Subject: Re: alpine birding spots
Date: Jul 21 15:00:18 1995
From: Dennis Paulson - dpaulson at ups.edu


>Sometime in the next week or so I plan on doing a mountain birding loop,
>hoping to see some alpine birds (ptarmigan near the top of my wish
>list.) After consulting Wahl and Paulson, I am thinking about Sunrise,
>Chinook Pass, and White Pass. Has anyone been to these spots recently?
>Are there any other spots people could recommend? I prefer south
>Cascades, to avoid a long drive, and am willing to walk/non-techical climb
>a fair amount.
>Jim Neitzel
>neitzelj at elwha.evergreen.edu


If ptarmigan is at the ptop of your wish list, you should try Ptarmigan
Ridge on Mt. Baker. The probability of seeing this species at Sunrise is
only barely statistically above zero, as fara as I'm concerned, and they
aren't at Chinook or White passes (nor are other "alpine" birds). I have
done the Ptarmigan Ridge hike on a single day. I've only been there twice,
once in Sep and once in Oct, and both times saw ptarmigan. Only other
truly alpine/subalpine breeders are Horned Lark (widespread in dry alpine
areas), Am. Pipit (likely anywhere in moister alpine areas), and
Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch (difficult and local).

However, the mountain birding and scenery are fine at the passes you
mentioned, with Clark's Nutcracker, Gray Jay, and other treeline species,
including Golden Eagle, Mt. Chickadee, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Mt. Bluebird,
Townsend's Solitaire, Hermit and Varied thrushes, Yellow-rumped and
Townsend's warblers, Chipping, Fox, and Lincoln's sparrows, and Cassin's
Finch. Possibility of Three-toed Woodpecker and Pine Grosbeak. Hoary
marmot, pika, golden-mantled ground squirrel, yellow-pine chipmunk, mule
deer, possible mt. goat.

Then there's just getting high for the heck of it.

Dennis Paulson, Director phone: (206) 756-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History fax: (206) 756-3352
University of Puget Sound e-mail: dpaulson at ups.edu
Tacoma, WA 98416