[Tweeters] 2024 Year Round Up for Wednesday Walk at Billy Frank Jr Nisqually NWR.

[Shep Thorp via Tweeters]

Hi Tweets,

In 2024 the Wednesday Walk observed 170 species for the year, which is the
average over the last 9 years not including 2020 (incomplete listing
because of covid restrictions).

Highlights included BARN OWL, BROWN PELICAN, MARBLED GODWIT, SANDHILL CRANE
and CANVASBACK.

We had many misses of species I would expect to see annually including
WILSON'S PHALAROPE, CASSIN'S VIREO, RED-EYED VIREO, TUNDRA SWAN,
SHORT-EARED OWL, GOLDEN PLOVER species, SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER, additional
tern species (FORSTERS/COMMON/BLACK), AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN, LAZULI
BUNTING, SANDERLING, EARED GREBE and RED-NECKED GREBE.  Some species that
we might see every other year that we missed were COMMON MURRE, RUDDY DUCK,
NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL, RED-SHOULDERED HAWK, and SOLITARY SANDPIPER.

Other birders who visited the Refuge in 2024 may have observed species we
dipped on including those listed above.

Interestingly, we have had difficulty observing AMERICAN BITTERN and GREAT
HORNED OWL.  We did not log GHOW in 2024 until December, which is unusual
given the Refuge's history of having a breeding pair of owls around the
Twin Barns Loop Trail.  The Great Horned Owls had chicks in May of 2023,
and we do not know if they successfully bred in 2024.

The Refuge continues to have good numbers of wintering waterfowl and the
mudflats provide great habitat for shorebirds.  Breeding season is very
productive in the riparian forest.  The best tides for observing waterfowl
and shorebirds are between 9 to 11 feet.

FYI, I've been listing the Wednesday Walk in eBird under Nisqually
Birdwatch since 2016.

Happy New Year and happy birding.

Shep

-- 
Shep Thorp
Browns Point
253-370-3742
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/pipermail/tweeters/attachments/20250103/4ae19d95/attachment.html>