Tweets,

35 of us enjoyed a great walk at Nisqually Wednesday morning. It was
sunny and warm and we had a low 1.6 ft tide at 11:59. I had to leave
by 11:00 so I missed the mud out in the reclamation area.

Highlights included CHIPPING SPARROW, WHITE PELICAN, CINNAMON TEAL,
and PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHER.

The CHIPPING SPARROW was seen in the orchard near the junction of the
entrance road and the road to the maintenance area. It is the first
CHIPPING SPARROW I've seen since 2007.

Six WHITE PELICANS were ketteling over McAllister Creek and afforded
good looks for all.

We saw a couple of CINNAMON TEAL throughout the refuge, mostly along
the grassy edges of the shrinking ponds.

The PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHER was in the thicket just before the second
overlook on the way to the twin barns.

We had several WILSON'S SNIPE by the pond between the entrance road
and the riparian area across from the visitor center. We also saw our
first mixed flock of shorebirds on the back of the grassy pond south
of the twin barns. Here we got good scope views of GREATER YELLOWLEGS,
DUNLIN (some with their black bellies), and LEAST SANDPIPERS. We also
saw KILLDEER in that area.

While searching the pond across from the parking lot we had a jay
flyover. Both STELLER'S JAYS and WESTERN SCRUBJAYS, about half dozen
each flew from inside the boardwalk out toward I-5. First time I've
seen that many of either on the refuge.

Still waiting for the warbler influx but still I had 52 species doing
just the boardwalk. I now have 112 species for the year.

Mammals seen included BLACK-TAILED DEER and COTTON-TAILED RABBIT.

Until next week Shep and Eric will lead......

Phil Kelley
scrubjay323 at gmail.com
Lacey, WA