[Tweeters] Nisqually Wednesday in December

[Dennis Paulson via Tweeters]

Ken, thanks for your lengthy narrative. And kudos to all of you who went out in that kind of weather to look for those birds!

Dennis Paulson
Seattle
dennispaulson at comcast dot net


> On Dec 26, 2025, at 12:05 PM, Kenneth Brown via Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu> wrote:

> 

> 'Twas the day before Christmas.  The newly declared federal holiday meant the Refuge staff had the day off.  Many of the usual suspects took a pass on the walk, possibly in anticipation of bad weather or holiday obligations.  A small group ( 9 to start, 12 total) gathered this cool and cloudy morning.  Birding started slow, a lone Bufflehead on the pond, overhead, American crows flew west, as we entered the play area, a Red-tailed Hawk followed a similar path.  Three Common Mergansers flew south.  In a bare tree near the Land Trust building, a Red-breasted Sapsucker. tended its neat rows of bark cavities shadowed by an Anna's Hummingbird checking behind, hoping to benefit from the Sapsucker's labor.

>  

> In the "Forbidden Pond" west of the entrance road, a drake Eurasian Wigeon was escorted by a half dozen American Wigeon and two Mallards.  Golden-crowned Sparrows and a Spotted Towhee worked the leaf litter on the east side of the entrance road, a pair of Downy Woodpecker were busy in a Cottonwood tree near the intersection with the service road.  Mallards , Wigeon, and Northern Shovelers slowly meandered the flooded field south of the bend in the service road  In the brush west of the north parking lot were Black-capped Chickadees, a Spotted Towhee, and Golden-crowned Kinglets.  A Great Blue Heron stood sentry on the road bisecting the field, ignoring the American Robins and Northern Flickers between itself and us.  To the south, the pond held more of the same ducks, on the north side a male Red-winged Blackbird watched the same three Tundra Swans seen last week, a few American Coots, and more ducks.

>  

> Along the trail on the west side of the pond a couple Pied-billed Grebes and a Marsh Wren first caught our attention, a Virginia Rail called, Song, Golden-crowned and Fox Sparrows were in the brush on the other side, as were Bewick's, and Pacific Wrens.  Several Ring-necked Ducks swam in and out of view at the grassy north end of the pond. The trail to the north was still indefinitely blocked, so back to the service road.  Canada and Cackling geese held the grassy shore while the ducks, Swans, and Coots occupied the water.  Light rain had been falling sporadically, now it began to increase.  On the platform by the Twin Barns, while we snacked, a male American Kestrel flew in and landed on top of a owl entrance box, on the barns west side, carrying it's own snack, a small bird, species undetermined, but soon determinedly dismantled..  Some of us worried about the Kestrel's exposure to Avian Influenza, given its diet and proximity to the site of the Barn Owl's demise. 

>  

> Out on the dike, the rain a bit steadier, a few Bald Eagles dotted the trees along the Nisqually River.  The surge plain a mix of water and exposed mud, was populated by ducks, mostly Wigeon and Green-winged Teal, and Gulls, mostly Ring-billed and Short-billed.  A Northern Harrier sat on the ground, distant enough that we could not see what held it's attention.  A small flock of Bushtits flitted through the short alders on the north side .  As expected, once we cleared the shelter of the willows, the wind increased, the rain hit harder.  Our group shrunk by half, we moved a bit quicker out to the covered platform at the start of the McAllister Creek boardwalk.  The creek was sparsely dotted with Common Goldeneye, Bufflehead, Surf Scoters and the dark lumps of Harbor Seal heads.  A smallish flock of Least Sandpipers  flashed through, a few Greater Yellowlegs stalked the shore.  From the gated north end a Common Loon was out off Luhr Beach, as were Red-breasted Mergansers, more Bufflehead and Surf Scoters.  Brandt's Cormorants held the Channel Marker out on the reach, Double-crested Cormorants, closer in on piling and in the water.  The rain had tapered off by the time we turned around to head back to the dike, a blue patch of sky visible far to the south.

