Dear Tweets,

we had great weather yesterday for our Wednesday Walk with sunny skies and
temperatures in the 30's to 50's degrees Fahrenheit. There was a Low
7.83ft Tide at 9:35am and a High 12.14ft Tide at 1:51pm. Highlights
included good numbers and singing HUTTON'S VIREO, re-found and showy
RED-SHOULDERED HAWK, nesting BALD EAGLEs, transient TREE SWALLOWs, high
count LEAST SANDPIPER with WESTERN SANDPIPER in the mix, and GREAT HORNED
OWL.

Starting out at the Visitor Center Pond Overlook at 8am, we had nice looks
of RING-NECKED DUCK, GADWALL, BUFFLEHEAD, and HOODED MERGANSER.

The Orchard was fairly active with good sightings of BLACK-CAPPED
CHICKADEE, BROWN CREEPER, RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET, GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET, and
DOWNY WOODPECKER. There were several HUTTON'S VIREOS singing in the area
and we got good looks of at least three individuals, one perched and
preened and provided great observation for 5 minutes. Other species seen
included GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW.

The flooded fields along the Access Road south and west were great for
CACKLING GEESE, NORTHERN SHOVELER, NORTHERN PINTAIL, AMERICAN WIGEON,
GREEN-WINGED TEAL, MALLARD and AMERICAN COOT. Eric re-found our
RED-SHOULDERED HAWK in the tree line along the restricted central access
road in between the old McAllister Creek Road and the Twin Barns. The hawk
was observed perched, hunting and flying providing great looks at
approximately 1/8th mile distance. Since seeing this bird in December,
it's plumage has changed and looks much more adult with red-brown coverts
over the carpi giving a "red-shouldered" appearance. As well, the barring
on the tail and wings is more contrasted than previously seen. As the bird
flew from the hunting grounds to the stand southeast of the access road,
the white translucent crescents of the primaries were prominent and flashy,
helping to demonstrate the more rapid and shallower wing beat of this small
buteo in contrast to the many Red-tailed Hawk at the Refuge. I suspect
that with the warmer weather, the Garter Snakes are sun bathing adjacent to
all our access roads and dikes, providing a improved source of prey for the
Red-shouldered Hawk, in contrast to the very cold and wet weather of late
December, January and early February, were this individual might need to
hunt elsewhere...

The Twin Barns Loop Trail was good for PIED-BILLED GREBE, SPOTTED TOWHEE,
PACIFIC WREN, MARSH WREN and DOWNY WOODPECKER. Its been a couple weeks
since we have seen any Sora or Virginia Rail south of the cut-off to the
Twin Barns.

The Twin Barns Overlook has had some recent work with pressure washing and
the removal of some Alder Trees north across the slough. This allows for
improved visibility onto the surge plain and much better traction for
walking. We had great looks of SONG SPARROW, FOX SPARROW, and additional
Northern Pintail, Green Winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, American Wigeon and
American Coot. We have not been able to relocate the Eurasian Green-winged
Teal seen a few weeks ago.

Out on the new dike or Nisqually Estuary Trail, a pair of BALD EAGLES from
the south nest sites along McAllister Creek are building a new nest in a
tall Cottonwood along the Nisqually River northeast of the surge plain.
Without leaves, the looks are golden right now, as the pair bonds and
steadfastly reinforces their new "chosen" nest site. Depending on the
tides, best observed between 9ft to 12ft, the surge plain is great for
GREATER YELLOWLEGS, DUNLIN, RING-BILLED GULL, MEW GULL, GREEN-WINGED TEAL,
AMERICAN WIGEON, GADWALL and NORTHERN SHOVELER. In general, the Norther
Shoveler and Northern Pintail tend to prefer the fresh water flooded fields
over the estuary, but depending on the water level, good numbers of
shovelers can be seen in the surge plain and pintail are seen in the
flooded mudflats west of Leschi Slough. Green winged Teal and American
Wigeon prefer the tidally influenced areas and number vary depending on the
tides. In general, as birds begin to migrate, we might be seeing the
beginning in decline of our winter resident numbers as they take flight
north. We also had great looks at NORTHERN HARRIER, WESTERN MEADOWLARK x
2, and approximately 4 TREE SWALLOWS flew overhead. A lot of MARSH WREN
are very active in the fresh water marsh, as well RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD. We
may have seen a LINCOLN'S SPARROW along the outside of the dike as we
walked along.

The Nisqually Estuary Boardwalk Trail is also having work done. As many of
you already know, our new longer bridge (from 45ft to 140ft) is in place
over the tributary channel from the mud flats to Shannon Slough. As well,
the photo blind is gone and replaced by an observation deck, to prevent
misuse of this space. From the boards, we had very nice looks of COMMON
GOLDENEYE, BUFFLEHEAD, SURF SCOTER, DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT, RED-BREASTED
MERGANSER, COMMON MERGANSER, HOODED MERGANSER and BELTED KINGFISHER. The
incoming high tide of 12ft at 1:50pm, while we walked 12p-2p, was perfect
for counting and evaluating high counts of LEAST SANDPIPER approximately
400. From the Observation Tower at the start, to the Puget Sound Viewing
Platform at the terminus, Least Sandpipers were everywhere at the waters
edge. Motivated to find something rare, we picked out 5 WESTERN SANDPIPERs
and 1 DUNLIN in the mix. I suspect this high count is reflective of early
migrants arriving at the Refuge, but I don't know... From the Puget Sound
Viewing Platform we observed good numbers of BLACK BRANT, BRANDT'S
CORMORANT, COMMON LOON, RED-THROATED LOON, HORNED GREBE, GREATER SCAUP,
GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL, "OLYMPIC" GULL, and many GREAT BLUE HERONS.

On our return, we picked up GREAT HORNED OWL in a large Y shaped Cottonwood
Tree on the inside of the Twin Barns Loop Trail, east side, across from the
"beaver deceiver dam". Only one adult has been seen with no evidence of
young this year, yet...

We observed 66 species and have 91 species for the year. Early spring is
in the air with the arrival of Tree Swallows and singing Hutton's Vireos.
Mammals seen include Eastern Gray Squirrel, and Harbor Seal. Several
Garter Snakes were observed and frogs were croaking.

Until next Wednesday when we will do it all over again, happy birding!

Shep and the Wednesday Walk

--
Shep Thorp
Browns Point
253-370-3742
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