Tweets,

Today 35 of us enjoyed a nice day at Nisqually...once the smoke lifted or
was blown away. Not sure what caused the smoke early on but it was
unpleasant at 7:30.

It was a typical late August day without much going on but we did have some
highlights including GREEN HERON, VIRGINIA RAIL, and WILSON'S SNIPE, as
well as a couple of BAIRD'S SANDPIPERS.

The GREEN HERON was seen from the viewing platform at the visitor center
upon our arrival. It was still there when we commenced the walk. There also
were a three juvenile WOOD DUCKS on the pond.

It was pretty quiet through the orchard but we did get a bit of activity as
we neared the maintenance road across from the education center where we
had WARBLING VIREO, BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEES, and an ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD that
hovered over the gravel road for 5 minutes or more. While watching her I
spotted a juvenile RACCOON resting on a tree branch about 30 feet up in a
cottonwood tree. It looked kind of lost and just stayed curled up as if
waiting for help.

Not much else happened until we got on the estuary dike where we saw 2
AMERICAN KESTRALS perched on different snags. As we watched 2 PEREGRINE
FALCONS flew in and spooked some shorebirds that became a meal for one of
the FALCONS. Both FALCONS flew off toward the Nisqually River and an adult
BALD EAGLE flew the other way. Not sure if the FALCONS kept their catch or
the EAGLE grabbed it. The only thing sure was that the KESTRALS looked
nervous.

Out near the start of the estuary boardwalk we spotted several peeps out on
the mud flats. 2 of them were BAIRD'S SANDPIPERS and we got great
comparative views when a small flock of LEAST SANDPIPERS joined them. We
had KILLDEER flyovers and heard GREATER YELLOWLEGS.

We saw 2 WILSON'S SNIPE and 2 VIRGINIA RAILS in the marsh on the inside of
the dike.

For the day I had 41 species with the GREEN HERON being new for the year,
giving me 140 species for the year to date.

Mammals seen were RACCOON and HARBOR SEAL.

Until next week.....

Phil Kelley
scrubjay323 at gmail.com
Lacey, WA
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