Category: Nisqually NWR

A little afraid that I would the five-mile trail at Nisqually would close before I get back from California, I decided to brave the clouds after finally getting packed for my trip. It was darker than I liked and some of the pictures I thought might turn out didn’t because the camera was too slow to capture motion.

However, I was thrilled to manage to capture two different kinds of Yellow-Rumped Warblers, this Myrtle male in breeding colors

and this Audubon’s male in breeding colors, one I don’t think I’ve gotten a picture of before.

As I walked out the parking lot, I was greeted by this White-Crowned Sparrow who seemed determined to get his picture taken, and I was happy to oblige:

I hope I get one more chance to walk the loop, but if I don’t at least I’ll have a good day to remember.

After missing last Friday’s sunshine because of the flu, I wasn’t about to miss this Friday’s sunshine. After walking Skye in the morning, I headed out for a day of sunbathing at Nisqually.

The first thing I saw on the trail was this Great Blue Heron, the same one that seemed to be haunting the trail when I was here on Monday last week. I obviously couldn’t just ignore him. After all, I figure if I take enough pictures of him this close up I’m bound to get it right eventually. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen one in quite this good of light before:

As it turned out, there may have been more photographers than birds on the trail. I really didn’t see anything unusual at all until the end of the hike when a number of visitors were looking at this Great Horned Owl, sunning himself:

The day ended with some of the best shots I’ve ever managed of these Ringed-Neck ducks, who, for a change, seemed more concerned with the squabbling geese than with all the tourists with cameras:

Remember those elegant photos of Canada Geese I posted last week?

I got slightly different view of our friends today at Nisqually Wildlife Refuge. Apparently much can change in a mere five days.

This pair declared loudly and clearly that they did not want to share their part of the pond with another pair of Geese who landed nearby.

The other geese either didn’t understand the message or chose to ignore it because the male was soon hopping mad,

and expressed his anger in no uncertain terms until he drove the trespassers off.

Luckily, I was on the other side of the pond, or I might not have found the incident less entertaining.

I really liked these shots I took Monday at Nisqually Wildlife Refuge, but I was waiting for help on identifying the bird. I knew immediately it was a Northern Harrier, and I thought it was a male, but I wasn’t sure because it wasn’t as gray as a male is supposed to be.

Ruth Sullivan told me it was an immature male Northern Harrier, a stage where they turn from brown to gray. Of course, none of the books I have seemed to make that distinction, though my National Geographic guide did show a difference between juveniles and adults.

It was the the brilliant white here, though, that convinced me it couldn’t be a female harrier.