Hi Tweets,

thirty of us enjoyed a very birdy morning at the Refuge with mostly cloudy
skies and temperatures in the 60's degrees Fahrenheit. We had a Low -1'10"
Tide just after 12 noon, so few shorebirds were visible. We decided to not
walk out to the end of the boardwalk, and missed seeing some species that
congregate at the mouth of McAllister Creek at low tide like Great Blue
Heron and Double-crested Cormorant.

Below is our eBird report, for the complete species list.

The Visitor Center Pond Overlook provided great views of CINNAMON TEAL,
HOODED MERGANSER, COMMON MERGANSER, BARN SWALLOW, CLIFF SWALLOW and
NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW.

The Flooded Fields west of the Access Road had plenty of TREE SWALLOW,
COMMON YELLOWTHROAT, SAVANNAH SPARROW, and AMERICAN GOLDFINCH to enjoy.

The riparian forest and edge habitat along the Twin Barns Loop Trail were
hopping with SWAINSON'S THRUSH, YELLOW WARBLER and BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK.
VAUX'S SWIFT overhead, RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD, MARSH WREN, WILLOW FLYCATCHER,
BULLOCK'S ORIOLE, BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE, and BEWICK'S WREN were also
seen. The best place for seeing the Willow Flycatcher, Rufous Hummingbird
and Bullock's Oriole are all in the area of the Twin Barns cut-off. The
Riparian Forest cut-off is a very good place to find WESTERN WOOD-PEWEE,
CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEE, WILSON'S WARBLER, and BLACK-THROATED GRAY
WARBLER. The Riparian Forest Overlook has a beautiful BUSHTIT NEST on the
right hand side of the trail, this was a good place to hear BROWN CREEPER
and PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHER.

The Twin Barns Overlook is still an excellent place to observe waterfowl,
as well the new dike or Nisqually Estuary Trail. We had great views of
CINNAMON TEAL and BLUE-WINGED TEAL. As we took our time we would find one
or two NORTHERN SHOVELER, NORTHERN PINTAIL, GREEN-WINGED TEAL and
RING-NECKED DUCK.

There are lots of babies on the fresh water side of the Nisqually Estuary
Trail, also Bullfrogs, tadpoles and Mink! VIRGINIA RAIL and AMERICAN
BITTERN were heard in the cattails. A female YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD
persists in the vicinity.

The BALD EAGLE nest south of the McAllister Creek Viewing Platform is
active with at leas two juvenile eagles, all brown now. Nathanael spotted
a Barn Swallow and Tree Swallow playing mid air pick up with down feather,
each species grabbing the feather mid air, then releasing it, as they
showed off their catch and release skills. We were impressed and
interested to see two different species interacting in this way.

72 species for the day. American Beaver, Cotton-tailed Rabbit, Eastern
Gray Squirrel, and Mink were mammals seen.

Until next week, good birding!

Shep Thorp
Browns Point
sthorp at theaec.com
253-370-3742
Canada Goose (moffitti/maxima) (Branta canadensis moffitti/maxima) 100
Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) 9
Gadwall (Anas strepera) 15
American Wigeon (Anas americana) 1
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 175
Blue-winged Teal (Anas discors) 4
Cinnamon Teal (Anas cyanoptera) 12
Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata) 1
Northern Pintail (Anas acuta) 1
Green-winged Teal (American) (Anas crecca carolinensis) 1
Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris) 1
Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus) 25
Common Merganser (Mergus merganser) 1
Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps) 1
American Bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus) 1
Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) 2
Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) 1
Cooper's Hawk (Accipiter cooperii) 1
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) 9
Red-tailed Hawk (Western) (Buteo jamaicensis calurus) 3
Virginia Rail (Rallus limicola) 2
American Coot (Fulica americana) 1
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) 2
Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius) 3
Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca) 1
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) 30
Glaucous-winged Gull (Larus glaucescens) 4
Caspian Tern (Hydroprogne caspia) 10
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) (Columba livia (Domestic type)) 3
Band-tailed Pigeon (Patagioenas fasciata) 9
Eurasian Collared-Dove (Streptopelia decaocto) 2
Vaux's Swift (Chaetura vauxi) 5
Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus) 10
Hairy Woodpecker (Picoides villosus) 1
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) 1
Western Wood-Pewee (Contopus sordidulus) 4
Willow Flycatcher (Empidonax traillii) 2
Pacific-slope Flycatcher (Empidonax difficilis) 3
Warbling Vireo (Vireo gilvus) 3
American/Northwestern Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos/caurinus) 10
Common Raven (Corvus corax) 1
Northern Rough-winged Swallow (Stelgidopteryx serripennis) 10
Purple Martin (Progne subis) 1
Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) 100
Violet-green Swallow (Tachycineta thalassina) 5
Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) 35
Cliff Swallow (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) 100
Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) 4
Chestnut-backed Chickadee (Poecile rufescens) 1
Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus) 2
Brown Creeper (Certhia americana) 3
Marsh Wren (Cistothorus palustris) 10
Bewick's Wren (Thryomanes bewickii) 1
Swainson's Thrush (Catharus ustulatus) 25
American Robin (Turdus migratorius) 25
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) 300
Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum) 100
Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas) 10
Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia) 20
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata) 1
Black-throated Gray Warbler (Setophaga nigrescens) 2
Wilson's Warbler (Cardellina pusilla) 3
Spotted Towhee (Pacific) (Pipilo maculatus [oregonus Group]) 2
Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis) 15
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) 17
Western Tanager (Piranga ludoviciana) 1
Black-headed Grosbeak (Pheucticus melanocephalus) 15
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) 50
Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta) 1
Yellow-headed Blackbird (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus) 1
Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater) 30
Bullock's Oriole (Icterus bullockii) 3
American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis) 10

View this checklist online at
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S18602356
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