Date: 4/2/26 9:21 pm From: Kenneth Brown via Tweeters <tweeters...> Subject: [Tweeters] Wednesday at Nisqually
April Fools Day. We arrived to steady rain and cold, it didn't feel like spring. Mama nature trying to fool us again. A small flock of birders gathered on the deck at the Visitor's Center to grouse about the weather, but mostly about our travel ordeal due to the backup on northbound I-5. Our grumbling was forgotten when we were distracted by a pair of Cinnamon Teal, the first of the year, the male blatantly bright cinnamon. They shared the pond with pairs of Canada Geese, Gadwall, Hooded Mergansers, Mallards, and Ring-necked Ducks. A pair of Marsh Wrens twittered in the reeds next to the deck. We started with only 9 birders, but a few more trickled in as they completed the traffic gauntlet.
A now-reliable male Rufous Hummingbird stood sentry at the entrance to the kids play area, his color a close match with the Cinnamon Teal. The play area is undergoing some renovation by Bob and his crew, soon to feature a life-size replica of a Bald Eagle's nest at an elevation that kids (young and old) can examine. A Band-tailed Pigeon perched in the top of a Pear Tree in the orchard. A Northern Flicker called, prompting some to briefly consider whether it was a Pileated Woodpecker instead. Near the Land Trust building a mixed flock of Golden-crowned and Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Black-capped and Chestnut-backed Chickadees, and Yellow-rumped Warblers entertained in the Alders, a Bewick's Wren sang unseen in the low brush.
From the entrance road, more Band-tailed Pigeons perched in a fruit tree in the orchard and in a large Cottonwood to the west. Another Rufous Humming bird displayed on the orchard's edge. Our peekaboo view of the Forbidden pond west of the road revealed no waterfowl, the surrounding field was dotted with Daffodils in full bloom. On the service road an orange-crowned Warbler mixed with Kinglets and Chickadees. The pond south of the bend in the service road held Northern Shovelers, American Wigeon, Northern Pintail, and Mallards. We heard the yipping of a flock of Cackling Geese as they flew overhead, apparently heading for the northern part of the freshwater marsh.
The flooded fields west of the service road held all the same ducks and a lot of American Coots. Two male Eurasian Wigeon were found among their much more numerous American Cousins. Wilson's Snipe foraged near the edge of the water. American Robins and European Starlings populated the cross dike road and the nearby Willows. Red-winged Blackbirds perched and called from the same trees and the Cattails. A pair of Bald Eagles watched from their perch high up in a bare tree along the western edge of the field. Swooping and swerving low over the fields were a multitude of Swallows, mostly Tree and Violet-green, with a few Barn and at least one Rough-winged in their midst. It was still raining, lightly but steadily, the clouds hanging low, keeping the insects, and therefore the Swallows down at our level.
From the boardwalk on the west side of the loop trail, there were more Ring-necked Ducks in the pond, Marsh Wrens chattering in reeds. Spotted Towhees, Song Sparrows, Fox Sparrow, Kinglets, Chickadees, announced themselves from the brush along the west side of the trail. A pair of Wood Ducks flew overhead. Jim spotted a Robin's nest still under construction, the builder and soon to be occupant working diligently. Further along we re-found the Rufous Hummingbird nest we found last week. It was occupied by the female, settled low in the nest, only her head and tail visible, likely sitting on eggs. Along the trail to the platform by the Twin Barns were Yellow-rumped Warblers, and from the platform the same species of ducks and Swallows as earlier. A Northern Harrier flying north to south, swooped low over the sodden field scaring up a flock of Wilson's Snipe.
A mob of Golden-crowned Sparrows, with a couple of Spotted Towhees for company worked the leaf litter along the Willows at the base of the south side of the dike. On the north side, the white head of a Bald Eagle stuck up from it's nest in the large Cottonwood near the Nisqually. Several juvenile Eagles were scattered among the dead snags. The tide was low, showing an expanse of mud on the surge plain, with a few distant gulls and ducks. A pair of American Kestrel perched atop a snag, a Norther Flicker watched from a bare sapling. The female Yellow-shafted female Flicker put in an appearance. Though it was still raining and cold when we left the Willows behind, the wind did not pickup as is usual. Swallows were active on both sides of the dike. The freshwater side held ducks and Coots as expected. A pair of Pied-billed Grebes caught our attention, one chasing, the other played hard to get and disappeared. Jon spotted an American Bittern, close in but still hard to see at first. Heather spotted a Virginia rail near the gate at the base of the McAllister Creek boardwalk.
Once on the boardwalk, the rain became a bit more sporadic, giving us an occasional break. Bufflehead, Gadwall, Wigeon, Common Goldeneye shared the water with a Horned Grebe. Unusually absent from the creek were Surf Scoters. Two adult Eagles occupied the O.G. southerly Eagle's nest along the west side, it seems they may be nesting there again. A few Greater Yellowlegs and Great Blue Herons wandered the shore. A Spotted Sandpiper foraged on the far side. Gulls were scattered around in low numbers, mostly Short-billed and Ring-billed. From the north end, the tide low, the waterline was distant, but we finally found some Surf Scoters, along with a few Red-breasted Mergansers, a couple Common Loons, a lot a ducks and sandpipers too distant to identify.
