Date: 7/31/25 12:41 pm From: Kenneth Brown via Tweeters <tweeters...> Subject: [Tweeters] Nisqually Wednesday
"Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer..." (Nat King Cole, 1963)
The day started out with the crazy. A car fire on I5 brought north bound traffic to a crawl delaying the start of the walk while a few frustrated birders trickled in. It was hazy, at least down in the Nisqually valley, though the haze burned off late morning. The lazy part came later in the afternoon as the birds went silent and still. One birder remarked near the end of the day that was a "silent summer" a slightly depressing reference to Rachel Carson's famous book.
Still, it was a beautiful day, sunny and low to mid 60's in the morning. The orchard was relatively active to start. We watched plump fledgling Brown-headed Cowbirds being fed by a more petite Common Yellowthroat and a Warbling Vireo. Yellow Warblers were feeding themselves, as were Black-capped and Chestnut-backed Chickadees. A single male House Finch, more orange than red, was foraging on the ground while a Purple Finch sang from it's perch in a tree. A flock of 20 Pine Siskins showed briefly. Mourning Doves and Band-tailed Pigeons made an appearance. Overhead, Barn Swallows and a few Tree Swallows swooped to snag their prey. Unusual for this part of the Refuge, the other swallows were joined by their Purple Martin cousins.
As we walked the service road, we heard the twangy voice of more Purple Martins. A Red-tailed Hawk perch briefly just north of the freeway. In the fields west of the road were large flocks of European Starlings, along with smaller flocks of Red-winged Blackbirds. A couple of Great Blue Herons flew low northerly along the tree line on the west side. A Savanah Sparrow plucked at a seed head on a clump of grass. Barn and Tree Swallows were active overhead and once again quite a few Purple Martins joined in. This was the highest count of Martins I can recall on a Wednesday walk. We couldn't tell what they were feeding on.
The center pond held a couple of Mallards and a few young Wood Ducks. More Starlings decorated the trees along the eastern bank. An American Beaver swam a few feet away. In the trees near the trail were more Chickadees, Swainson's Thrush and American Robins, Yellow Warblers, a Wilson's Warbler, Downy Woodpeckers, a pair of Hairy Woodpeckers, Bewick's Wrens, and a Brown Creeper. A pair of Red Crossbills were heard but not seen. A young Muskrat was feeding, it's whiskers twitching, on the edge of the small slough crossing to the Twin Barns.
Out on the dike, things slowed down as the day warmed. A couple Mallards shared the little bit of visible open water with one of the highlights of the day, a young American Bittern, a sight that has become rare lately. (thanks Ellen) We were treated to a long look at the bird, watching it snatch and swallow a Stickleback.(fish) We heard a Marsh Wren and a Virginia Rail call. An Osprey flew southwesterly over the marsh.
McAllister Creek looked beautiful and inviting in the warm sunlight. A slight breeze kept the heat from being oppressive for the few of us that took to the boardwalk. A couple of Belted Kingfishers fished the water, Double-crested Cormorants and Great Blue Herons lined the mud along with numerous Harbor Seals. A few Greater Yellowlegs, (the only shorebirds for the day), patrolled the shore. There was not a duck to be found on either the creek or the reach. Many more Cormorants and Herons were seen from the Puget Sound viewing platform along with a couple hundred Gulls too distant to identify given the heat shimmer. The gulls close enough to identify as we walked back were predominantly Ring-billed. We picked out a single Short-billed (thanks Anders) a California Gull, and a smattering of "big guys". A few Caspian Terns remained, near by but separated from the Gulls.
Once back on the dike and along the eastern side of the forested loop the birds dropped to a trickle, a few Robin's, Song Sparrows, and Chickadees. The dearth of shorebirds and ducks, a complete absence of geese, reminded us that we're still in the summer doldrums. The complete checklist follows:
Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually NWR, Thurston, Washington, US
Jul 30, 2025 8:15 AM - 12:24 PM
Protocol: Traveling
1.872 mile(s)
Checklist Comments: Sunny, slight haze in the am, clearing and warming as the day progressed. 62°-87° F . Light , 2-3 mph breeze, off and on, out of the NE. Mammals seen include Black-tailed Deer, Harbor Seals, American Beaver, Muskrat, Cotton-tailed Rabbit, Eastern Gray Squirrel, Townsend's Chipmunk. Duration and distance shown are inaccurate, my bad. (more like 7.5 hours, 5.25 miles travelled.)
58 species (+3 other taxa)
Wood Duck 9
Northern Shoveler 2 reported by the esteemed Ellen.
Mallard 13
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 10
Band-tailed Pigeon 2
Mourning Dove 3
Rufous Hummingbird 2
Virginia Rail 1
Greater Yellowlegs 6
Short-billed Gull 1
Ring-billed Gull 100
California Gull 1
Glaucous-winged Gull 1
Western x Glaucous-winged Gull (hybrid) 2
Western/Glaucous-winged Gull 5
Larus sp. 200
Caspian Tern 7
Brandt's Cormorant 4
Double-crested Cormorant 120
American Bittern 1
Great Blue Heron 60
Osprey 1
Bald Eagle 5
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Belted Kingfisher 3
Downy Woodpecker 3
Hairy Woodpecker 2
Northern Flicker 7
Western Wood-Pewee 13
Willow Flycatcher 3
Warbling Vireo 2
American Crow 3
Common Raven 2
Black-capped Chickadee 6
Chestnut-backed Chickadee 2
Tree Swallow 8
Violet-green Swallow 1
Purple Martin 40
Barn Swallow 30
Cliff Swallow 5
Brown Creeper 1
Marsh Wren 1
Bewick's Wren 3
European Starling 600
Swainson's Thrush 11
American Robin 8
Cedar Waxwing 6
House Finch 1
Purple Finch 2
Red Crossbill 2
Pine Siskin 20
American Goldfinch 3
Savannah Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 15
Red-winged Blackbird 50
Brown-headed Cowbird 2
Orange-crowned Warbler 1
Common Yellowthroat 4
Yellow Warbler 8
Wilson's Warbler 1
Black-headed Grosbeak 1
