Hi Tweets,

Nancy Taylor and I spent several hours up at Slate Peak near Hart's Pass in
the North Cascades on Sunday, September 17. Our primary objective was to
observe the southbound raptor migration through the mountains, but that
turned out to be mostly a bust...strong westerly flow and cloud cover 500'
above us hampered observable movements if there were any. We did see 2 adult
Golden Eagles soar from the adjacent ridge line to the east straight up into
and through the clouds. Perhaps that's where other species were moving
through (out of sight).

However, we did note many CLNU, singly, in pairs, or trios, maybe 25-30 over
a four hour period. Interesting point was that they seemed to be flying east
and west over the ridge in what looked more like foraging behavior as
opposed to migratory flight. Other species noted: large flocks of Horned
Larks, single Mountain Bluebirds, resident adult light morph Harlan's Hawk,
and a large gathering of upwards of 30 resident Common Ravens cavorting
above and along the ridgeline and feasting on an abandoned carcass of a
three point buck below the ridge. High buck season is underway up there.
What a waste.

Good birding,
Joe Mackie
jmackie at cc.wwu.edu
Bellingham