Nisqually Wednesday Bird Walk

I went out to Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge this morning.  Refuge volunteers lead a bird walk there every Wednesday morning, meeting at 8 a.m. at the Visitors’ Center.  About 18 birders showed up this morning to go out in the rain for a day’s birding.  (In the Pacific Northwest, if you don’t recreate in the rain, you don’t recreate very much….).  The long-time "leader of the gaggle", Phil Kelley was not able to make it out today, but Refuge Volunteer Shep Thorp ably led the day's excursion.

Nisqually Birders in the rain

Our “usual” route leaves the Visitors’ Center, passes through the old Browns Farm orchard, loops along a service road back to the Twin Barns boardwalk and along the west side of the pond to the Twin Barns.  A ‘snack break’ at Barns’ overlook at around 10 a.m. is where several of the group usually call it a morning and return.

Nisqually Twin Barns

The remainder of the group follows the North Dike a half-mile to the west.  The south side of the dike is mowed field and freshwater cattail marsh, whereas the north side of the berm allows good views of the Surge Plain.  Today’s 14.8-foot high tide at 10:08 a.m. pretty well inundated this area, and pushed the birds toward us for good views of meadowlarks, waterfowl and shorebirds.  Again, a portion of the group usually turns back at this point.  An immature Northern Shrike was exceptionally cooperative, giving us good views.

Immature Northern Shrike

Five of us stalwarts continued out on the Estuary Boardwalk, which stretches north from the dike for a mile along Shannon Slough and McAllister Creek to the Refuge Boundary with the W.D.F.W. Wildlife Area.  The distal 400 meters of the walk is closed until the end of the waterfowl hunting season (at the end of January), as the State allows hunting on their property, and the seasonal closure ensures safety for the Refuge visitors.  While we were out, the tide was ebbing toward a mid-low water of 6.9 feet at 4:17 p.m.

But, even from the truncated terminus, we have decent views of the estuary at the mouth of McAllister Creek and out into Nisqually Reach, where birders can get distant views of several of the salt-water species not otherwise seen from the dike.  Along the boardwalk, we had good studies of Least Sandpipers and gulls.

Least Sandpipers

Ring-billed Gull Adult

This is the heart of the “Hybrid Zone” for Western X Glaucous-winged Gulls.  The birds run the gamut from those that look pretty much like “pure” Glaucous-wings to those that approach mostly-Western plumages.

Glaucous-winged Gull

This bird above has somewhat darker primary tips than, maybe, a ‘good’ Glaucous-wing would have, but I imagine that most of us identify birds like this as Glaucous-wings.

Olympic Gull 

This bird above, on the other hand, has a much darker mantle and nearly black primary wing tips.  The head, however, is not quite the all-white that I’d expect on a ‘pure’ Western Gull.

Adult Bald Eagle "under the canopy"

The return route is to the Nisqually River overlook, and back to the Visitors’ Center via the boardwalk along the east side of the Twin Barns loop trail.  Here, we saw a Great Horned Owl glumly waiting out the rain in a copse.  Also, there was an eagle under the canopy of the maples and cottonwoods, rather than out in the open where we usually see them.

We die-hards returned to the Visitors’ Center a little before 3:30 p.m., somewhat damp, but having had a great day birding.

eBird Checklist for the day

Tumwater Falls Park

So, today I joined the American Birding Association.  I should have done this years ago, but I guess it's never too late to do the things you want to do.

An "Individual" membership is $49, and that allows me to - as they say - "... not only receive our high quality publications that help us all become better birders, (but) you have access to a vast network of online resources." 

This morning, the Home feeder area is pretty active.  I feed a tube of black oil sunflower seeds, have a hummingbird feeder out, a cage for our home-made suet, and scatter a cheap mixed blend of sunflower, millet, etc. from the hardware store.

Mostly Oregon Juncos and Black-capped Chickadees, with a smattering of Song and Golden-crowned Sparrows, Spotted Towhees, House Finches, and Red-breasted Nuthatches.

A pair of Red-shafted Northern Flickers has been feeding on the fruits of our Clerodendrum tree.  There are still quite a few berries, so they have some more time for their own "Thanksgiving" feast.

