[Tweeters] Wednesday walk.

[Kenneth Brown]

A light drizzle greeted the damp souls assembled at 8 am at the Visitor’s Center deck to begin the Wednesday walk.  We followed the default route, orchard first, then along the entrance road, to the Twin Barns access road, onto the loop trail along the west side of the main pond out to the twin Barns platform.  Along the way we grew in numbers to 26 people as the precipitation also increased to steady rain.  Happiest was he or she who wore effective raingear.  Among the early highlights, an Opossum looking like a PNW version of a Koala, clutching a branch of a big-leaf Maple on the eastern edge of the grove at the Twin Barns, 15’ +/- above the ground.  Multiple Varied Thrush, Long-billed Dowitchers, and a flyover of three vocal Trumpeter Swans also stood out. Then onto the dike and toward the McCallister Creek boardwalk.  A Lincoln’s Sparrow, a couple Western Meadowlarks along the dike and a half dozen Semipalmated Plovers out on the surge plain kept our attention.  After we stepped out of the wind shadow of the protective Willows out onto the open dike, time and the weather began to take a toll on the number of participants. A smaller number continued out the boardwalk.  Common Goldeneye and Surf Scoters were numerous in the creek along with a half dozen Horned Grebes, belted Kingfishers and a Steller’s Jay made appearances on the opposite shore, but we found no Spotted Sandpiper despite diligent search. Many more Goldeneye and Scoters along with Red -breasted Mergansers, a few black Brant and several Bald Eagles were seen from the Puget Sound viewing platform.  We dipped on any Loons or alcids.  We returned along the dike to the Nisqually River overlook where we did not find the expected Common Mergansers.   A mixed flock of both Kinglets and both Chickadees brightened our return along the eastern side of the loop trail back to the parking lot.  The full list follows:
 
Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually NWR, Thurston, Washington, US
Feb 21, 2024 8:00 AM - 4:01 PM
Protocol: Traveling
5.68 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     Wednesday Walk.  Overcast and 52 °F at the start, with cooling rain from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., and a south wind at 3-10 knots.  The sun came out for a bit at 2 p.m. with maximum temperature 54 °F.  A high 14.08-foot high tide at 5:16 a.m. ebbed to a +7.25-foot low water at 10:53 a.m. before flooding toward a 11.5-foot high at 3:02 p.m.  Indian plum is in full bloom, and the salmon berry flowers are breaking bud.  Mammals seen include Columbian black-tailed deer, eastern grey squirrel, harbour seals, and an opossum in the maples east of the Twin Barns.
59 species (+8 other taxa)

Brant (Black)  5
Cackling Goose (minima)  450
Cackling Goose (Taverner's)  1
Canada Goose  45
Trumpeter Swan  3
Northern Shoveler  155
Gadwall  60
Eurasian x American Wigeon (hybrid)  1     Apparent hybrid female wigeon; head coloration was neither the grey expected in an AMWI, nor fully reddish-brown as expected in a EUWI.
Mallard  145
Northern Pintail  185
Green-winged Teal  165
Ring-necked Duck  2
Surf Scoter  60
White-winged Scoter  1     Nisqually Reach
Bufflehead  165
Common Goldeneye  85
Hooded Merganser  9
Red-breasted Merganser  35
Pied-billed Grebe  1
Horned Grebe  10
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)  35
Dunlin  1350
Least Sandpiper  195     Flagged for high count: Observed one flock of 90-100, a group of 60, and another group of 35 before the rising tide caused the groups to mingle
Western Sandpiper  3     * Continuing; in flock with the Dunlin
Short-billed Gull  125
Ring-billed Gull  85
Glaucous-winged Gull  1
Western x Glaucous-winged Gull (hybrid)  6
Western/Glaucous-winged Gull  15
Larus sp.  60
Brandt's Cormorant  7
Pelagic Cormorant  2
Double-crested Cormorant  5
Great Blue Heron  25
Northern Harrier  2
Bald Eagle  22
Red-tailed Hawk (calurus/alascensis)  3
Belted Kingfisher  3     Two on McAllister Creek; one at Visitors' Center pond
Downy Woodpecker (Pacific)  1     Female
Northern Flicker  5
Northern Flicker (Red-shafted)  2
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted x Red-shafted)  1
Steller's Jay (Coastal)  1     Foraging on beach west side of McAllister Creek
American Crow  75
Common Raven  2
Black-capped Chickadee  20
Chestnut-backed Chickadee  3
swallow sp.  6
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  10
Golden-crowned Kinglet  18
Brown Creeper  3
Pacific Wren  5
Marsh Wren  3
Bewick's Wren  4
European Starling  18
Varied Thrush  7
American Robin  60
Fox Sparrow (Sooty)  2
Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon)  8
White-crowned Sparrow (pugetensis)  1
Golden-crowned Sparrow  17
Song Sparrow  19
Lincoln's Sparrow  1
Spotted Towhee (oregonus Group)  2
Western Meadowlark  2
Red-winged Blackbird  50
Yellow-rumped Warbler  3

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S162557260
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