Hi Tweeters,

A Black Tern in breeding plumage was the nice surprise of today's outing to Nisqually NWR for my group - it was last seen about noon foraging over the freshwater ponds on the south side of the dike trail that leads out to the boardwalk - perhaps it will hang out there for the rest of the day?

Nothing else too surprising on today's outing, but there was at least 1 Yellow-headed Blackbird at the same location as the Tern, a Bullock's Oriole singing near the Twin Barns, flying about was a huge flock (50+) of Red Crossbills (surprisingly to me they were in the treetops of tall cottonwoods), and first-of-the-year-for-me Willow Flycatcher and Swainson's Thrush..

A couple of distant record shots of the Black Tern can be seen at this link to my eBird checklist:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S14241619


Good birding,?
Evan Houston
Seattle, WA