This morning was cloudy, for the first
time in a while, but still cool at 32° with no frost. I drove out to
Nisqually NWR for the weekly bird walk. FWS Volunteers Phil Kelley and Shep Thorp led the Wednesday gathering, and today about
three dozen birders went out. The big
draw today was that a Barn Owl had been reported along the east boardwalk of
the Twin Barns trail. All we could see
of her was the top of her head in a cavity in a maple tree, but that made ‘most
everyone’s day.
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| Birders on the hard-to-see Owl |
Snow began to fall as we continued our
walk, but that didn’t deter this crew of avid birders. . . especially when
there are good birds to be seen.
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| Happy birders, because they're looking at . . . |
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| An American Bittern! |
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| American Wigeon |
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| Not technically a "Snow" Goose . . . |
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| Obligatory Great Blue Heron shot . . . |
The snow continued as we went out onto
the Estuary Boardwalk.
But we were rewarded for our efforts by
finding a nice male “Intergrade” Green-winged Teal.
Birders use the term intergrade to describe a
cross between two subspecies of a species, whereas the term “hybrid” would
refer to a cross between two different species.
This bird has the horizontal white stripe of the Eurasian Green-winged
Teal, as well as the vertical shoulder stripe that distinguishes the American
subspecies.
The snowfall abated as we returned from
the estuary observation deck, and we enjoyed more mild conditions for the
remainder of our birding to end the day with 68 species. Not bad, given the weather and the
visibility.
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| Adult Ring-billed Gull |
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| Male Red-shafted Northern Flickers have red mustaches |
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| Hooded Merganser hen |
Hope to see you at the Nisqually
Visitors’ Center one of these Wednesdays. 8 a.m., rain or shine - or snow!
Nisqually NWR eBird Checklist is Here
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