Date: 7/30/26 7:56 pm From: Kenneth Brown via Tweeters <tweeters...> Subject: [Tweeters] Wednesday at Nisqually.
Can't complain about the weather, about as good as it gets in late July, overcast and cool to start. At first a small group of birders but more continued to trickle in until we were about 3 dozen. Duck weed covered most of the pond, disturbed only by a pair of young male Wood Ducks, their "chin straps" beginning to show, and a couple of Mallards in female plumage. The mud gourd of the Cliff Swallow nest over the Gift Shop window held a couple of recent hatchlings, are they the third brood in that nest this year? We couldn't tell if the Barn Swallow nest tucked under the peak of the walkway shelter had new occupants, but both species swerved over and around us, under the roof.
It was quiet, over the sound of freeway traffic, not a lot of bird song as we walked the south parking lot. The Refuge had hired a contractor to take down two giant hazardous Cottonwood trees joined at the base near the east side of the lot, but you had to intentionally look to notice the change. They left snags 20-25 feet tall a few feet in from the woods edge. From the parking lot the woods seemed undisturbed. A few Chickadees and a couple Robins were foraging in the trees.
In the orchard a Cooper's Hawk perched with it's back to us on a dead branch of a pear tree until it left, either to escape from, or in pursuit of a Band-tailed Pigeon that had attempted to drive it away. When we reached the other side of the orchard the Hawk was perched atop another fruit tree, facing us this time, showing the streaked breast of a juvenile bird. The sun was beginning to peak through the clouds as we walked the service road. Birders with good ears reported hearing Red Crossbills, unseen, in flight overhead. Barn Swallows were the dominant species swooping over the fields west of the road with a few Tree Swallows and an occasional Violet-green Swallow. Some one shouted "Bittern" and we looked up to see a large bird flying away from us that became a Green Heron.
The southern section of the west side of the loop trail boardwalk was chained and closed to access so we continued up the service road. Flocks of Starlings could be seen, a few Red-winged Blackbirds dotted the grassy fields, a Song Sparrow hopped along the road edge. We turned to the access road to the northern section of west side of the boardwalk loop trail and could see the source of the hammering we had been hearing. The Washington Conservation Corps crew, hard at work, rebuilding a section of the boardwalk. On the loop trail we found Northern Yellow Warblers, Wilson's Warblers, American Goldfinch, A Willow Flycatcher and Western Wood Peewees, more Chickadees, Spotted Towhees and a Purple Finch. Looking out at the field from the Twin Barnes overlook, Cliff Swallows joined the arial acrobatics of the Barn Swallows and a single Bank Swallow. A couple Savanah Sparrows sat on top of a birdhouse mounted on a severely leaning post. Three young Bald Eagles spiraled in a thermal to the northeast.
The clouds were gone by the time we reached the dike, as was half of our number. The birds were few and far between. A minus tide exposed an expanse of mud to the north, a few distant gulls were white dots on the broad brown mud flat. Tim reported a River Otter that quickly crossed the dike from north to south. To the south in the fresh water marsh, a Virginia Rail answered a call. A single Marsh Wren popped up from the reeds, flew 30 feet and dropped out of sight again. More Starlings decorated the bushy snags on both sides of the dike. While it was sunny, it was not particularly hot and a refreshing breeze blew out of the southwest.
McAllister Creek was a slender version of itself bordered by muddy banks. A few Ring-billed Gulls and California Gulls were scattered across the mud. A couple of Greater Yellowlegs stalked the shore and an occasional lump, the top of a Harbor Seal's head, appeared as the only thing in the water. Across the creek, two young Bald Eagles still occupied their natal nest. They seem hesitant to leave. At the mouth of the creek, a couple dozen Canada Geese and a half dozen Greater Yellow legs populated the exposed delta islands. In front of Luhr Beach, Purple Martins could still be seen at their white gourd houses. A couple dozen Great Blue Herons lurked in the channels exposed by the receded water. A few Double-crested Cormorants hung around and Brandt's Cormorants sat on the channel marker. Three White Pelicans danced in the heat shimmer near the mouth of the Nisqually River.
Back to the dike and then to the river overlook. The tide still low, the river looked inviting in the bright sunlight, blue-green and sparkling clear running water, but no birds. When we turned south things improved. Several Western Wood Peewees, young and adults showed up, a few Brown Creepers foraged in moss covered branches. Black-capped and Chestnut-backed Chickadees also put in an appearance. We checked known nests of American Goldfinch and Bushtits along the riparian spur but found no activity. Then back to the Visitor's Center for the final tally. We are firmly in the grip of the Summer Doldrums, both our species count and number of individuals down. The Checklist follows:
Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge, Olympia US-WA 47.07225, -122.71205, Thurston, Washington, US
Jul 29, 2026 7:45 AM - 2:46 PM
Protocol: Traveling
3.123 mile(s)
Checklist Comments: Today’s Wednesday Walk; a paean to the Summer Doldrums. We had a marine layer of clouds and 55º F at the beginning of the walk, with the clouds burning off around 11:00 .a.m., with the temperatures rising to about 78º F with a 5-8 knot westerly breeze. High 9.97-foot high tide at 5:07 a.m. ebbed toward a -1.38-foot low water at 12:18 p.m. Other species seen included Eastern Cottontail, Pacific chorus frog, river otter, Townsend’s Chipmunk, Muskrat, Harbor Seal, American Bullfrog, Red-legged frog, and Western Swallow-tailed Butterfly.
59 species (+3 other taxa)
Canada Goose (moffitti/maxima) 59
Wood Duck 3
Mallard 48
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 12
Band-tailed Pigeon 7
Mourning Dove 4
Anna's Hummingbird 2
Rufous Hummingbird 2
Virginia Rail 1
Killdeer 1
Greater Yellowlegs 12
Short-billed Gull 1
Ring-billed Gull 115
California Gull 40
Glaucous-winged Gull 1
Western x Glaucous-winged Gull (hybrid) 5
Larus sp. 525 Counted by 10x
Brandt's Cormorant 3 Nisqually Reach channel marker
Double-crested Cormorant 8
American Bittern 1
Green Heron 1
Great Blue Heron (Great Blue) 27
American White Pelican 3 Large white birds with orange beaks at the mouth of the river.
Cooper's Hawk 1
Bald Eagle 29 Large eaglets still in the McAllister Creek nest.
Belted Kingfisher 4
Downy Woodpecker (Pacific) 1
Northern Flicker 1
Northern Flicker (Red-shafted) 3
Western Wood-Pewee 13
Willow Flycatcher 1
Western Flycatcher (Pacific-slope) 1
Western Warbling Vireo 1
Steller's Jay (Coastal) 2
American Crow 9
Common Raven 1
Black-capped Chickadee 12
Chestnut-backed Chickadee 4
Bank Swallow 1 Counted 1x1
Tree Swallow 14
Violet-green Swallow 2
Purple Martin 6
Barn Swallow 50
Cliff Swallow 12
Bushtit (Pacific) 2
Brown Creeper 7
Marsh Wren 1
Bewick's Wren 4
European Starling 165
Swainson's Thrush (Russet-backed) 12
American Robin 10
Cedar Waxwing 20
Purple Finch (Western) 1
Red Crossbill 8
American Goldfinch 22
Savannah Sparrow 3
Song Sparrow (rufina Group) 11
Spotted Towhee (oregonus Group) 4
Red-winged Blackbird 35
Brown-headed Cowbird 3
Northern Yellow Warbler 16
Wilson's Warbler 5
