Subject: [Tweeters] Nisqually NWR, Apr 23, 2014
Date: Apr 24 14:40:29 2014
From: hannaslagle at comcast.net - hannaslagle at comcast.net


Hi Tweeters,
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Nineteen of us had another great day of birding in?typical April weather.? A very strong cold wind chased a number of folks off the dike and back to warmer and calmer areas of the refuge.? Russ and several other hardy souls completed the entire boardwalk and ended their walk at 4pm.? Low tide was 5' 5" at 7:57am.? High tide was 10' 2" at 12:57pm.
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There continues to be a variety of waterfowl on the refuge.? American Coots are also in relatively large number and we expect at least some to again nest on the refuge.? We had large numbers of swallow, mostly Tree, Violet-green, and Barn feeding low throughout the refuge both inside and outside the dike.? Yellow-rumped Warblers were everywhere.? An American White Pelican was reported early in the morning and we had the good fortune to see it too.
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Key sightings and the eBird report submitted by Russ are listed below and include sightings from both the early?and late group.
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Yellow-headed Blackbird:? far south side of the pond behind the parking lot.
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Vaux Swift:? FOY, mixed in with the swallows on both the access road to the twin barns and the barn overlook.
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Osprey:? flying north along McAllister Creek.
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Sora:? FOY, heard off the boardwalk heading to the twin barns.
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American White Pelican:? from the barn overlook flying across the refuge and landing in the ponded area on the inside of the dike.
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Greater White-fronted Goose:? flying over the refuge and landing in the pond inside the dike.
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Virginia? Rail:? several were heard on the outside of the dike near the access road intersection.
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Dunlin, ?Western Sandpiper and Least Sandpiper:? far out in the mud?flats outside of the dike and a few aLeast Sandpiper at the start of the boardwalk.? A small flock of Dunlin was also seen over the ponds of the west side of the boardwalk loop.
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Perigrine Falcon:? flying across the tidelands and McAllister Creek.
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Common Raven:? flying over the dike near the boardwalk.
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Great Horned Owl:? adult and two immature in alder on the riverside of the boardwalk.
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Bald Eagle at Nest:? West side of McAllister Creek off boardwalk.
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Brant Goose:? edge of refuge from end of boardwalk.
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Greater Yellowlegs:? from the boardwalk, mostly in grassy areas.
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Black-bellied Plover:? from the boardwalk.
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Caspian Tern:? flying over boardwalk, McAllister Creek.
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Total Species 75
Mammals:? Rabbit
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Good birding until next week when Phil and Shep return.
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Eric Slagle
Olympia

eBird Report - Nisqually NWR, Apr 23, 2014


75 species (+3 other taxa)

Greater White-fronted Goose? 27

Brant? 250

Cackling Goose? 500

Canada Goose? 90

Wood Duck? 11

Gadwall? 90

American Wigeon? 130

Mallard? 95

Cinnamon Teal? 14

Northern Shoveler? 220

Northern Pintail? 50

Green-winged Teal (American)? 225

Ring-necked Duck? 16

Greater Scaup? 50

Surf Scoter? 75

Bufflehead? 37

Common Goldeneye? 2???? immature was puzzling, considered as hybrid but determined to be 1st winter bird.

Hooded Merganser? 15

Red-breasted Merganser? 10

Common Loon? 1

Pied-billed Grebe? 4

Brandt's Cormorant? 2

Double-crested Cormorant? 12

Pelagic Cormorant? 10

American White Pelican? 1???? large, distinctive bird; white body/wings, black tips; breeding season large "knob" on upper mandible; spotted several times by all attendees, first flying over McAlister and then again in freshwater ponds south of Inner Dike trail

Great Blue Heron? 15

Osprey? 1

Northern Harrier? 3

Bald Eagle? 10

Red-tailed Hawk (Western)? 1

Virginia Rail? 2???? "gi dik" heard repeatedly from 2 locations concurrently by multiple attendees, north of Inner Dike trail near road for picnic area

Sora? 1???? "kooeee" call heard several times by several attendees from SE corner of large pond between McAlister Creek road and Twin Barns pond

American Coot? 90

Black-bellied Plover? 4???? 3 in full breeding plumage, 4th nearing complete

Greater Yellowlegs? 29???? 25 of these were atop the grasslands north of boardwalk between it and McAlister, tightly grouped together and otherwise hard to detect except for "giveaways" nearby on mud.

Least Sandpiper? 135

Western Sandpiper? 350

Mew Gull? 27

Ring-billed Gull? 45

Glaucous-winged Gull? 2

Western x Glaucous-winged Gull (hybrid)?

12 gull sp.? 50

Caspian Tern? 8

Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)? 3

Band-tailed Pigeon? 1

Great Horned Owl? 3

Vaux's Swift? 12

Rufous Hummingbird? 13

Belted Kingfisher? 2

Northern Flicker (Red-shafted)? 1

Peregrine Falcon? 1

American Crow? 20

Common Raven? 8

Northern Rough-winged Swallow? 4

Tree Swallow? 450

Violet-green Swallow? 500

Barn Swallow? 300???? surprisingly sparse early in the day, most found out over estuary flood plain's mud and later (2-3 PM) commingled with Tree, VG, and a few Cliffs over freshwater ponds.

Cliff Swallow? 80

Black-capped Chickadee? 6

Bushtit (Pacific)? 1???? nest observed off riparian-Nisqually river spur boardwalk

Pacific Wren? 2

Marsh Wren? 14

Ruby-crowned Kinglet? 1

American Robin? 30

European Starling? 50

American Pipit? 1

Common Yellowthroat? 8

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)? 50

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's)? 300

Savannah Sparrow? 21

Song Sparrow? 11

Lincoln's Sparrow? 1

Golden-crowned Sparrow? 7

Red-winged Blackbird? 50

Yellow-headed Blackbird? 1

Brown-headed Cowbird? 11

House Finch? 2

American Goldfinch? 3

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View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S18057066

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This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 ( http://ebird.org )