December 4, 2019 - Another Nisqually Refuge "Wednesday Walk"

I’ve gotten in the “bad habit” of going out with the “Wednesday Walk” group at Nisqually NWR, about 12 miles from my house.  There are usually one or two dozen birders in attendance, of all levels of birding expertise.  The walk is scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. every week, and no one is expected to last all day; most folks have a Real Life, and only go birding for part of the day.  Some of us, who have nothing better to do, will be out with Refuge Volunteer Shep Thorp until the bitter end.  Usually around 3 or 4 p.m.

As usual, the group departed the Visitors’ Center and worked our way through the heritage orchard.

Although Pacific Wrens are in the area year-round, it is easier to see these "skulkers" when the leaves have fallen.

Both Juncos and White-crowned Sparrows are common in the area, but for some reason they are not all that common on the Refuge.  Here, an immature “Gambel’s” White-crown was found in a flock of Golden-crowned Sparrows.  I see the bill as being more "dirty straw" color than the "yellow" bill of the Puget Sound subspecies.

The group went north to catch the tidal push, hoping the incoming tide would result in the waterbirds being a bit closer.  And scoping from the north dike into the restored estuary, we were rewarded with a view of a drake Eurasian Wigeon (seen here in the lower left) among all of the American Wigeon.

We went out onto the estuary boardwalk within an hour of the high tide, which happened at noon today, and sorted through the various gulls and waterfowl.

We see lots of “Large Pink-footed Gulls” in south Puget Sound.  Many birders from “Away” want to see Left Coast specialties like a Glaucous-winged or Western Gull.  Unfortunately for them, many (most?) of the gulls in this area are hybrids of the two species.  Those folks who are hoping for a "Life Bird" are disappointed that these are "merely" hybrids, and don't "count" as a "tick" on their bird lists.

As the tide rose, most of the mudflat had been inundated, and any chance for seeing shorebirds had pretty well disappeared.

But, with the high water, one can often see bird species that more often stay out in the deeper water.  Because it was a +13.74-foot high tide, a Red-throated Loon swam in to hunt its lunch in McAllister Creek’s flooded intertidal zone.

The waterfowl hunting season is on-going on the WDFW Wildlife Area adjacent to the Refuge.  Many hunters are not familiar with the 12-15-foot tidal exchange, and set their duck decoys with too light a weight, or too short of an anchor line.

We’d seen a fair number of birds out on the estuary.  Having the salt water habitats of the Nisqually Reach and Delta adjacent to the Refuge’s fresh water marsh, fields, and riparian trees makes for a pretty good species count on most days.  As we walked back, we spied a raptor perched in a cottonwood snag.

Getting the scopes on the bird revealed it to be a Peregrine Falcon searching for a duck dinner.

In all, the group saw 70 species today, which is not bad for a damp mid-winter day.  Come join us if you can!

Nisqually NWR eBird checklist is Here