The 4th upon us, I decided to take advantage of the holiday and chase a few
Skagit County birds. I left real early and reached the Cascade Pass trail
head at Johannisberg camp (3600') at about 5:30. I reached the pass (5392',
3.7 miles) about 6:50. Later in the day I worked the central county
lowlands near Marblemount, finding a few of the traditional stake-outs
there.

1. The "good" county birds were found, written all in capitals, the
CHIPPING SPARROW and CASSIN'S FINCH being relatively rare for the county.
The complete list for the Cascade Pass trail hike:

(includes heard-onlys for common sp.)

Blue Grouse 5
Black Swift 2 (more at Marble Cr.)
Rufous Hummingbird 2
N. (Red-sh.) Flicker 1
Pacific-slope Flycatcher 3**
Chesnut-backed Chickadee 8
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
Brown Creeper 1
Winter Wren 17
Hermit Thrush 9
Varied Thrush 7
Am. Robin 1
Townsend's Solitaire 2 Cascade Pass
Golden-crowned Kinglet 7
Am. Pipit 1
Warbling Vireo 1
Wilson's Warbler 1
Yellow Warbler 1
Audobon's (YR) Warbler 1
Townsend's Warbler 8
MacGillivray's Warbler 1
warbler, sp. 1 (singing; Dendroica type)
CHIPPING SPARROW 1
Fox Sparrow 7
Dark-eyed (Ore.) Junco 10
Pine Siskin 10
PINE GROSBEAK 1 (female, Cascade Pass)
CASSIN'S FINCH 1 (male, singing, Cascade Pass)
GRAY-CROWNED ROSY FINCH 2 (Cascade Pass)

(**Perhaps least expected, one of the three Pacific-slope Flycatchers
called, and then came into view, at Cascade Pass. There is little timber to
chose from here, most of it stunted (5-15') Subalpine Fir (Abies
lasiocarpa); the bird foraged and worked steadily upslope until I lost sight
of it, but it could not have gone far before it ran out of conifers
completely).

I could have gone an additional 2.2 miles up the Sahale Arm (which in some
years has been good for White-tailed Ptarmigan), but elected to descend.

2. MARBLEMOUNT AREA. I did not reach Marblemount until 10, by which time
the prime passerine birding is usually over. Still, I found a pair of AM.
REDSTARTS at the traditional County Line ponds site; a third bird may have
been present (3 is the most anyone has had at one time here as far as I
know). A pair of agitated MacGillivray's Warblers, with a recently-fledged
young bird nearby, were also of interest. Another AM. REDSTART was singing
near the river access just n.e. of the Bacon Creek Rd.; I had a bird very
near here last year in June 2000.

In Marblemount itself, I had one E. KINGBIRD sharing a telephone wire with
imm. starlings at the residence immediately south of the ranger station, and
a LAZULI BUNTING was heard near here also. Lazulis are available at a
number of other nearby spots. At the Corkindale power line crossing over Rt
20, there was an actively-foraging W. KINGBIRD, but neither E. Kingbird nor
Bank Swallows were present (and this site is perhaps the most reliable in
Skagit Co for both, there have been up to 12 Bank Swallows at a time here in
recent years). I did find a pair of BANK SWALLOWS, however, westward at
Steelhead Park at the Rockport riverfront, which has also become another
reliable county spot. Lastly, a pair of CASSIN'S VIREOS were cooperative
right along 20 near the Ross Lake Rec Area sign (this is about half way
between County Line and the Bacon Cr. rd.). Cassin's are uncommon here, and
are chiefly found in the central part of the county. I counted 11 RED-EYED
VIREOS between County Line and Marblemount, surely a lower number than what
is actually present, but reflective of the fact that the species is perhaps
more common here than in any other wWA river valley.

Missing (possibly because of time of day) was Nashville Warbler near
Schuler-Conrad Rds/Rockport quarry, and I found no sign of Least Flycatcher
or Veery at County Line, although others have had them in June-July.
Several other rarities are possible in this dynamite riparian area.

Scott Atkinson
Lake Stevens
email: scottratkinson at hotmail.com
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