The weather was overcast, and lightly drizzled on and off, wind was negligible until about mid-day when it picked up, and strong gusts blew for several minutes before calming down again.
Many impressive species of bird were encountered here, most of the birds of prey are listed on my iNaturalist observations attached here, species such as the bald eagle, spotted owl, and red tailed hawk.
The canopy here consisted almost entirely of deciduous trees, Big Leaf maple,as well as others, it was extremely difficult to identify them due to distance, as well as lack of foliage.
Along with the more charismatic birds to be seen here, there were also several plant species along the trails, some expected in the marshy habitat such as skunk cabbage, but also those that were unique to me; for instance finding a member of the carrot family, Cow Parsnip, was a wonderful surprise.
A flock upwards of 40 ducks was also am impressive sight to behold, several species were included in the flock such as the;
Ring Neck Duck
Northern Shoveler
American Widgeon
and Northern Pintail
Chikadees and songbirds were also common, although not seen their calls were heard throughout the trip.
observed in a very wet area, through a pair of binoculars at the Nisqually River Delta
these were seen in a pair feeding near the trail, however several other individuals were seen all along the trail, and were all equally unaffected by close proximity to humans.
Spotted owl in a pair (second not shown) sitting on horizontal branch, watched through spotting scope for several minutes, the pair never moved.
found in several patches along the trail at the Nisqually River Delta, on many occasions the presence of large patches of this plant could have severely hampered travel in parts of the trail, had it not been for the raised wooden walkway.
several individuals were located sparsely along the raised walking trail, but this particular area grew several individuals, a curious occurrence given its relatively spread out distribution everywhere else along the trail.
Seen through a spotting scope, overlooking a vast open area of the delta, near the edge of the forested region.
Found along the gravel trail, this individual was found, dehydrated, and well preserved. color is completely black, no distinguishing markings.
Garter snake found coiled alongside the trail for a dike pathway. captured to photograph, and was immediately released.
Frog found on dike pathway it immediately darted into the grass when approached, but was gingerly captured, photographed, and released.
Duck found near dike pathway, this individual was moving slowly, and nearly constantly tipped forward with its head underwater.
seen from very far distance with a spotting scope, this bald eagle was overlooking the delta from a perch far to the north. Another observation of a bald eagle was earlier that day, spotted in flight near the southern region of the delta.
seen from very far distance with a spotting scope, this bald eagle was overlooking the delta from a perch far to the north. Another observation of a bald eagle was earlier that day, spotted in flight near the southern region of the delta.
One great blue heron was seen flying low along the delta near the dike pathway, stopping periodically, appearing to search for food.
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