Nisqually Wildlife Refuge 4/1/12

Nisqually Wildlife Refuge 4/1/12 12PM Lat: 47.0857019, Lon: -122.7061657
Today we went to the Nisqually watershed and saw lots of birds. It was a gray, cloudy, windy, cold day. We got an introduction to the area where I learned that it’s an estuary habitat (where salt and fresh water meet) that was once used as farmland. The site has been diked, used for shellfish harvesting, and was almost made into a landfill before becoming a wildlife refuge. Coho salmon use the estuaries to acclimate between the fresh and salt water.
It was interesting to see the birds in their natural habitat. I paid much more attention to the birds then the plants and trees. There were mostly deciduous trees, shrubs, Himalayan blackberries, and marine grasses. The first tree I saw there was reddish purple berry tree that had small light bumps on stem, thin fuzz on leaves, serrated leaves and red, wrinkled shiny berries. They hang in clumps. After looking in the guidebook I found out they were Black Hawthorn. When they are in bloom they have stinky white flowers that make them easier to identify, but the one I saw wasn’t in bloom yet. Besides this tree I didn’t pay close attention to the plants.
The first birds I saw were Robins and Canadian Geese. There were probably more than 40 of each of these species. All the geese were in pairs, mostly sitting in the grass. There was more wooded area around the estuary where we spotted some birds of prey. First we saw two baby/ juvenile great horned owls sitting on different branches halfway up a tree, far away from the path. We could tell they were young from the light white fuzz, white spots underneath, undeveloped facial disks, and small horns. They were probably waiting for their mother to return with food. We heard and saw multiple song sparrows. The song they were singing was one to distract unwelcome visitors from their nest. Then we saw a juvenile Red Tailed Hawk. It had a sharp grey bill pointed down, with a light yellow streak on top. It was sitting on a low branch near the path above the water. After watching it for a few minutes it flew away, displaying its large wingspan. Nearby we also saw some Brown Creepers. The small, brown (white chested), birds were going up and spiraling down a maple tree.
As we headed towards the tide flats we saw Wood Ducks and Northern Shovelers. The Shovelers were swimming in small circles in pairs. At first I thought it was some kind of mating activity, but as I watched more it looked like a way to stir up food. We also spotted a Great Blue Heron across the river. My favorite bird I spotted was the American Bittern. It was tannish yellow, with a black tail and a long narrow neck and beak. It walked with it’s neck extended and its head low to the ground. It creeped slowly forward carefully, picking up its large lime green feet.
I spotted two green tree frogs in the grass at the bottom of a maple tree. We also found a dead salamander frozen mid-step to the rocks of the gravel path. It was about 2-3 inches long and all black.
I realized that it’s much harder to identify birds that you don’t already know then plants. They are hard to see when they are in flight and difficult to follow with binoculars. I would like to be able to identify more birds by their songs, because that’s another method to tell which species are present.

Species Identified
• Black Hawthorn: Crataegus douglasii
• Robin: Turdus migratorius
• Wood ducks: Aix sponsa
• Song sparrow: Melospiza melodia
• Himalayan Blackberry: Rubus discolor
• Canadian Geese: Branta canadensis
• Great Horned Owl: Bubo virginianus
• Brown Creeper: Certhia americana
• Red tailed hawk: Buteo jamaicensis
• Great blue heron: Ardea herodias
• American Bittern: Botaurus lentiginosus
• Northern shovelers: Anas clypeata
• Pacific Tree frog: Hyla regilla
• Salamander: ?

Posted on April 26, 2012 02:03 AM by brooke