Tweets,

Today 22 of us walked Nisqually, starting in a chilly fog and ending up in
warm sunshine. Not much early but the warmth brought out the birds.

Highlights included 3 GREAT HORNED OWLS, first of the year COMMON
YELLOWTHROAT, COWBIRD, BARN SWALLOW, CLIFF SWALLOW, SAVANAH SPARROW, MERLIN, and
COOPER'S HAWK. Not a bad day after all. We also watched a RIVER OTTER swim
up and down the slough in front of the twin barns overlook!

We had a 3.0 low tide at 10:53 so there was lots of mud flats to be seen
but the only shorebirds seen were a couple of GREATER YELLOWLEGS. Waterfowl
numbers are way down with everything pairing up. Some of the CANADA GEESE
are already on the nest.

We did manage to see plenty of sparrows with the SAVANAHS being the
highlight as well as a small flock of LINCOLN SPARROWS seen near the start of the
new boardwalk. They may have been migrants as there were half a dozen or
so actively feeding on the mudflat there. Unusual to say the least.

We did see a EURASIAN WIGEON but missed on the recently reported CINNAMON
TEAL. Nothing else unusual in the waterfowl present today except that the
interior pond are really low, even after al our recent rain.

For the day I had 45 species with another 7 or 8 added by the folks who
walked the new boardwalk.

Until next week....

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