[Tweeters] Nisqually Wednesday

[Kenneth Brown via Tweeters]

 After the deluge.  The talk in the morning was about who lost power, for how long, and how many inches of rain fell at my house last night. (generally 3" or so) Ellen told of arriving when it was still dark seeing a Barred Owl illuminated by her headlights in the middle of the entrance road.  She went to the Twin Barn Overlook and was soon met there by Ed and two Barn Owls, in that order. Only a few Mallards showed on the Visitor Center Pond as we congregated to begin. 
 
In the south parking lot we found a Downy Woodpecker, creepers, a couple Dark-eyed Juncos, both Kinglet species, and Black-capped Chickadees.  A stream of Crows flew westerly overhead, singly, in pairs, and larger groups but constantly crossing the sky above.  The play area, the orchard, and side road to the Maintenance compound were unusually quiet. 
 
A few typical ducks and a pair of Wilson's Snipe underpopulated the two ponds in the flooded fields south of the service road and we wondered where the birds were.  We found them in the ponds west of the service road.  Hundreds of Cackling Geese shared space with Mallards, American Wigeon and a Eurasian Wigeon, Northern Shovelers, Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, a few Buffleheads, a couple Gadwall, and a single male Ring-necked Duck.  In addition to the waterfowl were a few American Coots and several Great Blue Herons. Thirty plus Greater Yellow legs clustered on the south edge of the pond and a few Long billed Dowitchers mingled with the ducks in the middle.  The shorebirds were likely in this freshwater environment because the 15 foot tide left them no saltwater mud to feed in.  A Northern Harrier made low passes over the swampy ground and a Red-tailed Hawk crossed over the field and the road to perch in a fir tree on the east side of the Visitor Center pond.
 
Golden-Crowned and Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Fox Sparrows, Song Sparrows, Brown Creepers, Spotted Towhees, Black-capped Chickadees, Pacific, Marsh, and Bewick's Wrens, all made their presence known along the west side of the loop trail.  At the Twin Barns observation platform among the ducks a few more Long-billed Dowitchers were found.  House Sparrows flew into the Blackberry bramble and looking north over the bramble, in short bare trees just north of the dike road, 
we saw Western Meadowlarks, their black triangular bibs contrasting with bright yellow breasts.  
 
Here we departed from our usual routine.  Eric having left the group to finish the loop trail, called to ask for someone with a scope to meet him on the east side of the loop.  He had another Owl.  We converged on Eric and were directed to a difficult obstructed view of a Great-horned Owl.  When asked how he was able to spot the bird Eric said he was lucky.  He gets "lucky" pretty often.
 
Lincoln's, Gold-crowned and White-crowned Sparrows were found in the brush out along the dike.  A couple Northern Harriers worked the grasses on both sides, Red-winged Blackbirds and Marsh Wrens, a calling Virginia Rail a couple Hooded Mergansers were on the freshwater side. Four continuing Snow Geese and couple dozen Greater White-fronted Geese waddled on the dike.  Hundreds of ducks ignored the flocks of Dunlin, with a few Western and Least Sandpipers on the salt water side.
 
Out on the estuary boardwalk, the tide had dropped to mid level.  Common Goldeneye, Surf Scoters,  American Wigeon and another Eurasian Wigeon (drake)  steered away from the Sea Lions and Harbor Seals feeding on Chum Salmon.  A Spotted Sandpiper and several more Greater Yellowlegs worked the waters edge.  From the north end we saw Red-breasted Mergansers, Surf Scoters, Bufflehead, Common Loons, a Horned Grebe, Brant and Double-crested Cormorants, and a Peregrine Falcon perched in one of the skeletal remnants of a willow along the old outer dike location.
 
At the Nisqually River overlook another Sea lion was feeding on Salmon, a few Common Goldeneye were at the bend in the river, a Double-crested Cormorant on a snag in the water dried its wings in the air.  Walking south along the east side of the loop trail we relocated the Great Horned Owl.  Reaching Owl saturation, we complete the loop and the penultimate 2024 Wednesday walk.  See the complete checklist as follows:
 
Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually NWR, Thurston, Washington, US
Dec 18, 2024 8:00 AM - 4:09 PM
Protocol: Traveling
5.83 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     Wednesday Walk. High clouds in the morning soon gave way to clear skies for most of the walk, although a light rain shower came through at 2:30 p.m.  Temperatures ranged from 49-54º F, with a light 0-8 knot southerly breeze. There was a +15.18-foot high tide at 8:38 a.m., ebbing to a +7.89-foot low water at 2:24 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.
65 species (+4 other taxa)

Snow Goose  4     continuing adult with 3 immature birds
Greater White-fronted Goose  28
Cackling Goose (minima)  1150
Cackling Goose (Taverner's)  35
Canada Goose (moffitti/maxima)  40
Northern Shoveler  70
Gadwall  22
Eurasian Wigeon  3     Three drakes seen; surely there must be females in the flocks
American Wigeon  1175
Mallard  175
Northern Pintail  415
Green-winged Teal  675
Ring-necked Duck  1
Surf Scoter  65
Bufflehead  110
Common Goldeneye  70
Hooded Merganser  4
Red-breasted Merganser  85
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)  48
Virginia Rail  1     Vocalizing from cattail marsh
American Coot  34
Long-billed Dowitcher  11
Wilson's Snipe  3
Spotted Sandpiper  2     West bank of McAllister Creek
Greater Yellowlegs  45
Dunlin  450
Least Sandpiper  36
Western Sandpiper  7     * Flagged for high count.  Continuing with Dunlin flocks; these 7 were counted in a flock of 185 Dunlin
Short-billed Gull  120
Ring-billed Gull  45
Western x Glaucous-winged Gull (hybrid)  5
Western/Glaucous-winged Gull  12
Larus sp.  225     Too far out on reach to identify accurately
Horned Grebe  1
Common Loon  3     Seen from north end of estuary boardwalk in Nisqually Reach
Brandt's Cormorant  11     Nisqually Reach channel marker
Double-crested Cormorant  6
Great Blue Heron  22
Northern Harrier  3
Bald Eagle  18
Red-tailed Hawk (calurus/alascensis)  1     Adult
American Barn Owl  2     Twin Barns at 7:15 a m
Great Horned Owl  1     Found by Eric just west of the "Beaver Deceiver"
Barred Owl  1     Near Visitors' Centre at 6:50 a m
Belted Kingfisher  3     Two along McAllister Creek; one on Nisqually River
Downy Woodpecker (Pacific)  2     One male, one female
Northern Flicker  2
Peregrine Falcon  1
American Crow  215
Black-capped Chickadee  15
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  17
Golden-crowned Kinglet  16
Brown Creeper  5
Pacific Wren  3
Marsh Wren  4
Bewick's Wren  6
European Starling  25
American Robin  13
House Finch  4     Twin Barns overlook
Purple Finch  2     Feeding in Crab-apple along north dike
Pine Siskin  105
Fox Sparrow (Sooty)  2
White-crowned Sparrow (pugetensis)  2
Golden-crowned Sparrow  24
Song Sparrow (rufina Group)  14
Lincoln's Sparrow  3
Spotted Towhee (oregonus Group)  4
Western Meadowlark  8
Red-winged Blackbird  12

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S205900858
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/pipermail/tweeters/attachments/20241219/00f45d73/attachment.html>