[Tweeters] Wednesday at Nisqually

[Kenneth Brown via Tweeters]

It was cold in the early morning, just above freezing.  Heavy fog limited visibility and somewhat muffled the sound of constant I-5 traffic.  A few Mallards, Bufflehead, and a female Ring-necked duck shared the Visitor’s Center Pond with a River Otter, a V-shaped wake trailing its progress across the pond.   Steve Meyer cheerfully described his sighting (at the south barn) of two Barn Owls at first light to the 30 or so envious birders assembled on the deck to start our tour.
 
In the trees adjacent to the south parking lot, we encountered a mixed flock of Black-capped Chickadees, Golden-crowned Kinglets and Brown Creepers.  In the play area and orchard, we saw Dark-eyed Juncos, Golden-crowned Sparrows, Spotted Towhee, Varied Thrush, American Robin, and Northern Flicker.  Pine Siskins flash mobbed a bare Alder.  Near the Land Trust office, a Red-breasted Sapsucker tended its accustomed harvest trees.  Both Kinglet species, and both Chickadees flitted in the alders south of the side road.  A Sharp-shinned Hawk swooped through the treetops, attempting to snatch a meal and having failed, disappeared in imagined embarrassment. 
 

>From the roads, what was visible of the foggy flooded fields collectively yielded Mallards, Northern Shovelers, American Wigeon, Green-winged Teal, Northern Pintails, a few Gadwall, hundreds of Cackling Geese, a single Wilson’s Snipe, a Downy Woodpecker and a Northern Harrier hunting low over the grass.

 
A Merlin was spotted near the North parking lot, a solo Mourning Dove watched us from a Willow above the SW entrance to the loop trail. Fox Sparrows, and Song Sparrows announced their presence along the trail.  At the Twin Barns Overlook, a variety of the familiar duck species were scanned closely and a few birders provided snacks, including Rob’s Snow Goose sausage.  The circle of life.
 
Out on the dike, visibility still limited, among a few Cananda Geese a bright white adult Snow Goose supervised 3 gray juveniles. (no mention our snack was made) On the freshwater side A Virginia Rail called, a couple of American Coots hung out with the ducks, and a pair of Lincoln’s Sparrows used the cattails as cover.  Another Harrier searched the marsh for prey.  Hundreds of American Wigeon, Green-winged Teal and Northern Pintail occupied the surge plain, along with smaller numbers of other expected species and a single Lesser Scaup.  A large flock of Dunlin allowed a few Western and Least Sandpipers, including one Western with a bad leg or foot hopping on its good leg as it fed along the shoreline. Two Long-billed Dowitchers feeding nearby showed no empathy.
 
When we reached the boardwalk along McAllister Creek the fog began to lift and we could see the forested far shore though not the top of the ridge.  Whisps of fog clung to the water’s surface and eddied with the current.  Scanning a raft of American Wigeon produced one Eurasian Wigeon. Bufflehead, Surf Scoters, Common Goldeneye, Red-Breasted Merganser, a Horned Grebe and a pair of Hooded Mergansers mixed with Harbor Seals in the creek.  Several Greater Yellowlegs and a Spotted Sandpiper patrolled its shores.  From the gated end of the boardwalk, we saw several more Surf Scoters, and Red-breasted Mergansers, and another Horned Grebe, along with a group of California Sea Lions.  Bald Eagles, Double-crested and Brant’s Cormorants and perched Peregrine Falcon were also seen.
 
Returning to the dike the fog continued to lift and a partial blue sky appeared.  We felt the warmth of the sun for the first time.  A large  flock of Pine Siskins swarmed the closest Alders as we approached the treeline.  At the Nisqually River Overlook was a Common Merganser and another Harbor Seal.  We're near the end and this report is already far too long, please see the checklist that follows.
 
Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually NWR, Thurston, Washington, US
Dec 4, 2024 7:50 AM - 4:15 PM
Protocol: Traveling
5.63 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     Wednesday Walk.  Heavy fog in morning limited visibility across the fields, burning off after 12:30 p.m.  Temperatures ranged from 28-36º F, with light 0-5 knot east breeze.  There was a 14.6-foot high tide at 8:34 a.m., ebbing to a +8.77-foot low water at 2:09 p.m.  Mammals seen included an otter at the Visitors' Center pond in the morning and a muskrat there in the afternoon, also: Townsend's Chipmunk, eastern grey squirrel, eastern cottontail, Columbian black-tailed deer, a coyote, Harbor seals in the estuary and the River, and a group of California Sea Lions in Nisqually Reach.
72 species (+7 other taxa)

Snow Goose  4     Adult with 3 immature birds
Greater White-fronted Goose (Western)  26
Cackling Goose  350
Cackling Goose (minima)  865
Cackling Goose (Taverner's)  35
Canada Goose  7
Trumpeter Swan  2
Northern Shoveler  165
Gadwall  24
Eurasian Wigeon  1     Drake in McAllister Creek estuary; seen from boardwalk
American Wigeon  1350
Mallard  175
Northern Pintail  480
Green-winged Teal  850
dabbling duck sp.  1     Described as a 'teal-sized duck with white crescent on face'.
Ring-necked Duck  1     Female at Visitors' Center pond
Lesser Scaup  1     Surge plain
Surf Scoter  75
Bufflehead  60
Common Goldeneye  40
Hooded Merganser  2
Common Merganser  1
Red-breasted Merganser  6
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)  32
Mourning Dove  1     Willow near west boardwalk entrance
Virginia Rail  1     Vocalized from cattail marsh
American Coot  6
Long-billed Dowitcher  2
Wilson's Snipe  1
Spotted Sandpiper  1
Greater Yellowlegs  35
Dunlin  1055
Least Sandpiper  12
Western Sandpiper  5
Short-billed Gull  65
Ring-billed Gull  50
Western x Glaucous-winged Gull (hybrid)  2
Western/Glaucous-winged Gull  6
Pied-billed Grebe  1     Cattail marsh
Horned Grebe  2
Brandt's Cormorant  9     Nisqually Reach channel marker
Double-crested Cormorant  6
cormorant sp.  4
Great Blue Heron  24
Sharp-shinned Hawk  1
Northern Harrier  3
Bald Eagle  16
Red-tailed Hawk (calurus/alascensis)  1
American Barn Owl  2     Seen by Steve M from Twin Barns overlook; entering the boxes at 6:50 & 7:01 a m
Belted Kingfisher  2
Red-breasted Sapsucker  1
Downy Woodpecker (Pacific)  1
Northern Flicker  3
Northern Flicker (Red-shafted)  2
Merlin  1
Peregrine Falcon  1
American Crow  100     Minimum estimate: many vocalizing as they flew over in the fog
Common Raven  1
Black-capped Chickadee  12
Chestnut-backed Chickadee  3
Bushtit (Pacific)  32     two flocks
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  10
Golden-crowned Kinglet  28
Brown Creeper  7
Pacific Wren  5
Marsh Wren  4
Bewick's Wren  9
European Starling  9
Varied Thrush  2
American Robin  12
Purple Finch (Western)  4
Pine Siskin  225
Fox Sparrow (Sooty)  3
Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon)  2     Orchard
Golden-crowned Sparrow  30
Song Sparrow (rufina Group)  23
Lincoln's Sparrow  3
Spotted Towhee (oregonus Group)  4
Red-winged Blackbird  4

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S204527150
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/pipermail/tweeters/attachments/20241205/e9b1fc97/attachment.html>