[Tweeters] Nisqually Wednesday on Thursday.

[Kenneth Brown via Tweeters]

*** Notice to all interested parties, our next "Wednesday Walk" will be on Thursday, January 2nd, beginning at 8:00 am.
 
 
Maybe because it wasn't Wednesday, maybe because it was the day after Christmas, or it could have been the heavy driving rain and strong gusting winds in the morning that reduced attendance to seven stubborn birders to start this last of the year walk. 
 
The Visitors Center pond showed only a few Mallards, a couple female Bufflehead and a single Coot.  Crows leaving their unseen roost trickled westerly overhead as we walked the south parking lot.   The play area and orchard were quiet and mostly bird free, but on the ground near the Maintenance yard, a lone Varied Thrush seemed comfortable despite the rain.   The flooded fields west of the service road were occupied by Canada and Cackling Geese, Mallards, American Wigeon, Northern Pintail, Northern Shovelers, Bufflehead, Green-winged Teal, a pair of Gadwall, and a couple of American Coots.  A Bald Eagle surveyed the field from the south end while a Red-tailed hawk watched from a perch farther north.
 
Along the west side of the loop trail were Golden-crowned and Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Black-capped Chickadees, Spotted Towhees, Brown Creepers, Bewick's, Pacific, and Marsh Wrens, and a few Song Sparrows.  Several Long-billed Dowitchers were seen from the Twin Barns observation platform, mixed with the usual ducks.  House Finches flitted in the bare trees and blackberry bramble north of the deck.
 
Out on the dike, in the brush on the south side were a couple of Purple Finch, Bushtits, Chickadees, and several Golden-crowned Sparrows.  Once clear of the  wind shadow provided by that brush, the wind seemed to pick up, though the rain slackened.  A pair of Western Meadowlarks sheltered in the grass on the freshwater side.  We searched for but never found the Snow Geese that we have become accustomed to seeing, though we found a Greater  White-fronted Goose with the Cacklers and Canada Geese.  A few more Coots, and a pair of Hooded Mergansers  were with a scattering of other expected ducks.  An unseen Virginia rail called from the cat-tails.  A couple of Northern Harriers patrolled both sides of the dike.
 
The rain stopped and the tide was high, with no mud to be seen, as we started on the estuary boardwalk along McAllister Creek.  The waterfowl were predominantly American Wigeon, most clustered against the far shore.  Jon found a single Eurasian Wigeon drake among the flock.  Surf Scoters, bufflehead, and Common Goldeneye were there in lower numbers.  A single Spotted Sandpiper bobbed his butt on a small patch of gravel on the far shore.  A camouflage painted flat boat with two camouflaged duck hunters, a large dog, and what looked like less than 6 inches of freeboard powered noisily up the creek.  From the far end of the boardwalk, despite the choppy water, we were able to pick out Red-breasted Mergansers, more Surf Scoters, Common Goldeneye, bufflehead, and a Horned Grebe.  A distant but identifiable flock of Bonaparte's Gulls may have been working a bait ball as they lifted into view then disappeared back into the chop.  To the east near the mouth of the Nisqually, a swooping Peregrine Falcon stirred up a flock of Dunlin, while another sat perched in a distant snag.   Double-crested and Brandt's Cormorants were on the channel marker and other scattered piling.
 
Back on the dike, the sun was out and the tide had receded.  Flocks of Dunlin and smaller flocks of Least Sandpipers flashed dark and light as they murmurated. (is that a word?)  A pair of Merlin harassed the shorebirds, not apparently successful.  A White-crowned Sparrow stood out among 4-5 Golden-crowned Sparrows.  Once again Jon found a Eurasian Wigeon among the ducks on the surge plain.  A dozen or so Gadwall occupied the near portion of Leschi slough.  A larger group of Greater White-fronted Geese had joined the other Geese.  At the Nisqually River overlook were 6 Common Mergansers, a few Common Goldeneye and a couple Mallards.  A Belted Kingfisher flew upstream low over the water, followed shortly by a DC Cormorant.  We stopped along the eastern half of the loop trail and found a Great-Horned Owl, in the same location as last week, difficult to see even when you know it's there.  Back at the deck to complete our tally, our final species of the walk was a solo female Ring-necked Duck.  So ended our final 2024 "Wednesday" walk.  
 
 
Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually NWR, Thurston, Washington, US
Dec 26, 2024 8:00 AM - 3:20 PM
Protocol: Traveling
5.22 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     “Wednesday” Walk:  It was 47º F, raining and there was a 5-15-knot south wind at 8 a.m. when 7 birders assembled at the Visitors’ Center for the weekly birding walk (postponed a day due to the Christmas/Hanukkah Holiday).  The rain slacked around 10:30 a.m. and the sun came out, but the wind increased to 10-25 knots for the rest of the day with a high temperature of 50º F.  There was an +8.4-foot “low” tide at 8:17 a.m., flooding to a 13.0-foot high water at 1:21 p.m.  Mammals seen included Columbian black-tailed deer, eastern grey squirrels, and Harbor Seals.
64 species (+3 other taxa)

Greater White-fronted Goose  29
Cackling Goose (minima)  475     Many geese remained south of the freeway; no Taverner's cacklers seen.
Canada Goose  38
Northern Shoveler  80
Gadwall  16
Eurasian Wigeon  2     Both males
American Wigeon  1075
Mallard  70
Northern Pintail  285
Green-winged Teal  175
Ring-necked Duck  1     Female at Visitors' Center pond
Surf Scoter  60
Bufflehead  155
Common Goldeneye  35
Hooded Merganser  3
Common Merganser  6
Red-breasted Merganser  9
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)  51     At entrance gate upon leaving
Virginia Rail  1     Vocalizing from cattail marsh
American Coot  7
Long-billed Dowitcher  42
Spotted Sandpiper  1     West bank of McAllister Creek at high tide
Greater Yellowlegs  35
Dunlin  550
Least Sandpiper  75
Bonaparte's Gull  70     Nisqually Reach; mid-channel or north toward Anderson Island
Short-billed Gull  110
Ring-billed Gull  36
Glaucous-winged Gull  1
Western x Glaucous-winged Gull (hybrid)  15
Western/Glaucous-winged Gull  20
Horned Grebe  1     East of Luhr Beach
Brandt's Cormorant  10
Double-crested Cormorant  14
Great Blue Heron  15
Northern Harrier  2
Bald Eagle  15
Red-tailed Hawk (calurus/alascensis)  2
Great Horned Owl  1     West of the "Beaver Deceiver" in an Oregon Ash tree
Belted Kingfisher  1     Nisqually River overlook
Northern Flicker  1
Northern Flicker (Red-shafted)  2
Merlin  2
Peregrine Falcon  2
Steller's Jay (Coastal)  1     Timber west of McAllister Creek.
American Crow  50
Common Raven  1
Black-capped Chickadee  12
Bushtit (Pacific)  12
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  9
Golden-crowned Kinglet  30
Brown Creeper  5
Pacific Wren  1
Marsh Wren  4
Bewick's Wren  4
European Starling  350
Varied Thrush  1     Near the gate to the equipment yard
American Robin  8
House Finch  8
Purple Finch (Western)  2
Pine Siskin  50
White-crowned Sparrow (pugetensis)  1
Golden-crowned Sparrow  22
Song Sparrow (rufina Group)  17
Spotted Towhee (oregonus Group)  3
Western Meadowlark  2
Red-winged Blackbird  9

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S206698004
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