>  

> Back on the dike, a young Harrier perched on a snag in the freshwater marsh.  In the wind shadow of the Willows a number of Golden-crowned Sparrows were accompanied by a White-crowned Sparrow and a White-throated Sparrow.  At the Nisqually River overlook, the river high and muddy, though a bit less than last week, a couple Common Merganser drakes swam in the murky water.  A California Sea Lion made brief appearances and large wakes on the waters surface, presumable hunting the winter run of Chum Salmon.  A Harbor Seal also hunted but warily kept its distance from the much larger animal.  South along the east side of the loop trail were Black-capped and Chestnut backed Chickadees, Brown Creepers, Pacific Wrens.  By the time we returned to the Visitors Center the sky had mostly cleared and the weather was fine.  See the checklist below: 

>  

>  

> Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually NWR, Thurston, Washington, US

> Dec 24, 2025 7:55 AM - 1:52 PM

> Protocol: Traveling

> 2.424 mile(s)

> Checklist Comments:     Wednesday Walk.  The walk began on a calm, Overcast, 39º F morning with a south breeze increasing to 3-8 knots and rain showers developing by noon.  We finished the walk with clearing skies and temperatures to 45º F.  A +14.8-foot high tide at 09:10 a.m. ebbed to a +7.3-foot high at 3:15 p.m.  Mammals seen included eastern grey squirrel, Columbian Black-tailed Deer, and eastern cottontail.  There were Harbor Seals in McAllister Creek, and seals and California Sea Lions hunting chum salmon in the Nisqually River.

> 

> Total Time = 8 hrs 22 minutes

> Total Distance = 5.32 miles

> 60 species (+4 other taxa)

> 

> Cackling Goose (minima)  830

> Cackling Goose (Taverner's)  4

> Canada Goose  35

> Tundra Swan  3     Pen, cob, and cygnet

> Northern Shoveler  75

> Gadwall  8

> Eurasian Wigeon  1

> American Wigeon  1530

> Mallard  155

> Northern Pintail  145

> Green-winged Teal  450

> Ring-necked Duck  8     Visitors' Center Pond

> Surf Scoter  40     McAllister Creek and Nisqually Reach

> Bufflehead  85

> Common Goldeneye  24     McAllister Creek and Nisqually Reach

> Hooded Merganser  1     McAllister Creek

> Common Merganser  5     Three flying upriver over orchard area; 2 drakes at Nisqually River overlook

> Red-breasted Merganser  9     McAllister Creek and Nisqually Reach

> Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)  21     Entrance gate

> Anna's Hummingbird  2     One was getting 'nectar' from sapsucker holes near the Land Trust office

> Virginia Rail  1     Vocalizing from visitors' center pond

> American Coot  9

> Greater Yellowlegs  38

> Least Sandpiper  32     One flock on McAllister Creek

> Short-billed Gull  70

> Ring-billed Gull  35

> Glaucous-winged Gull  2

> Western x Glaucous-winged Gull (hybrid)  5

> Western/Glaucous-winged Gull  25

> Pied-billed Grebe  2     Visitors' center pond

> Common Loon  1     Nisqually Reach

> Brandt's Cormorant  11     Nisqually Reach channel marker

> Double-crested Cormorant  15

> Great Blue Heron  13

> Northern Harrier  2     Adult female & immature

> Bald Eagle  13

> Red-tailed Hawk (calurus/alascensis)  3

> Belted Kingfisher  3

> Red-breasted Sapsucker  1     Land Trust pear tree

> Downy Woodpecker (Pacific)  4

> Hairy Woodpecker  2

> Northern Flicker  4

> Northern Flicker (Red-shafted)  3

> American Kestrel  1     Carrying a small bird as prey to the twin barns

> American Crow  135

> Black-capped Chickadee  20

> Chestnut-backed Chickadee  12

> Bushtit (Pacific)  6

> Ruby-crowned Kinglet  7

> Golden-crowned Kinglet  15

> Brown Creeper  6

> Pacific Wren  2

> Marsh Wren  7

> Bewick's Wren  2

> European Starling  95

> American Robin  10

> Fox Sparrow (Sooty)  5

> Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon)  1

> White-crowned Sparrow (pugetensis)  1

> Golden-crowned Sparrow  35

> White-throated Sparrow  1     Tan striped

> Song Sparrow (rufina Group)  25

> Spotted Towhee (oregonus Group)  8

> Red-winged Blackbird  30

> 

> View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S290080197 <https://ebird.org/checklist/S290080197>

>  

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