Tweets,

Today 26 of us enjoyed a brisk day at Nisqually. We didn't have much rain
but it sure got windy out on the estuary dike and boardwalk. We had a 10.3
high tide at 1:33 PM so the incoming tide should have helped bring
shorebirds in, but the strong wind kept them hunkered down.

It was a relatively quiet day without much activity and not many of any one
species, except YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS, mostly AUDUBON'S. There is lots of
water on the refuge so waterfowl are scattered throughout.

FOYs for me were RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRDS and a TURKEY VULTURE out at the mouth
of the Nisqually River.

We still have the one GREAT HORNED OWL sitting guard on the presumed nest
tree with no other indication of nestlings. Not a good sign to be doing
that this long.

One highlight was watching 3 HOODED MERGANSERS discussing relationships
near the star of the boardwalk. One male and the female were both chasing
away the second male who apparently didn't get the message, even when the
female went after him. Other waterfowl are pairing up also.

I managed to miss the BARN SWALLOW and NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW that
some people saw but I'll catch them later.

For the day I had 42 species and now have 76 for the year. The only mammal
I was were a couple of COTTON-TAILED RABBITS.

Until next week.....

Phil Kelley
scrubjay323 at gmail.com
Lacey, WA
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