Date: 5/8/25 10:53 pm From: Kenneth Brown via Tweeters <tweeters...> Subject: [Tweeters] Nisqually Wednesday walk.
The day started with Vultures. Five Turkey Vultures circled the sky over the parking lot and adjacent fields as we arrived. Finding no dead body, we didn't take their presence as an omen. It was overcast and cooler in comparison to the warm days that preceded. Barn and Cliff Swallows swooped around us in their crisp spring plumage. Yellow Warblers sang in the nearby foliage, an American Goldfinch perched briefly in the Alder to the north.
We heard and saw more Yellow Warblers as we walked south through the south parking lot. A male Rufous Hummingbird stood guard, as he is want to do, at the entrance to the Children's Play Area. A Band-tailed Pigeon passed overhead and a Mourning Dove perched in an Alder near the maintenance facility. American Robins, Cedar Waxwings, Purple Finch, and more Goldfinch sang from the trees in the orchard. The peek-a-boo pond is getting more difficult to see as the grass grows taller and the pond is drying up, but it still yielded a couple Killdeer.
The number of ducks has dropped dramatically but there were still Mallards, Northern Shovelers, Green-winged Teal, and Northern Pintail to be seen in the flooded field west of the service road, along with a few Canada Geese with their goslings. A couple of Least Sandpipers and a few Long-billed Dowitchers shared the wet mud with the remaining waterfowl. Three Golden-crowned Sparrows foraged along the road. A Sora, unseen, sounded off to torment some of the searching birders. An Osprey flew south over the field.
From the brush along the west side of the loop trail we heard and saw more Yellow Warblers, an Orange-crowned Warbler, Marsh and Bewick's Wrens, Song Sparrows, Spotted Towhees, Pine Siskins, European Starlings, a Northern Flicker, Swainson's Thrush and American Robins, and Black-headed Grosbeak. At the junction of the loop trail and the trail to the Twin Barnes was a beautiful Bullock's Oriole.
From the platform at the Twin Barnes we saw Northern Rough-winged Swallows, a Cliff Swallow and a Violet-Green Swallow on the interior road apparently gathering nest material. Tree and Barn Swallows dominated the air space. A Wood Duck hung out in the remaining water with a few other duck friends.
From the dike, the Eagle's nest in the tall Cottonwood near the Nisqually River has become less visible as the leaves have now nearly fully emerged, but we thought we could discern the movement of a young chick in the nest when the wind pushed the leaves aside for a fraction of a second. Was it observation or imagination? Common Yellow-throat, Savannah, Song, and Lincoln's Sparrows, were seen along the portion of the dike sheltered by the Willow thicket. Distant Least Sandpipers foraged on the mud out on the surge plain. Past the Willows, the freshwater side held Canada Geese shepherding more Goslings, Greater White-fronted Geese, a few Mallards, Green-winged Teal, Shovelers and Pintails. A pair of Cinnamon Teal flew in to join another pair already on the water. A couple of American Coots navigated the near shore along with two pairs of Hooded Mergansers. Virginia Rail and Sora were vocal but again unseen. A solo bright male Yellow-headed Blackbird held a steady post in a clump of rushes, while his Red-winged Blackbird cousins were scattered around, moving from Cattail stalk to stalk. Barn and Tree Swallows abounded, perched and flying, with a few Northern Rough-winged mixed in.
Out on the boardwalk along McAllister Creek, the low tide had exposed a lot of mud. A trio of male Common Mergansers stood out in the creek with their dark heads and bright white bodies. A Belted Kingfisher flew up the creek. A Steller's Jay could be heard calling from the conifers on the far side . Anthony's sharp eyes spotted a Whimbrel, nearly the same color of the mud it was foraging on. A gull tried to steal the prize the Whimbrel's long bill had pulled up. A single female Common Goldeneye and a few Bufflehead were the only other waterfowl in the water. A small group of Double-crested Cormorants huddled together on the near shore. On the exposed tide flat east of the boardwalk scattered clumps of Gulls foraged or roosted. A cluster of 20 Caspian Terns mixed with Ring-billed Gulls and Glaucous-winged/Western Gull hybrids and fewer California and Short-billed Gulls. From the covered platform at the end, Purple Martins could be seen using the gourd houses at Luhr Beach. A single Brant's Cormorant sat on a piling far off shore. An adult Bald Eagle could be seen in the nest on the ridge above the beach. A flock of American Wigeon were to the east and to the south a small mixed flock of Western Sandpipers and Semipalmated Plovers explored the mud.
