Hi tweeters,

Phil led the walk this week, but is having problems with his computer so here is a short post of Wednesday's walk. Nathanael will also be doing an eBird post that you can check for additional details.

Forty six of us enjoyed another beautiful day of birding at the refuge. High tide was 9' 5" at 12:56pm. Highlights included:

Pair of Common Yellowthroat actively taking food into an unseen nest just of the left side of the landing at the visitor center. An active Northern Flicker nest is in the large topped snag on the left side of the landing. The hole is at the very top and on the south side.

The access road behind the parking lot was fairly active with sightings of Yellow Warbler, Black-headed grosbeak, Brown Creeper and Hairy woodpecker. If you scan to the far south over I-5 you'll see a cell tower. There's an active Osprey nest on top. Richard came across this last week.

The riverside of the boardwalk loop including the riparian overlook was full of birdsong. Sightings included Spotted towhee, Western Wood Pewee, Cedar Waxwing, warbling Vireo, willow flycatcher, Yellow and Wilson's Warbler, and band-tailed pigeons.

The Bullock's Orioles were seen on the crossover portion of the boardwalk leading to the intersection to the twin barns. The cottonwood trees on the north side of the boardwalk is where a nest has been the last couple of years and this continues to be a good area to find the orioles.

Sights off the dike included American Bittern, Blue-winged Teal, Cinnamon Teal and a quick look at a Virginia Rail. As in previous years, the low water on the inside of the dike is a great area for both Sora and Rail.

Until next week, when Phil will lead the walk.

Eric Slagle
Olympia

Sent from my iPad