Subject: White-winged Crossbill near Chinook Pass - 27 August
Date: Aug 28 08:59:24 2000
From: Andy Stepniewski - steppie at nwinfo.net


Tweeters,

A trip report with sightings from the Chinook Pass area yesterday, including
White-winged Crossbill:

Andy Stepniewski
Wapato WA
steppie at nwinfo.net

TAILWIND CHASING MIGRANTS NEAR CHINOOK PASS
27 AUGUST 2000

The weather didn't look hopeful on the start of this hike, with a pronounced
northwesterly flow aloft, bringing cooler than average, but dryish air to
the Pacific Northwest. However, enough moisture was in this airmass to form
a cloud deck on the west slopes of the Cascades and blowing fog through the
gaps in the crest.

BEAR GAP TRAIL TO CROWN POINT. The Bear Gap Trail starts from near the
roadend on upper Morse Creek and climbs steeply towards the crest on a south
slope grown to Noble (mainly lower parts) and Subalpine Fir, with large
areas of brush, especially Deerbrush).

As we reached a shoulder at ~ 5,600', I heard a soft "chif-chif. chif-chif"
call alternating with a weak trilled and buzzy song. I remarked to Ellen
"that sounds vaguely like a White-winged Crossbill." I didn't give my
identification too much credence because this summer does not appear to be
an invasion year for this species. White-winged Crossbills typically begin
appearing by late July in Washington, first in the Okanogan Highlands or
northernmost Cascades in the spruce/fir belt in years when this exciting,
but unpredictable event occurs. A few seconds later Ellen called out: "there
's a White-winged Crossbill." I glanced in the direction she was peering
atop a cone-laden Subalpine Fir, and there it was. What a gorgeous bird!
This males rose-red head and breast was stunning; with white wing patches
clearly set off in its's black wings. Interestingly we neither saw or heard
another crossbill all day.

Reaching the crest 1,200' above at Pickhandle Gap or "Fog City" (seemed apt
today) on the Pacific Crest Trail, we were enveloped in a cold, blowing fog,
with the trees at, or west of the the crest dripping as if it was raining.
Only 20 feet lower on the lee side of the crest, the ground beneath the tree
s was bone dry, as it has been for several months! We wandered along the
ridgecrest taking a wrong turn in the fog at Pickhandle Gap, and ended up
heading east on the trail atop the ridge south of Union Creek on a hunters
trail. Once we escaped the fog, we realized our mistake, and returned, but
not before assessing the landscape to the north. An objective for this trip
had been to find a White-tailed Ptarmigan; looking north I could see the
Alpine Zone was poorly developed or nonexistent in the Cement Basin area, a
bowl I thought (shown as white or non-forested on the Green Trails map)
might have suitable alpine communities. On viewing this bowl, it was
obviously still well within the Subalpine Zone, clearly not ptarmigan
habitat (on arriving home, I glanced at the USGS "Mt. Rainier NP map, it
shows green in this basin). I suggested we head south to the alpine bowl on
the north side of Panhandle Gap, where Alpine Zone communities appear
suitable for this species.

ONE HOUR FROM NEAR CROWN POINT. Heading south on the Crest Trail, we
declared a rest stop only a few minutes south of Crown Point. In the lee of
the crest here, the fog was thinning or erratic; there was actually some
periods of sun. As we sat down I noted birds flying about us in numbers, all
heading south along the slopes. It was evident we were watching migration in
high gear, probably aided (and prompted) by the strong northerly winds.
Numbers of robins and siskins were most numerous; there were lesser numbers
of other species. Interestingly, Clark's Nutcrackers appeared to be part of
this movement; I suppose it could have been a diurnal movement to feeding
areas, but it looked to me like the nutcrackers were fleeing south, too. It
was certainly fun to watch and tally this obvious movement of birds, as was
it fun to watch the immature Sharp-shinned Hawks engaging in aerial battles
with kestrels, nutcrackers, and Steller's Jays. I wasn't certain just who
was instigating these scraps, but it was clear the Sharpies were not
accepted on this mountainside. The most noteworthy observation here was that
of six Band-tailed Pigeons flying swiftly south at treeline, a rare species
in Yakima County, though a regular denizen of low and middle elevations just
across the crest in Mt. Rainier National Park. In one hour here, we tallied:

Sharp-shinned Hawk - 5
Red-tailed Hawk - 1
American Kestrel - 5
Band-tailed Pigeon - 6
Northern Flicker - 5
Steller's Jay - 10
Clark's Nutcracker - 20
Common Raven - 1
Golden-crowned Kinglet - 2
American Robin - 100
Yellow-rumped Warbler - 5
Chipping Sparrow - 5
Dark-eyed Junco - 30
Cassin's Finch - 12
Pine Siskin - 75
Evening Grosbeak - 1

PTARMIGAN SEARCH NEAR PANHANDLE GAP. A mile or so section of the Pacific
Crest Trail from Bear Gap south was in Pierce County, in the Crystal
Mountain Ski Area basin, then a long sidehill traverse at ~ 6,000' west
towards Panhandle Gap, where we dipped into the basin northeast and below
the gap. Here, I believe is ptarmigan habitat; Alpine Zone communities
appear well-developed, even though limited in extent.

We spent about an hour searching the alpine fell fields, meadows, and
heather patches without encountering a ptarmigan (what else is new?), but it
was a beautiful area, so we enjoyed ourselves, nonetheless. The rockslides
here were full of bleating Pikas and whistling Hoary Marmots, making the
spot even more memorable.

I suggested we return by heading down towards Placer Lake; from there it
appeared to be only a mile (as the crow flies) from the lake to the
trailhead. Game trails - both elk and deer, allowed us to make good progress
downhill until about Placer Lake. Near the lake, the vegetation became dense
and the going slower. Fortunately, we found a major trail (not marked on any
map), marked with orange diamonds (a snowmobile route?) that took us
straight to the car! What good fortune! Had we not found this trail, that
mile hike would have been sheer horror, as the thickets of White
Rhododendron, Sitka Alder, and Alaska Cedar flanking the trail were, I
judged, impenetrable. This was a classic avalanche chute community. Had we
not found this trail, I suspect we would have had to retrace our route,
adding four or five miles!

Birds noted other than on one hour "Big Sit":

Blue Grouse - 1
Northern (Red-shafted ) Flicker - 4
Olive-sided Flycatcher - 2
Gray Jay - 3
Steller's Jay - 3
Clark's Nutcracker - 10
Common Raven - 4
Mountain Chickadee - 10
Chestnut-backed Chickadee - 20
Red-breasted Nuthatch - 7
Winter Wren - 6
Golden-crowned Kinglet - 5
Mountain Bluebird - 4, Crown Point
Townsend's Solitaire - 1, Gold Hill cabin area
American Robin - 10
Varied Thrush - 2
Yellow-rumped Warbler - 5
MacGillivray's Warbler - 5, notable upslope movement compared to 5 August in
nearby Goat Rocks.
Western Tanager - 5
Dark-eyed (Oregon) Junco - 25
Cassin's Finch - 15
White-winged Crossbill - 1 male!
Pine Siskin - 30
Evening Grosbeak - 5

Andy Stepniewski
Wapato WA
Steppie at nwinfo.net