Week 6: Birding Time: Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge

Date: Saturday, May 11, 2013

Weather: Sunny

Temperature: 65ºF

Time: 10:00 AM -12:30 PM

Location: Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge

What better to do on a sunny day than go bird watching? Especially if you happen to be at the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge! This is my final field trip of the quarter and it was a fantastic one.

One of the most exciting things about the wildlife refuge was the diversity of habitats in this estuary. This makes it an ideal location to see migratory birds, some of which are a real treat because they cannot be found at Union Bay Natural Area. Here’s a general view of some of the environments that I encountered including some meadows, snags, and marshlands.

Views from the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. It is teeming with wildlife since it is an estuary habitat.

The first bird I learned to ID was the Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia) and the Wilson’s Warbler (Cardellina pusilla). They were both residing on a Pacific Willow, which is natural since they tend to favor wet areas. In addition, both were very defensive of their territory. Since they reside in similar areas, it would seem like there would be constant conflict, but I was informed that they may reside in different areas of the tree, which provides separate niches for the warblers.

The marsh area was teeming with other wildlife as well. An American Robin was loudly calling from the trail and then flew off to perch on a Red Alder tree. On the Cattails a few male Red-Winged Blackbirds were watching their territory closely. A pair of Canadian Geese also flew by very close to ground. In front of me, a Song Sparrow was eating small insects in the marsh grasses, jumped on a log, and then flew off. On the water itself, many Pacific Forktails (Ischnura cervula) were flying about and one in particular was curled up and floating on the water. It was unclear to me what it was doing. In addition to dragonflies, many Common Water Striders skipped around on the water. On the bank, next to a Red Huckleberry was a huge shrub of Himalaya Blackberry that was being pollinated by a Yellow-Faced Bumble Bee (Bombus vosnesenskii).

As we walked further into a meadow area, I saw a large group of European Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) soaring over the grasses and sedges with their beaks down, in search of food. They were a loud, boisterous bunch. Also, just a little farther was a lake with Mallards, Northern Pintails (Anas acuta), and Northern Shovelers that were swimming in circles with their heads down and raking the water surface in order sweep in food.

We then continued on the path to a grassy area with two white-colored barns where all sorts of bird action was going on. First and most notable were the swallows. There were many Violet-Green Swallows (Tachycineta thalassina) and Cliff Swallows (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) with bright orange throats flying around and it was an incredible sight!

A hubbub of activity as these swallows feed and build their homes.

Most of the Cliff Swallows were flying about in a jerky pattern in open air over seven feet off the ground, possibly because they were feeding on insects in the air. In addition, they would bring small amounts of mud from the nearby meadow back to the barn in order to build their nest under the eave of the roof. These are very social creatures and there was never a minute of rest for these cliff swallows.

A Cliff Swallow’s nest, composed of grasses and mud.

The nests were beautifully created with just enough space for each swallow to reside in, but the nests were built in clusters and a whole colony of cliff swallows considered this place home. On occasion, it looked like multiple cliff swallows would be working to build a nest together and I think that they would have some familial ties. The cliff swallows would begin by building a ledge on the wall of the building, so they have a spot to stand on. Then they would slowly build a circular outline on the wall as a foundation for their nest. I did not get to stay long enough to see the full creation of a nest, but it seemed like once a cliff swallow had created a foundation, the rest just required adding more mud and grasses. Those cliff swallows with a complete nest would continuously peck at the sides of the nest, perhaps to shape the nest to perfection.

While the cliff swallows were busily attending to their homes, I also saw an interesting aggressive display from some Brown-headed Cowbirds (Molothrus ater). Near the trail, a male cowbird with glossy black plumage and a female cowbird were pecking at the ground, feeding on insects and making some whistling noises. Suddenly, another male cowbird swooped in and the original male cowbird on the trail was angered. He immediately spread open his wings in an aggressive display. He flashed his wings open numerous times, but then another male swooped in as well. The original male on the trail subsequently chased the female until she flew off to a nearby shrub and all of the males followed suit.

A male brown-headed cowbird was not happy when another male tried to enter his territory. Left, the second male first entered the territory. Right, the aggressive display that ensued.

There was a lot to see near the barn, but we hadn't even reached the estuary yet! So we continued on and saw a Yellow-throated Warbler (Setophaga dominica) sitting in an Elderberry shrub. Flying by in an undulating pattern was also an American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis).

When we finally reached the estuary, I first saw a group of Mallards dabbling. In other words, they would dunk their heads down into the water leaving only their behind up in the air. While underwater, the mallards would use their big bills to scoop away at the bottom of the pond in order to find small insects to eat.

The star of the show was the shore birds. There was a Wilson’s Phalarope (Phalaropus tricolor) swimming in circles and Yellowlegs (Tringa) (it was difficult to determine it if was a “greater” or “lesser” yellowleg) stalking around the marsh. There was also a large group of Short-Billed Dowitchers (Limnodromus griseus) walking in the marshes. They had extremely long legs and a long bill they would poke into the ground in order to dig out crustaceans. It would rapidly poke its bill in one spot and then slowly walk forward before rapidly poking its bill back into the ground. It was not clear to me how the dowitcher was able to determine where to poke into the ground. Perhaps when crustaceans are present, the mud moves ever so slightly, but enough for the dowitcher to spot its prey. Even though these dowitchers were feeding in a large group, each dowitcher had its own designated territory. I saw one dowitcher fly into the territory of another and immediately the owner of the territory made a call and expanded its wings in an aggressive stand. All of the dowitchers were spending the day eating and fattening up to prepare for their migration at night. These dowtichers also all had a breeding plume with speckled brown on top and an orange neck and breast.

Some breeding dowitchers fattening up for a long migration up north.

There were so many interesting and beautiful birds to look at at the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge. And, to top it off, our field trip ended with a visit to Mt. Rainier, so I’ll sign off with this breathtaking view.