December 19 - Another Nisqually Wednesday Bird Walk

It being Wednesday, I drove out to Nisqually for the weekly Birder's Walk.

Twin Barns at Nisqually NWR

We arrived a little before 8 a.m. to find the gate was still locked!  The dozen cars waiting were wondering whether this was an early “Government Shutdown”?  But, at 8 a.m., the gate swung open.  We found out that, two days prior to the shortest day of the year, sunrise comes at 7:55 a.m.  Technically, the Refuge is open from ‘sunrise to sunset’, and that is how the gate locking mechanism had been programmed.  Up until funding had been lost, staff had opened the gate when they arrived, but those folks are not here now, so we rely on the unforgiving computer…

The walk began a little after the usual 8 a.m. start time, with a dozen and a half birders enjoying a break in the wind and rain storms that are passing through the region.

It was fairly warm today, and the buds were swelling on the Red Alder, and they were making catkins

Red Alder Alnus rubra

Although this year’s seed cones remain.  The seeds from these cones provide a lot of feed for goldfinches

Red Alder is a deciduous tree, but also a conifer

As we headed toward the old Brown’s Farm orchard, we watched a coyote in the parking lot, apparently looking for late winter pears dropping from the trees.

Waiting for a Windfall

The coyote didn’t seem to pay us much attention, and followed us into the orchard

But kept its distance

Keeping Watch

The coyote appeared to be a young one, perhaps from a family with pups that the birders had seen last spring?  He was not paying any attention to the nearby Columbian Black-tailed Deer with her fawns

Columbian Black-tailed Deer Odocoileus hemionus columbianus

An hour later we saw a coyote (the same?) further along, near the Twin Barns, paying just as little attention to the Refuge visitors

No Fear for this Coyote

We saw the expected waterfowl, including dozens of Canada Geese

"Honkers"

thousands of Cackling Geese

Cacklers - Branta hutchinsii minima

Mallards, Wigeon, Shovelers, Pintails, and thousands of Green-winged Teal

Immature Male Green-winged Teal

Dozing Green-winged Teal hen

Hooded Mergansers put on a show

Hooded Merganser drake

Hooded Merganser hen

We had distant views of eleven Snow Geese, which are not all that common here at Nisqually, and always a treat to see

They looked bigger through the spotting scopes . . .

Lots of Bald Eagles were in evidence - we saw more than 80 birds - as this species is drawn to the vicinity by the abundance of prey - waterfowl and the winter chum salmon run in the Nisqually River

Trees full of eagles are common this time of year

Great Blue Herons are always a crowd-pleaser.  They are large.  They are handsome.  And, they are rarely shy

Great Blue Heron.  I think this one's name is Narcissus . . . 

Out on the estuary boardwalk, the tide was rising from a +6.7-foot “low water” at 8:35 a.m., toward a 13.94-foot high at 2:09 p.m. 

The Estuary Boardwalk is a mile long

The water floods the burrows of mud shrimp and sand worms, and forces the air bubbles out.  I have heard some folks worry that this is noxious gas resulting from rotting vegetation following the estuary restoration, but you only see the bubbles on a strong, incoming tide.

These ain't no "Tiny Bubbles"

The high tide today leaves many of the shorebirds without a shore.  These Least Sandpipers took refuge in the winter stems of the Puget Sound gumweed Grindelia integrifolia

Keeping Dry in the Poppets

The estuary is always a good place to sort through the Gulls

Ring-billed Gull

Glaucous-winged Gull

And shorebirds

Greater Yellowlegs

We noted that the Refuge's attempt to replace a section of boardwalk that has been compromised by tidal action will be on hold until the next “work window”, due to salmon habitat needs.  They drove these pilings this fall, before the adult Chinook salmon began to return.

I guess you need to build on a good foundation . . .

Further along, I saw a flock of Bushtits foraging in their frenetic manner.  Several of them were pecking at the fruits of the common snowberry Symphoricarpos albus.  I couldn’t tell whether they were eating the fruit, or eating insects that were on or in the berries.  I’ve seen towhees, Hermit Thrushes, robins, and waxwings feeding on these berries, but it’s the first time I’ve seen it being used by Bushtits.

Bushtit foraging on Snowberry

Not far away, this Hairy Woodpecker was hunting for its lunch on a large Big Leaf Maple.  Our “Pacific” Hairy, as well as our local Downy, has a dusky gray and black plumage, rather than the clean white-and-black of the interior and eastern populations

Female Hairy Woodpecker

As we finished walking  along the east side of the boardwalk loop trail, we found one of the Great Horned Owls perched back in the cottonwoods.  These birds have nested in the area for the past several years, although apparently unsuccessfully last year and the year before.  Hopefully, they will be more successful this year.

Great Horned Owl

As much as I enjoy birding at the Refuge, I still get a kick out of some of their ‘public information’ efforts.  For instance, in the winter, it is always either wet or frosty.  From September to May, I’d edit this sign to just say “Caution: Boardwalk Slippery!”

It might just rain in the Pacific Northwet this Winter . . .

The Environmental Study Area, near the Twin Barns is currently being used as storage for materials needed to rebuild the estuary boardwalk.  What’s to study?

And, last Friday, we had a pretty good little windstorm blow through south Sound.  A 30-inch dbh cottonwood tree blew over and crashed through the bridge across the slough on the Riparian Forest Overlook trail

The Sky Was Falling

I’m thinking that the trail may be more than “Temporarily” closed

Who can tell when the Administration will fund the repairs?

This brings today’s Peregrination to an end!

We had 76 taxa for the day.  See the Nisqually eBird Checklist Here