[Tweeters] Wednesday Walk for Billy Frank Jr NWR for 8/28/2024

[Shep Thorp via Tweeters]

Hi Tweets,

We had a gorgeous summer day at the Refuge with chilly morning temperatures
in the 40's and upwards of 70's degrees Fahrenheit in the afternoon.  There
was a High 12'7" Tide at 4:10pm which made for a very fun day on the
Nisqually Estuary Dike and Boardwalk Trails with the incoming tide.
Highlights included very nice up close looks of busy migrating warblers,
ORANGE-CROWNED, WILSON'S, YELLOW, COMMON YELLOWTHROAT and BLACK-THROATED
GRAY in the Orchard and along the west side of the Twin Barns Loop Trail.
We also had 'adjacent to the boards' looks of WILSON'S SNIPE, SEMIPALMATED
SANDPIPER, WESTERN SANDPIPER, LEAST SANDPIPER, SEMIPALMATED PLOVER and
LESSER YELLOWLEGS.  In the morning there was an intriguing report of a
BOBOLINK off the dike with a flight call recording in our eBird report.  We
have seen this species in years before in October, but I would not be
surprised if this species is overlooked with all the LBJ's flitting
around.  Check out our eBird report for details and awesome photos of the
SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER.

For the day we observed 83 species with nothing new for the year (165 ticks
thus far for '24).  Cool mammal sightings included Columbian Black-tailed
Deer, Coyote, Townsend's Chipmunk and Muskrat.

Until next week when we meet again at 8am at the Visitor Center Pond
Overlook, happy birding.

Shep

-- 
Shep Thorp
Browns Point
253-370-3742

Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually NWR, Thurston, Washington, US
Aug 28, 2024 6:56 AM - 4:56 PM
Protocol: Traveling
6.0 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     Wednesday Walk.  Partly cloudy in the morning,
sunny by late morning and afternoon with temperatures in the 40’s to 70’s
degrees Fahrenheit. A Low -0’4” Tide at 7:49am and a High 12’7” Tide at
4:10 pm. Mammals seen Columbian Black-tailed Deer, Eastern Cotton-tailed
Rabbit, Townsend’s Chipmunk, Eastern Gray Squirrel, Coyote, Harbor Seal and
Muskrat. Others seen Pacific Tree Frog, and Red-eared Slider.
83 species (+5 other taxa)

Canada Goose (moffitti/maxima)  20
Wood Duck  7
Cinnamon Teal  1     Freshwater Marsh
Northern Shoveler  7
Gadwall  1
American Wigeon  4
Mallard  200
Northern Pintail  250     More than 5 groups of 50 birds fly in with
incoming tide.
Hooded Merganser  2
Common Merganser  7     Mouth of Madrone Slough from Puget Sound
Observation Platform and also from Nisqually River Overlook.
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)  40
Band-tailed Pigeon  1
Mourning Dove  3     Orchard.
Anna's Hummingbird  10
Rufous Hummingbird  2
Virginia Rail  2     Freshwater marsh
American Coot  1
Killdeer  1     Entrance gate slough.
Semipalmated Plover  4     Nisqually Boardwalk Trail
Whimbrel  1     McAllister Creek Observation Platform.
Long-billed Dowitcher  3     Spotted by Heather from the McAllister Creek
Observation Platform.
Wilson's Snipe  2     Visitor Center Pond.
Spotted Sandpiper  1     West bank of McAllister Creek
Lesser Yellowlegs  3     McAllister Creek
Greater Yellowlegs  20
Baird's Sandpiper  2     Spotted by Jason on mudflats west of Leschi Slough.
Least Sandpiper  200
Western Sandpiper  400
Semipalmated Sandpiper  1     Great looks mixed in with Western and Least
Sandpiper along Nisqually Estuary Boardwalk Trail. Photos.
Bonaparte's Gull  1     Confluence of McAllister Creek and Shannon Slough
from McAllister Creek Viewing Platform.
Short-billed Gull  2     Spotted by Ken, mixed in with Ring-billed Gulls
along Nisqually Estuary Boardwalk Trail.
Ring-billed Gull  175
California Gull  1
Glaucous-winged Gull  5
Western x Glaucous-winged Gull (hybrid)  10
Western/Glaucous-winged Gull  35
Larus sp.  200
Caspian Tern  4
Brandt's Cormorant  3     Nisqually River Channel Marker.
Double-crested Cormorant  50
Great Blue Heron  60
Osprey  3
Cooper's Hawk  1     Twin Barns area.
Bald Eagle  9
Belted Kingfisher  4
Red-breasted Sapsucker  1     Visitor Center Pond Overlook early morning.
Downy Woodpecker  2
Northern Flicker  3
American Kestrel  2     Surge plain.
Peregrine Falcon  3     One young bird, two adults. Hunting peeps.
Willow Flycatcher  1
Western Flycatcher (Pacific-slope)  1
Warbling Vireo (Western)  2
Steller's Jay  2     Heard by Guy west bank of McAllister Creek.
American Crow  30
Common Raven  4
Black-capped Chickadee  25
Chestnut-backed Chickadee  6
Violet-green Swallow  1     Spotted by Jon
Tree/Violet-green Swallow  1
Purple Martin  10
Northern Rough-winged Swallow  1     Spotted by Guy along the dike.
Barn Swallow  30
Bushtit  50     Three groups of birds observed. One in Orchard, one along
the west entrance to Twin Barns Loop Trail, the other at the Riparian
Forest Overlook.
Red-breasted Nuthatch  2     Heard West Bank of McAllister Creek.
Brown Creeper  4
Pacific Wren  1     Heard and seen by Don early morning before walk
Marsh Wren  2     Heard and seen by Jon in freshwater marsh.
Bewick's Wren  4
European Starling  400
Swainson's Thrush  6
American Robin  3
Cedar Waxwing  25
Purple Finch  2     West end of west parking lot.
Pine Siskin  1     Cut off to Twin Barns.
American Goldfinch  11
Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon)  2     Heard by Guy McWethy in Orchard.
Savannah Sparrow  8
Song Sparrow  17
Spotted Towhee  1
Red-winged Blackbird  15
Brown-headed Cowbird  10
Orange-crowned Warbler (lutescens)  5
Common Yellowthroat  15
Yellow Warbler (Northern)  4
Black-throated Gray Warbler  1     Spotted by Danielle and Daniel adjacent
to Green Gate across from entrance to Education Center.
Wilson's Warbler  6
bird sp.  1     Possible Bobolink heard and seen by Jason in the morning
along the Nisqually Estuary Trail where Leschi Slough runs parallel to the
trail. Bird flew from the tidal side to the freshwater slide.

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S193176979
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