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<span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt;">Prospects looked gray and gloomy when the walk began. Steady rain and cooler temperatures dampened clothes and optimism. The trees seemed silent. But not for long. Birds began to appear, Robins, Towhees and Kinglets, then the first of several Varied Thrush. The rain slackened and then stopped. It never got very warm but we were treated to sun breaks occasionally. First of season birds (for the Wednesday Walk) included Bufflehead and a fly-over of 18 Trumpeter Swans. Varied Thrush and Pine Siskins were seen in greater numbers. We dipped on the Red-shouldered Hawk again but found a Great-horned Owl. As the walk concluded back at the Visitor's Center we watched a Mink conclude a successful hunt with a Bullfrog in his mouth. The complete list follows:</span>
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Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually NWR, Thurston, Washington, US
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Oct 25, 2023 7:55 AM - 4:22 PM
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Protocol: Traveling
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6.03 mile(s)
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Checklist Comments: Wednesday Walk. The morning began in the 45º rain, but the precipitation diminished by 9:30 a.m. to a partly sunny day with a 3-to-8-knot northerly breeze. There was a Low +1.0-foot tide at 9:11 a.m., flooding to a +14.0-foot high water at 3:56 p.m., allowing for a push of waterfowl and some shorebirds in from the mudflats along Nisqually Reach. Mammals seen included Columbian Black-tailed deer, Eastern Grey Squirrel, Harbour Seals and - at the Visitors’ Center Pond - a Mink that caught a Bullfrog.
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73 species (+6 other taxa)
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Snow Goose 2
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Greater White-fronted Goose 27
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Cackling Goose (minima) 4500
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Cackling Goose (Taverner's) 12
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Canada Goose 22
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Trumpeter Swan 18 Flyover the WDFW Marsh
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Northern Shoveler 15
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Gadwall 22
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Eurasian Wigeon 1 Drake in estuary restoration area
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American Wigeon 825
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Mallard 195
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Northern Pintail 1125
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Green-winged Teal 2450 Estimated by 10x
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Ring-necked Duck 1
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Surf Scoter 85 Most in Nisqually Reach; one in McAllister Creek
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Bufflehead 6 First of Season for Wednesday Walk
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Hooded Merganser 8
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Common Merganser 6
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Common/Red-breasted Merganser 1
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Horned Grebe 3 Near and seaward of Luhr Beach
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Western Grebe 1 Nisqually Reach
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Mourning Dove 1 Orchard
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Anna's Hummingbird 1 Orchard
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Black-bellied Plover 2
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Long-billed Dowitcher 8
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Wilson's Snipe 6
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Spotted Sandpiper 1 West bank of McAllister Creek
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Greater Yellowlegs 25
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Dunlin 115
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Least Sandpiper 95
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Western Sandpiper 75
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Short-billed Gull 7
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Ring-billed Gull 115
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Western x Glaucous-winged Gull (hybrid) 36
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Western/Glaucous-winged Gull 14
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Common Loon 3 Nisqually Reach
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Brandt's Cormorant 9 Nisqually Reach Channel Marker
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Double-crested Cormorant 35
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Great Blue Heron 33
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Northern Harrier 4
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Bald Eagle 30
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Red-tailed Hawk (calurus/alascensis) 1
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Great Horned Owl 1 East side of the boardwalk loop near the double benches
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Belted Kingfisher 2
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Downy Woodpecker (Pacific) 3
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Hairy Woodpecker (Pacific) 1 Female
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Northern Flicker 2
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Northern Flicker (Red-shafted) 5
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Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted x Red-shafted) 1
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Peregrine Falcon 2
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Hutton's Vireo 3 Orchard, North Dike willows, and east side boardwalk loop
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American Crow 115
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Common Raven 5
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Black-capped Chickadee 20
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Chestnut-backed Chickadee 12
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Bushtit (Pacific) 30
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Ruby-crowned Kinglet 30
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Golden-crowned Kinglet 32
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Brown Creeper 4
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Pacific Wren 9 Several singing
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Marsh Wren 3
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Bewick's Wren 6
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European Starling 50
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Varied Thrush 6
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American Robin 75
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American Pipit 6
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Pine Siskin 185
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Fox Sparrow (Sooty) 7 A couple were in full song!
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Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon) 1
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White-crowned Sparrow (pugetensis) 2
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Golden-crowned Sparrow 30
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White-throated Sparrow 2 Orchard
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Song Sparrow 29
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Lincoln's Sparrow 2
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Spotted Towhee (oregonus Group) 12
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Western Meadowlark 2
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Red-winged Blackbird 22
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Orange-crowned Warbler 2
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Wilson's Warbler 1 * Yellow warbler with faint but distinct black cap ; cf immature female (?) Seen in willows between the Twin Barns overlook and the North Dike.
</div> <span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt;"><br>View this checklist online at <a href="https://ebird.org/checklist/S153074941">https://ebird.org/checklist/S</a></span>
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