Hi Tweeters,

Bill and I decided it was too nice this morning to stay at home,
so we headed out to the Nisqually Delta. I checked out Phil Kelly's report
from Mar 19 and was interested to see how close we could come to the 56
species he and his group saw on Wed., March 18. As usual, as we climbed out
of the car in the parking lot near the Visitor's Center, our ears were
assaulted with the sounds of many birds, most of them FOY for us, since we
haven't been out birding in weeks. CLIFF SWALLOWS, BARN SWALLOWS, and TREE
SWALLOWS were all around the Visitor's Center and many COMMON YELLOWTHROATS.


Like Phil, we noted the PURPLE FINCHES at the beginning of the
boardwalk out to the Twin Barns, and someone had already located the mother
GREAT-HORNED OWL along the boardwalk. We also found three species of
merganser, noted a CASPIAN TERN that probably got a neck injury from diving
into really shallow water. Out on the main waterway we saw one HORNED
GREBE, beginning to get breeding plumage. We saw one RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD,
but didn't see the nest Phil and his group observed. There were several
flocks of CACKLING GEESE that kept flying over the area near the Twin Barns,
but never landed. Along with the YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER and COMMON
YELLOWTHROAT there were numerous ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS. In the shorebird
category, we noted one DUNLIN practically in breeding plumage, several
GREATER YELLOWLEGS, two or three KILLDEER, and several LEAST SANDPIPERS.

One other nice observation was a male MERLIN in one of the dead
trees not too far from the beginning of the long boardwalk. Our total for
the morning was 50.

We really need to get out more. Charlotte Byers, Seattle