Yesterday my wife and I were enjoying the sunshine on an old logging road
near Mt. Shuksan. I told her on the way up that I hoped to see some
varied thrush once we got up higher. We weren't disappointed. I got to
watch one with binoculars from pretty close. I was hoping to see what
they looked like when they make their peculiar call. The one I was
watching barely opened its beak during times we could hear the call. But
I couldn't tell if the call was coming from that bird or one of many
others all around. Can any of you fellow tweets tell me if a varied
thrush only opens its beak just a little when it calls?

We also saw ravens, juncos, gray jays, two sapsuckers, and an American
Dipper. A blue(?) grouse was quite vocal, but we couldn't see it. One
added attraction was a cute little pika that let us approach fairly close.
All together it was a nice trip--absolutely no traffic on the Baker
Highway or turnoffs.

wjansen