At 8 a.m., I drove our 'new' Crosstrek over to Tumwater Automotive for an oil change.  I had a bit of time, so walked back to Tumwater Falls Park to do a bit of Autumn birding.

This private park is owned by the Olympia Tumwater Foundation and graciously open to the Public.  It is somewhat difficult to hear birds vocalizing over the roar of the cataracts and the noise of I-5, but it is certainly the best place in South Sound to see the American Dipper.

I have enjoyed seeing the "Water Ouzel" as long as I can remember.  It was ubiquitous along the Santiam River and Quartzville Creek when I was a kid & my Dad took me fishing and rockhounding.  Years later I enjoyed reading the entire chapter that John Muir dedicated to this bird's life history in his 1894 book The Mountains of California.

     Dipper at Tumwater Falls Park

"Among all the countless waterfalls I have met in the course of ten years' exploration in the Sierra, whether among the icy peaks, or warm foot-hills, or in the profound yosemitic cañons of the middle region, not one was found without its Ouzel. No cañon is too cold for this little bird, none too lonely, provided it be rich in falling water. Find a fall, or cascade, or rushing rapid, anywhere upon a clear stream, and there you will surely find its complementary Ouzel, flitting about in the spray, diving in foaming eddies, whirling like a leaf among beaten foam-bells; ever vigorous and enthusiastic, yet self-contained, and neither seeking nor shunning your company."

The bird will stand, bobbing, along the edge of the torrent, then wade into the water, and hold its head underwater while searching for some morsel.  Nothing close?  It might just swim out into the current, or wade out until it is completely underwater, "flying" back to the surface and repeating the process until it is sated.

I came back past the Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife's Tumwater Falls Salmon Hatchery.  This site is one of the main egg-taking stations for south Puget Sound fall chinook, and supports recreational, commercial, Canadian, and Tribal fisheries from the coast of Alaska to our Deschutes River.

It appears that the station made its egg-take goal of 5.5 million eggs this year.  The contributions of the smolts released from this facility from 2000-2004 accrued 24% to Canadian fisheries.  In Washington, there is a 9% 'return' to Ocean troll, 3% to Ocean sport, 10% in Puget Sound net (mostly Tribal), and 35% in Puget Sound sport fisheries.  About 17% of the run returned to the hatchery.

Tumwater Falls eBird checklist

Why am I doing this?

I quit my job with Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife back in March 2018, as I was 62 years old, and have paid into Social Security since I was 12 years old!! (Yes, Virginia, they used to let kids work....)  I was watching my peers grow old in the Cube Farm at the Natural Resources Building in Olympia.  Doug is fighting leukemia.  Bob had an aortic aneurysm, and needed a knee replacement.  Tim needs the "Maze" for atrial fibrillation.  Steve just shot a moose using a "Grim Reaper" harvest permit.  Prostates.  Hearts.  Tumors.  Bah!!  I've attended too many recent funerals for friends and colleagues my age.

So, while I was still healthy enough to get out, I did.  My beautiful wife Marty allowed me to do so, after my friend at Merrill-Lynch looked at our numbers and asked me "Why are you still working?"

So, what do you do when you're still somewhat young and healthy, and not contributing to the Corporate Economy?

Well, one of my passions is "Birding".  Another is travelling around the Country and seeing what it looks like.

I've determined that 2019 is going to be my "Year of Birding".  It won't be a Sandy Komito - Neil Hayward - Noah Strycker - Christian Hagenlocher - John Weigel - Laura Keene sort of "Big Year", as I can't afford the back-and-forth trips from Adak to Key West to the Huachucas to ... well, you understand.   It won't even be an Olaf Danielson sort of Big Year, as I expect to remain fairly-well clothed . . .

But, I am hoping to raise my ABA (American Birding Association) area species total from 574 to 650.  I am really hoping to improve my birding and bird identification skills - especially on the flycatchers, hummingbirds, and Eastern warblers.

I am hoping to see Maine.  And Alaska.  And the Salton Sea. And places in-between.  Hawai'i is unlikely to be on this year's itinerary.

I am hoping to meet new people, see parts of America del Norte I've never seen, and celebrate the fact that I'm still on This Side of the Lawn.