pigeon, American
x Northwestern Crow Hybrid, Barn Swallow, Violet-green Swallow, American
Robin, and European Starling. We had very nice looks at eight non
breeding/basic plumage and immature Black-bellied Plover. The Black-bellied
Plovers were spread out over the mud plain in small feeding territories
performing their run, pluck, stop and look behavior. On the fly, the
Black-bellied Plovers had white tails and a white stripe down the length of
the wing with dark on the leading and trailing edge of the wing.
Unfortunately we could not observe their black axillary patch as they were
flying away, but because of the white tail and no obvious dark cap like that
of the Pacific Golden-Plover we were convinced all were Black-bellied
Plover.

On the Boardwalk Estuarine Trail between the first and second shelters we
added Double-crested Cormorant, Western x Glaucous-winged Hybrid or Olympic
Gull, Belted Kingfisher and American Pipit to our list. On our return to
the Visitor Center, we observed Turkey Vulture flying over the south Refuge
and Cedar Waxwing at the Nisqually River Overlook.

64 species for the day with Greater White-fronted Goose first of the year
towards our yearly count of 162 species.

The only mammal seen was Eastern Gray Squirrel.

Until next week, good birding,

Shep Thorp
Browns Point
sthorp at theaec.com
253-370-3742
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