Tweets,

Today proved the "dog days of August" are a myth. We had a fabulous day at Nisqually with a lot of the action at the start of the walk. 40+ of us enjoyed great weather and great birds. We had a 10.9 high tide at 9:11 so we hustled out to the reclamation area and the estuary boardwalk to catch what water we could...another great decision!

First off, at the visitor center we saw female WESTERN TANAGERS. While scoping them out a GREEN HERON flew in and proceeded foraging. Then a WESTERN SCRUBJAY flew in and gave everyone great looks. Oh! We also had a small mixed flock that included a female BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER. Then it was off to "find something good".

Along the way we picked up WOOD DUCK, PIED-BILLED GREBE, BUSHTIT, DOWNEY WOODPECKER, YELLOW WARBLER, and SONG SPARROW. Out at the turn off to the twin barns we saw ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD, WILLOW FLYCATCHER, and WESTERN WOOD PEEWEE.

Out on the new dike we found the LONG-BILLED CURLEWS among a flock of small shorebirds out in the reclamation area. Among the smaller shorebirds we found lots of WESTERN and LEAST SANDPIPERS and a SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER and a couple of BAIRD'S SANDPIPERS. KILLDEER and SEMIPALMATED PLOVER were also seen.

Raptors seen included BALD EAGLE, OSPREY, RED-TAILED HAWK, COOPER'S HAWK, AMERICAN KESTRAL, and a PEREGRINE FALCON.

Out at the end of the estuary boardwalk we added PURPLE MARTIN and BRANDT'S CORMORANT to the day's list.

For the day I saw 56 species and now have 132 for the year. Mammals seen included BLACK-TAILED DEER, HARBOR SEAL, and COTTONTAILED RABBIT.

Until next week when Shep and Eric will lead in my absence....

Phil Kelley
scrubjay323 at aol.com
Lacey, WA