December 5 at Nisqually Wildlife Refuge

I drove out to Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge for the weekly Bird Walk.  There were about 20 participants, mostly ‘regulars’, but a few new folks assembled with us at 8 a.m.

Nisqually Birders

The birds were pretty active in the Orchard this morning, as soon as the sun came up.  We found a very busy mixed-species feeding flock of chickadees and kinglets, and found a Hutton’s Vireo in the group.  There was a lot of ice on the Visitors’ Center pond, but a few dozen ducks were active and keeping patches of open water.

Female Shoveler in front, Mallard hen in back.  Keeping the ice open

We were thrilled to see a Trumpeter Swan do a fly-by, and three Snow Geese came in to land south of the north dike.

Adult (left) and two immature Snow Geese

A couple black-tailed deer were grazing along the way.

Columbian Black-tailed Deer fawn

We had our usual ‘brunch break’ at the Twin Barns overlook, then continued out to the dike and the estuary boardwalk.

Birding the North Dike at Nisqually

The mid-low tide was +6.2 feet at 10:11 a.m.,

Nisqually surge plain at low tide

flooding toward a 14.0-foot high water at 3:27 p.m., so we started out on the boardwalk with a lot of mud showing, and the tidal push brought the ducks and peeps in for closer looks by the time we returned.

Nisqually surge plain at high tide

A couple of drake Eurasian Wigeon showed-off their red heads and gray flank plumage

Drake Eurasian Wigeon - Mareca penelope

Compared to the American Wigeon with their gray heads and rufous flank feathering

American Wigeon drake - Mareca americana

Many of the wigeon were feasting on sea lettuce.  From the holes in the leaf, I would guess that this is Ulva fenestrata

Salad for lunch

Other water bird species included, among others, Green-winged Teal, Pintails, and shorebirds

Greater Yellowlegs

Least Sandpiper showing its yellow legs.  Our other common sandpipers have dark legs

Green-winged Teal hen

Unfortunately, the north wind blew in some plastic trash – including this Mylar Murrelet.  Plastic balloons cause thousands of wildlife mortalities each year – especially in marine waters where albatrosses and sea turtles mistake them for their usual prey:  Jellyfish

There's no escaping the trash . . .

At the Nisqually River overlook, several California Sea Lions were hunting chum salmon on the flood tide

California Sea Lions Zalophus californianus, one of the 'eared' seals

This muskrat was so intent on feeding on aquatic forbs that it paid no attention to the many birders 10 meters away!

Muskrat Ondatra zibethicus focused on its lunch

There is no sign-up requirement to attend a Wednesday bird walk at Nisqually.  An entrance fee of $3 per car is required, unless you have one of the many Federal Lands Passes (Interagency Annual Pass, Senior Pass, Access Passport, Federal Duck Stamp, or an Annual Refuge Pass) which entitle you to ‘free’ admission.  Hope to see you there one of these times.

Winter Hornets' Nest

Nisqually NWR eBird Checklist Here