Tonight, (14 June at 1815), I very briefly observed - through the windows at
the Summit Cafe at Snoqualmie Pass - about 10 gulls in extremely ragged plumage
flying west into the Puget Lowlands. It was raining hard, I could not
identifty them. They appeared to be moulting and perhaps not in adult plumage.
Where were they coming from and where were they going? I don't associate any
gulls moving to the coast until California Gull juveniles begin dispersing
after the 1st week of July.

Also observed Black Swifts responding to rain. When we arrived at the summit,
we saw only a few Vaux's Swifts plus afew Cliff, Violet-green and Barn
Swallows.. After 20 minutes, I detected a handful of Black Swifts against the
brushy ski slopes. They promptly disappeared. We returned to this spot an hour
later. It was calm and not raining at the time. Again I noted 5-6 Black Swifts
apparently foraging against the ski slopes, but none overhead. It then began
raining very hard. I observed the swifts head east in direct flight. We
attempted to locate them in the Stampede Pass exit and Lake Easton areas, with
no luck. Can anyone shed any light on just how far these swifts regularly
commute and how they respond to inclement weather at their presumed nesting
sites in the gorges near Hyak, Alpental and Gold Creek. I wonder if any birds
of this species have been fitted with transmitters to monitor their movements
on a daily basis - especially correlated with weather patterns. That would make
a wonderful study.

Andy Stepniewski
Wapato, WA