Today we took the van down to the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. We were surprised that the park was packed with people! Because it was MLK day, park entrance was free. We had a great walk. The trails are all boardwalks over the muddy parts and a raised gravel trail. This refuge is in the estuary of the Nisqually River. It was farmed in the early 1900s when they built a dike to keep out the tide waters. Now they're restoring the tidelands to their original condition and it makes for great birdwatching. The last 700 feet of the boardwalk to the Puget Sound overlook was closed due to water fowl hunting season.
We saw a lot of folks with fancy bird scopes. One set up his scope to spy on this mother Great Horned Owl sitting in her nest. You can just see her eyes above the edge of the hollow in a tree near the river.
We also saw this bald eagle--pretty far away even for our 60x lens, so the photo isn't so great.
We also saw a couple of other birds of prey: the first could be a peregrine falcon. Not sure what the second might be.
We also saw a couple of great blue herons.
We also saw a great assortment of ducks.
These are American Widgeons.
This could be a female Golden Eye.
This is a Hooded Merganser.
These are Northern Pintails. It was hard to catch them with their heads up. They were mostly bottoms up!
This fellow is a Ring-necked Duck. It hard to see his ringed neck, but the ring on his bill is clear.
These might be Wood Ducks.
Here're some more duck tails. Maybe Ring-necked Ducks?
Sandra is standing on the boardwalk over the wetlands. You can see the old dairy barn behind her on the right of the photo. At the far left, just above the trees, is Mount Ranier where the Nisqually River originates in the Nisqually Glacier.
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