Back to the dike and then to the Nisqually River overlook. The river was running "normally," not so milky-brown as the last couple weeks. Swallows found reason to forage low above the river. A single drake Common Merganser made himself visible. 13 Mallards hung out in the quiet side channel. Turning south along the east side of the loop we found Brown Creeper, Yellow-rumped Warblers, and a Hairy Woodpecker. On the riparian spur the tidal sloughs were pocked with emerging Skunk Cabbage, only a week or two from full bloom. Then back to the deck for the final tally, while in that process, an Anna's Hummingbird appeared in the adjacent bushes as if to say, "you thought you had missed me, April fools". See the following checklist:
Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually NWR, Thurston, Washington, US
Apr 1, 2026 8:00 AM - 3:15 PM
Protocol: Traveling
5.58 mile(s)
Checklist Comments: Wednesday Walk. A rainy day with temperatures from 43-48ยบ F and a 3 to 5-knot south breeze. A High 13.7-foot Tide at 4:59 a.m. ebbed to a +1.7-foot low water at 11:30 a.m. before flooding toward a 12.2-foot high water at 5:33 p.m. Non-birds seen included Eastern Cotton-tailed Rabbit, Columbian Black-tailed Deer, Eastern Gray Squirrel, and a mink at the water control structure in the slough near the Twin Barns.
74 species (+11 other taxa)
Cackling Goose (minima) 135
Cackling Goose (Taverner's) 21 A flock of 20 birds landed in the field just west of the Visitors' Center; the injured Taverner's remained along the north dike.
Canada Goose 60 Mostly paired up; at least one was banded "1278-00075" likely by WDFW at their South Puget Sound project near Steilacoom.
Wood Duck 4
Cinnamon Teal 4
Northern Shoveler 115
Gadwall 85
Eurasian Wigeon 3 Males
American Wigeon 375
Eurasian x American Wigeon (hybrid) 1
Mallard 155
Northern Pintail 36
Green-winged Teal 400
dabbling duck sp. 700 Scoped: At edge of the mudflats at extreme low tide. Presumed mostly wigeon and teal, with some Gadwall and Pintail.
Ring-necked Duck 5 Visitors' Centre pond
Surf Scoter 16 Nisqually Reach
Bufflehead 110
Common Goldeneye 32
Hooded Merganser 12 Display and courtship flights by several pair
Common Merganser 1 Nisqually River below observation deck
Red-breasted Merganser 3
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 12
Band-tailed Pigeon 6
Anna's Hummingbird 1
Rufous Hummingbird 7
Virginia Rail 1 Vocalizing from cattail marsh
American Coot 85
Wilson's Snipe 13
Spotted Sandpiper 1 West bank of McAllister Creek
Greater Yellowlegs 18
peep sp. 45 Estuary restoration area
Short-billed Gull 55
Ring-billed Gull 30
Glaucous-winged Gull 2
Western x Glaucous-winged Gull (hybrid) 4
Western/Glaucous-winged Gull 12
gull sp. 250
Pied-billed Grebe 3
Horned Grebe 1 McAllister Creek
Common Loon 2 Nisqually Reach
American Bittern 1 East side of cattail marsh along the north dike
Great Blue Heron 15
Northern Harrier 1
Bald Eagle 32 Birds on nests at south McAllister Creek and in cottonwood along Nisqually River
Belted Kingfisher 4
Red-breasted Sapsucker 1 Near Visitors' Center
Downy Woodpecker (Pacific) 3
Hairy Woodpecker 2
Northern Flicker 2
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 1 * Continuing female
Northern Flicker (Red-shafted) 2
American Kestrel 2 Male and female perched on stump in surge plain north of the north dike
Merlin 1
Hutton's Vireo 1 Heard along service road
Steller's Jay (Coastal) 1 Vocalizing from timber west of McAllister Creek
American Crow 8
Black-capped Chickadee 10
Chestnut-backed Chickadee 3
Tree Swallow 75
Violet-green Swallow 70
Tree/Violet-green Swallow 65
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 1
Barn Swallow 10
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 9
Golden-crowned Kinglet 8
Brown Creeper 7
Marsh Wren 15
Bewick's Wren 14
European Starling 35
Hermit Thrush 1 Heard vocalizing by Jim P along the west side boardwalk
American Robin 42
Purple Finch 4 Vocalizing males
Fox Sparrow (Sooty) 4
Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon) 6
White-crowned Sparrow (pugetensis) 2
Golden-crowned Sparrow 52
Savannah Sparrow 2
Song Sparrow (rufina Group) 44
Lincoln's Sparrow 1
Spotted Towhee (oregonus Group) 12
Red-winged Blackbird 70
Orange-crowned Warbler 1
Common Yellowthroat 5
Yellow-rumped Warbler 3
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's) 7
