[Tweeters] Wednesday at Nisqually

[Kenneth Brown via Tweeters]

The vagaries of birding are part of what makes the avocation so captivating.  You go to the same location, at the same time of day, week after week, and while there are constants, it's a different experience every time.  It was cold, like last week. Foggy at the start but it dissipated swiftly.  A recent constant, Steve again trekked out to the barns before daybreak and saw two Barn Owls as they returned to their roost.  He heard them "scream" at each other in greeting.  A fine way to start his day of birding. Mallards, a female Bufflehead, and a pair of Hooded Mergansers occupied the Visitor Center Pond.
 
The birds were quiet as we started our usual route, most prominent were Crows overhead, most flying westerly as expected when they leave their roost.  Some of us got a quick glimpse of a silent Barred Owl as it flew behind the Education Center and out of sight. A solo Raven watched from the top of a bare tree near the Maintenance compound.  The play area and the orchard had much less bird activity than last week, though the visibility was much better. 
 
The flooded fields were much the same as last week, with Cackling Geese, Mallards, American Wigeon, Northern Shovelers, Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, a few Gadwall, three Wilson's Snipe, an American Coot, and a hunting Northern Harrier making low passes over the grass.  A Bald Eagle passed overhead inciting a brief flurry of airborne anxiety among the waterfowl that settled back to ground quickly when the instigator moved on.  From the service road, Ellen spotted a Pileated Woodpecker that landed in a big maple and went to work hammering a dead limb more than long enough for us all to get great scope views.
 
The west half of the loop trail produced Golden-crowned and Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Black-capped and Chestnut-backed Chickadees, Spotted Towhee, Brown Creeper, Golden-crowned, Fox, Song, and Lincoln's Sparrows.  Also, Bushtits, Bewick's and Pacific Wrens, Downy Woodpecker, and Northern Flicker.  In the maple grove at the Twin Barns were a single Hairy Woodpecker and Red-breasted Sapsucker, plus European Starlings, more Creepers, Chickadees and Kinglets along with Orange-crowned Warblers.  From the Twin Barns platform along with the expected duck species, Jason pointed out Long-billed Dowitchers mingling with the Pintail, Jon found a young Northern Shrike in the top of an Alder, the first Shrike of the season for this walk.  A small flock of Purple finch competed with larger numbers of Pine Siskin for space in the Alders north of the platform.
 
On the dike appeared a couple more Lincoln's Sparrows, a small flock of House Finch, Red-tailed Hawk, Northern Harrier, Red-winged Blackbirds, Song Sparrows, and Marsh Wrens. The same four Snow Geese hung out on the dike, separate from Cackling Geese. A coot, a female Hooded Merganser, and a Eurasian Wigeon were found among the other ducks, and a Virginia Rail called from the cattails.  On the surge plain were numerous ducks, flocks of Dunlin and Least Sandpipers, a couple of Western Sandpipers and Greater Yellowlegs scattered singly or in small groups.
 
We started out on the estuary boardwalk near peak high tide.  At 14.8 ' above MSL, no mud was visible, only the boardwalk was dry.  American Wigeon were the most numerous species, they were joined by Common Goldeneye, Bufflehead, and Surf Scoters.  Our attention was quickly drawn to a lot of thrashing and splashing in the creek, we watched California Sea Lions and Harbor Seals catching and eating Chum Salmon in several places along the creek. Flurries of gulls circled over each site and dipped to the waters surface to snatch untended chunks.  Farther out we  found 2 Spotted Sandpipers on the far shore.  From the gated end we located Common Loons, Horned Grebes, Red-breasted Mergansers, more Common Goldeneye, Bufflehead, and Surf Scoters.  Double-crested and Brant's Cormorants were also seen as well as a small flock of Bonaparte's Gulls. When we started back towards the dike, the tide had turned and the water had receded enough to expose  shore line very near the boardwalk.  Splashing on the waters edge drew us to a strange sight, what looked at first glance like wings slapping the water were in fact the pectoral fins of a Spotted Ratfish, normally a deep water species.  It had large  eyes that appeared in the ambient light to be a luminescent green.  Closer in on the west side we saw a large healthy looking Chum Salmon trapped in a shallow pool apparently stranded as the tide receded, probably having run to the shallow water to avoid the marauding pinnipeds. (I had to look that up).
 
