HIDDEN GEM!!! I would recommend this walk out into the Nisqually Delta to all who love the wilderness. Remember to follow the Gravel road to the boardwalk...

The tide was a -2.8 when we arrived at noon. We began by walking the west side of the Twin Barns Loop. The water here and behind the refuge headquarters was covered with upright small yellow flowered water lilies. We saw one bull frog and heard several more. We heard a few song birds but saw only a song sparrow. We had lunch at the Twin Barns Observation Platform. After lunch we walked the mile long Nisqually Estuary Boardwalk Trail. Rain began as we were leaving the Puget Sound Viewing Platform at the end of the boardwalk. The Olympics and Mt Rainier were not visible today and we saw very few birds. Bald Eagles, barn swallows, tree swallows, a red-tailed hawk, and 3 geese families were seen. A coyote and weasel were also seen.

Kindra and I headed out for a whirlwind tour of southwest Washington before seeing some folks at Trails and Ales, but first, we decided to stop by Nisqually NWR. Amazingly, the weather held pretty well, we just had a few drops of rain, nothing we weren't prepared for. The Twin Barns Loop and the Nisqually Estuary Trail are pretty, green trails that feel quite remote, despite their proximity to I-5. Armed with point-and-shoot cameras and an iPhone, we weren't as well equipped as some wildlife watchers; a gentleman who found out we had come without binoculars looked pityingly at us before he told us about some sandhill cranes hanging out on the tidelands. Turns out we didn't need binocs -- the cranes were HUGE. We took several minutes both on the way out and back to appreciate them. There was plenty of other wildlife about. Birds called, fished, swam, and pooped all around us for the entire 5 miles of our outing. A great start to a hike-filled day.

Splendiferous day at Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge, including SEVENTY degree, sunny weather (what?!?!)!!! The migrating birds were nearly outdone by phenomenal skyscapes. In addition to all the regular ducks, geese, gulls, and herons, we saw Northern shovelers, Lesser scaup, Green winged teal, and even Eurasian wigeons! Many were acting pretty silly (ok, that's OUR perception; their ladies seemed impressed enough) as breeding ramps up. Pics are at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/51278183@N05/sets/72157642023967483/.

The 3 owlets have left their nest and we saw them today in the area of last year's nest along the gravel path on the East side of the loop from the visitor's center. 2 of the owlets were together on a limb far, far away, but the other was close in a tree beside the path. An adult was in the tree that apparently was a nest last year. After watching them for at least an hour we walked the boardwalk where we saw a variety of ducks, herons, gulls, and bald eagles.