Tweets,

25 of us enjoyed a great walk at Nisqually yesterday. We had partly
sunny skies and highs in the upper 40s with light wind. There was an
11.5 foot high tide at 11:49 so there was water in the surge plain.

There were several highlights including RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER,
HUTTON'S VIREOS, 3 kinds of SWALLOWS, VIRGINIA RAIL, and SORA.

The RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER was over near the Nisqually Land Trust
office just off the trail at eye level giving everyone great views.

There were 3 HUTTON'S VIREOS, 1 in the orchard that was a bit
difficult to see and then 2 near the start of the boardwalk the
provided good looks for all as they chased each other around.

The VIRGINIA RAIL was spotted outside the boardwalk toward the twin
barns eating a small frog. It stayed in view for 10 or more minutes.
While we were watching it someone yelled SORA! It was seen inside the
boardwalk 10 yards away moving along the weed line. Most folks got
good looks at it.

Most of the SWALLOWS we saw were TREE SWALLOWS, with a couple of
VIOLET-GREENS thrown in. BARN SWALLOWS were seen over the pond south
of the twin barns and along the estuary dike.

We also had a MERLIN in the Doug Fir behind the visitor center.

For the day I had 50 species and now have 67 for the year. The only
mammal I saw was a GRAY SQUIRREL.

Until next week....

Phil Kelley
scrubjay323 at gmail.com
Lacey, WA