Lat.: 47.0857019, Lon.: -122.70616569999999
Day, 2012
4/1/12
10:30am-2:00pm
Today we visited the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. Before exploring, a guide informed us that most of the buildings and trails follow footprints of an old farm that used to be there. He also said that this particular area could have actually become a landfill. I'm so glad it didn't. When we began the trail, the sky was overcast and it wasn't rainy. A light rain and slightly strong wind did pick up within about an hour or so into the trip. As for temperature, I would say it was around 45-50 degrees F though it seemed much cooler once the wind kicked in.
As we saw yesterday at the Mt. Rainier Trail of the Shadows, this particular area was comprised of a lot of deciduous trees with moss and possibly sword ferns growing out of them. The understory was mainly leafless trees and branches covering the water that this trail followed. However, if you looked deeper past the deciduous trees, on the other side of the trail there were many tall trees not covered in most and with not much visible understory. These trees also looked like they could've been evenly spaced which suggests to me that they may have been coniferous and/or second growth. In the more deciduous parts, we saw a lot of birds such as Red Breasted Robins, Brown Creepers, Song Sparrows, Great Horned Owls, Marsh Hawks, and even a Red-tailed hawk really up close.
The Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge also had a long pathway out into a tree-less flat area with some grass and connecting water. It was here that we saw Bald Eagles in the distance, a Marsh Hawk diving ("kiting") for food, Blue Herons flying and landing in the grass, and many ducks and geese swimming around in the water or gathering together on the grass. The Marsh Hawk kiting for prey was particularly interesting to me. It would fly up, hover a bit, and then soar down close to the ground diving for its prey. It did this for at least 5 minutes. Although I didn't get to see it actually come up with any food as I was not that close, I'd imagine it eventually got what it was after.
Species List:
Red flowering currant
American robin
Song sparrow
Canada geese
Great horned owl
Brown creeper
Sword fern
Salmonberry
Red tail hawk
Common merganser
Marsh hawk
Bald eagle
Great blue heron
Big leaf maple
Elder berry
Saw this little bird at the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge among some sticker bushes. The weather was overcast and slightly rainy.
Rather plump robin along side the trail.
Also seen along the trail at the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. Weather was cloudy with light rain.
Saw this juvinille hawk in a tree about 6 feet away from the trail we were all walking on. It had yellow around the eyes and a super hooked beak. It started ruffling its feathers and then flew to a farther tree showing us its big broad wingspan.
Swimming in a pond at the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. Weather was cloudy and slightly rainy.
Flew into this meadow/grassy area and just stood there for a long time. Saw many of these herons blending into the landscape.
Saw this while walking back from the trail. Not sure what it is though. The whole plant was growing out of the water along the trail.
Tons of these geese were flying together and landed on this patch of grass just at the beginning of the trail.
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