Blue Goose ~ Day 29

June 29, 2014 ~ Sunnyside, WA to Shelton, WA

It was a lovely June morning but on my way to Toppenish, NWR, I was diverted by the police due to an accident. I could see an overturned vehicle on the road ahead. I read later that two men had died. Always sobering. And this was just a minor country road.

Toppenish NWR - WA

The gate to the refuge never did open; however, there was a wide mowed trail along a creek but the shrubbery was dense, and I could barely see the water and seldom the birds that were twittering and singing. So I walked a very short paved trail to a shaded overlook and stayed an hour, with my scope, looking over the riparian habitat and the sage and tried to ID a flycatcher which basically was there an hour also. Flycatchers return to the same perch over and over, briefly flying out and catching insects. This genus is difficult; there are about 6-8 species that look similar,  and I never did decide what it was, but the rewards for my discipline were two: A California Quail which perched briefly on dead brush in the sage and a fly-byYellow-breated Chat, a good-sized colorful bird but usually hard to see. They are bright yellow underneath and gray on top with bold white spectacles and are skulkers. I have seen them before but never well and certainly wasn't expecting to see one in this habitat.

And then the Army showed up in the parking area and I left. No, I have no idea...











I got on US12 and drove west from Yakima over White Pass through the Cascades (beautiful) and north on I5 to Nisqually NWR near Olympia.

Finally, were were people and no wonder as this is an impressive refuge for several reasons. Fresh water from the Nisqually River meets salt water from Puget Sound and creates a tidal estuary / delta with a mile-long (one-way) boardwalk. One can hear and see the constant traffic of I5 which is definitely a juxtaposition but oddly not intrusive.

Caspian Tern and gulls at Nisqually NWR - WA

Nisqually NWR - WA

This refuge reminded me of Minnesota Valley near St. Paul / Minneapolis...retreats for the urban-weary, close to major cities. There was also a one-mile boardwalk loop around fresh-water wetlands and through deep green woods.

It had started to rain HARD as I drove into the parking lot, but in five minutes the sun came out. It was peaceful, ambling along the boardwalks in the late afternoon light with sunset only a couple of hours away.

I intended to drive up to Port Angeles on the northern coast of the Olympic Peninsula before stopping, but realized it was farther than I thought and it was getting dark, so I settled for a Walmart in Shelton, only 30 minutes from Nisqually. No bother trying to find a motel; no checking in, hauling stuff in and paying $100 - $200. Easy.....