At the Nisqually River overlook were more Sea Lions and Harbor Seals after more salmon, a couple Common Mergansers, and a Great Blue Heron perched high in a tree on the far shore.  The sun had gone below the horizon and the chill in the air deepened as we walked the east half of the loop trail, mostly bird free, and returned to the Visitors Center Deck to go over the day's tally.  While we talked the little birds fell silent as a Sharp-shinned hawk landed in at tree on the north side.  A punctuation mark to end another Wednesday Walk.  See the following checklist:

Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually NWR, Thurston, Washington, US
Dec 11, 2024 7:55 AM - 4:19 PM
Protocol: Traveling
5.54 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     Wednesday Walk. Light fog and thin high clouds in morning soon gave way to clear skies for the remainder of the walk, with temperatures ranging from 34-46º F, with light 0-5 knot southerly breeze. There was a +5.7-foot low tide at 7:23 a.m., flooding to a +14.9-foot high water at 1:20 p.m. Mammals seen included eastern grey squirrel, Columbian black-tailed deer, Harbor seals in the estuary and the River, and a several California Sea Lions foraging on winter chum salmon in McAllister Creek and the River.  Of interest was a chum salmon stranded by the tide along the Estuary Boardwalk and a lethargic Spotted Ratfish (Hydrolagus colliei) also seen from the Estuary Boardwalk.
71 species (+6 other taxa)

Snow Goose  4     Continuing; Adult with 3 immature birds
Cackling Goose  175
Cackling Goose (minima)  625     No Taverner's Cacklers identified today
Northern Shoveler  195
Gadwall  32
Eurasian Wigeon  3
American Wigeon  1465
Mallard  145
Northern Pintail  715
Green-winged Teal  1100
Surf Scoter  65     About 12 in McAllister Creek; remainder in Nisqually Reach
Bufflehead  175
Common Goldeneye  58
Hooded Merganser  3
Common Merganser  2     Nisqually River Overlook
Red-breasted Merganser  35
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)  7
Virginia Rail  1     Vocalizing from cattail marsh
American Coot  2
Long-billed Dowitcher  12
Wilson's Snipe  3
Spotted Sandpiper  2     West bank of McAllister Creek
Greater Yellowlegs  45
Dunlin  1150
Least Sandpiper  95
Western Sandpiper  2
Bonaparte's Gull  16     Flying north over Nisqually Reach near mouth of river
Short-billed Gull  35
Ring-billed Gull  55
Western x Glaucous-winged Gull (hybrid)  65
Western/Glaucous-winged Gull  40
Larus sp.  40
Horned Grebe  2     Nisqually Reach
Common Loon  2     Nisqually Reach
Brandt's Cormorant  11     Nisqually Reach Channel marker
Double-crested Cormorant  6
Great Blue Heron  22
Sharp-shinned Hawk  1     Passing view in morning.  Perched at Visitors' Center at dusk
Cooper's Hawk  1
Northern Harrier  3
Bald Eagle  12     Several 'courtship' flights by at least 3 pairs
Red-tailed Hawk (calurus/alascensis)  3
American Barn Owl  2     Seen by Steve M & Jason Z at 7:08 at the South Barn
Barred Owl  1     Behind the Environmental Ed Center
Red-breasted Sapsucker  1
Downy Woodpecker (Pacific)  4
Hairy Woodpecker (Pacific)  2
Pileated Woodpecker  1     Female at the eagle nest tree near the Twin Barns
Northern Flicker  3
Northern Flicker (Red-shafted)  2
Northern Shrike  1     Immature seen in willow tree southwest from Twin Barns overlook
American Crow  115
Common Raven  2     One perched in cottonwood along entrance road seen from Orchard; the other heard vocalizing from timber west of McAllister Creek
Black-capped Chickadee  12
Chestnut-backed Chickadee  2
Bushtit (Pacific)  33     Flocks of 12; 21
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  19
Golden-crowned Kinglet  35
Brown Creeper  7
Pacific Wren  4
Marsh Wren  4
Bewick's Wren  5
European Starling  45
American Robin  10
House Finch  6
Purple Finch (Western)  7     Seen from Twin Barns overlook
Pine Siskin  140
Fox Sparrow (Sooty)  2
White-crowned Sparrow (pugetensis)  1
Golden-crowned Sparrow  39
Song Sparrow (rufina Group)  21
Lincoln's Sparrow  4
Spotted Towhee (oregonus Group)  7
Red-winged Blackbird  28
Orange-crowned Warbler  2
Orange-crowned Warbler (lutescens)  1
Townsend's Warbler  2

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S205129308
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