Tweets,

Yesterday 30 (or so) of use had a great day at Nisqually. It was mostly
sunny and cool with a 12.9 high tide at 7:43 AM. It was also survey day.

Highlights included first of the year WESTERN TANAGERS, BULLOCK'S ORIOLE,
SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS (with LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS), EURASIAN COLLORED
DOVE, WARBLING VIREO, WESTERN SCRUB JAY, ORANGE CROWNED, YELLOW, and WILSON'S
WARBLERS. Some of these , may have been seen before but this was the first
time I've seen these species this year.

When I got home I had a FOY BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK at my feeders.

The numbers of each species was amazing. It made for a slow but
productive walk out to the twin barns and out to the new boardwalk. Last week
seemed slow but we had 60some species. this week was very busy but we only saw
46 species. I don't have the info for the folks who went out to the end of
the new boardwalk.

In addition there is an active RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD nest along the Nisqually
side where mom was feeding 2 chicks yesterday. A SONG SPARROW got too
close to the nest so mom went to work and ran the intruder off.

The WESTERN TANAGERS and WARBLERS (WOOD and VIREO) were everywhere in the
riparian areas. The SCRUB JAY was seen near the southern pond near the
parking lot and the DOWITCHERS were at the southern end of the pond between the
twin barns and the old McAllister Creek trail.

The BULLOCK'S ORIOLE (male) was in the big leaf maples near the twin barns.
He remained there for 15 minutes or so.

Mammals seen included EASTERN GRAY SQUIRRELS, a MUSKRAT, and a MINK in
front of the Nisqually River overlook.

Until next week...

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