Tweets,

George Gerdts and I just made a quick 24 hour excursion to Harts Pass and
Tiffany Mt. near Mazama and Winthrop to enjoy the fine end-of-summer
weather. En route we stopped each way at the Everett Sewage Ponds, but found
them nearly deserted.

This afternoon we noticed just one shorebird, which looked and sounded to me
like a juvenile LEAST SANDPIPER, but it had black or at least very dark
legs, though not apparently mud-caked. Would anyone care to comment on how a
dark-legged juvenile LEAST might differ from a juvenile Little Stint? The
bird was on the cement bulwark in the main pond just east of the main
southwest corner gate.

The high mountains were rather quiet, as is often the case this time of
year, but YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS were moving in good numbers with a few
TOWNSEND'S WARBLERS. We noticed a minor southbound migration of mostly
juvenile Red-tailed Hawks at Slate Peak and Tiffany Mt. (7400 & 8200 ft
respectively), with one probable juvenile SWAINSON'S HAWK and a GOLDEN EAGLE
over Tiffany this morning.

A male THREE-TOED WOODPECKER was working spruces in Meadows Campground near
Harts Pass.

A N. PYGMY OWL woke us up this morning at Roger's Lake and called long and
hard while perched right overhead.

A male SPRUCE GROUSE was nearby at Roger's Lake, wary but approachable to 20
feet. I had never noticed the intricate concentric barring on their dorsal
feathers before. An elegant chicken.

A couple of BOREAL CHICKADEES were along Freezeout Ridge trail not far above
the road. It's perhaps worth noting that some MOUNTAIN CHICKADEES
(juveniles?) at this time of the year have dark gray caps and only the
slightest hint of an eyeline, but their all white cheeks give them away.

Near the summit of Tiffany Mt. were three HORNED LARKS, a juvenile and two
adults of the alpine nesting race alpina ... quite white faces, quite
different from the nesting birds at Damon Pt., Ocean Shores, which are the
race strigata (according to Jewett et. al, Birds of Washington [1953]).

By the way, no White-winged Crossbills nor Bohemian Waxwings. Just a couple
of RED CROSSBILLS of indeterminate type (quick fly-overs; no chance to
record them).

Gene Hunn.