At the Nisqually River overlook were several Common Goldeneye and a single Common Merganser. As we travelled south along the east side of the loop trail we were accompanied part way by a young boy of 8-9 (?) with his mother. We showed them a Red-eared Slider turtle, a Muskrat in the slough, and scope views of two Rufous Hummingbird nests, each with two young occupants. The excitement of the boy and his Mom added to our enjoyment. A side trip to the riparian zone added a Song Sparrow, American Robin and a Common Raven to our tally before we returned to the Visitor's Center to end the walk. The Checklist follows:
Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually NWR, Thurston, Washington, US
May 7, 2025 8:00 AM - 2:36 PM
Protocol: Traveling
5.49 mile(s)
Checklist Comments: Wednesday Walk. The walk began with overcast skies at 53º F and a light south breeze at 5 knots; through the day, the clouds eventually burned off partly and the wind increased to over 15 knots on a 65º afternoon. There was a low +3.34-foot tide at 10:11 a.m., flooding to a +9.57-foot high water at 3:41 p.m. Non-birds seen Eastern Cotton-tailed Rabbit, Columbian Black-tailed Deer, Muskrat, Eastern Gray Squirrel, Harbor Seal, Townsend’s Chipmunk, Pacific Chorus Frog and American Bullfrog. Refuge volunteer Jim Pruske pointed out a growth of Neolentinus lepideus, the “train wrecker” mushroom along the boardwalk loop.
80 species (+4 other taxa)
Greater White-fronted Goose 9
Cackling Goose (minima) 32
Canada Goose 95 Several broods of goslings
Wood Duck 3
Blue-winged Teal 2
Cinnamon Teal 4
Northern Shoveler 45
Gadwall 2
American Wigeon 45
Mallard 115
Northern Pintail 55
Green-winged Teal 28
dabbling duck sp. 40
Ring-necked Duck 2
Bufflehead 8
Common Goldeneye 9
Hooded Merganser 9
Common Merganser 4
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 3
Band-tailed Pigeon 2
Mourning Dove 3
Vaux's Swift 1
Anna's Hummingbird 1
Rufous Hummingbird 7 The two nests along the east side of the boardwalk loop each had 2 large nestlings
Virginia Rail 2 Vocalizing from cattail marsh
Sora 3 Vocalizing from flooded fields west of the boardwalk loop and south of the north dike
American Coot 2
Killdeer 2
Semipalmated Plover 3
Whimbrel 1
Long-billed Dowitcher 17
Least Sandpiper 22
Western Sandpiper 6
Short-billed Gull 2
Ring-billed Gull 30
California Gull 3
Western x Glaucous-winged Gull (hybrid) 9
Western/Glaucous-winged Gull 42
gull sp. 50
Caspian Tern 20
Brandt's Cormorant 1
Double-crested Cormorant 9
Great Blue Heron 12
Turkey Vulture 5
Osprey 1
Bald Eagle 16 Nest in large cottonwood along Nisqually River appeared to have young bird
Belted Kingfisher 2
Downy Woodpecker 1
Hairy Woodpecker (Pacific) 1
Pileated Woodpecker 1 Vocalizing along east boardwalk loop
Northern Flicker 2
Steller's Jay 1 Vocalizing from timber west of McAllister Creek
American Crow 4
Common Raven 1
Black-capped Chickadee 5
Tree Swallow 70
Violet-green Swallow 1
Purple Martin 3
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 6
Barn Swallow 50
Cliff Swallow 6
Brown Creeper 1
Marsh Wren 9
Bewick's Wren 4
European Starling 28
Swainson's Thrush 1
American Robin 40
Cedar Waxwing 1
Purple Finch (Western) 7
Pine Siskin 6
American Goldfinch 8
Golden-crowned Sparrow 3
Savannah Sparrow 2
Song Sparrow 30
Lincoln's Sparrow 2
Spotted Towhee (oregonus Group) 1
Yellow-headed Blackbird 1 Male in Flooded field east of cattail marsh
Bullock's Oriole 1 Male seen vocalizing at northwest 'corner' of the boardwalk loop.
Red-winged Blackbird 48
Brown-headed Cowbird 9
Orange-crowned Warbler 1
Common Yellowthroat 10
Yellow Warbler 14
Black-headed Grosbeak 3
