Nisqually birding notes

This coming weekend is the Nisqually Watershed Festival, and that prompted me to wonder just how important our Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge is to Thurston County bird watching. And the eBird.org website is just the place to get such an answer.  

eBird is a citizen science project, managed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, that provides birders worldwide a location to record, store and share bird observations. We have hundreds of active birders in Thurston County, and many of them regularly record their observations as digital checklists that are then available on the eBird website. 

Most important for our purposes, the data is organized into specific locations that birders visit often. Simply enter “ebird thurston county” in your search engine and our local birding data are at your fingertips. And search “Hotspots” and you will find a list of the many Thurston County locations that are visited and have checklist reports. Nisqually is No. 1 by a mile — there are over 36,000 checklist reports for the refuge. (The next highest is Olympia — KGY Point at almost 4,000). 

Nisqually birders.

Courtesy of Jon Anderson

'Birding Wednesday'

One reason for this large number of reports is the “Birding Wednesday” project. Every Wednesday, local birders lead a birding walk of the entire accessible refuge, recording species and numbers seen. This custom started in 2003 and, after a sporadic start, has been a regular activity on the refuge.  

Jon Anderson, an Olympia-area birder and Birding Wednesday regular, provided some photos to The JOLT for this week’s column. Jon tells me the Wednesday team includes folks of all levels of ability, and that beginners are encouraged to join and are well-rewarded for their bravery.  

"Birding Wednesday" getting organized.

Courtesy of Jon Anderson

The walk gets organized at 8 a.m. at the refuge visitors center and diehard birders spend much of the day. The total length of the walk approaches 5 miles, which is not everyone’s ideal. Participants join or drop off whenever they wish, and thus the size of the group will vary throughout the day. And the results? Recent entire day counts were 86 species on Sept. 23 and 81 species on Sept. 16. (You can view the count data and some photos as well at the eBird link provided above). 

Birding Wednesday is a year around and all-weather activity. Here’s a photo Jon provided of a cold group of birders on a snowy day last winter. 

Winter birding at Nisqually.

Courtesy of Jon Anderson

Red crossbills

There is a small invasion (called an irruption in birding lingo) of red crossbills occurring right now in Thurston County. If you are near mature Douglas firs, there is a good chance that you will hear them up in the treetops with their characteristic “jip, jip” call. Use your Merlin app to help you listen. To learn more about this interesting bird species, check out the Thurston’s Birds column of March 20, 2025.

A red crossbill.

Liam Hutcheson | For The JOLT

Nisqually Watershed Festival

This coming Saturday, Sept. 26, is the annual Nisqually Watershed Festival. There are lots of kid-friendly activities, including creating fish paintings on T-shirts and chances to see birds close-up. Also, it’s a great opportunity to learn about the many Nisqually watershed organizations and feast on the annual salmon bake as well.

However, it’s not a good day for non-festival goers since all the parking areas are filled with information booths and children’s activities. For this day, parking is at the Hogum Bay Park-and-Ride lot at Interstate 5, exit 111, with frequent shuttles zooming you to and from the refuge itself.   

A poster for the 37th Annual Nisqually Watershed Festival.

Courtesy of Nisqually River Foundation

Hope to see at the festival, or on one of the Nisqually Wednesdays. Please say, “Hi.” 

George Walter is environmental program manager at the Nisqually Indian Tribe’s natural resources department; he also has a 45+ year interest in bird watching. He may be reached at george@theJOLTnews.com 

Photos for this column are provided by Liam Hutcheson, a 19-year-old Olympia area birder and avid photographer. Additional photos this week provided to The JOLT by Jon Anderson.