Several Septembers ago I hiked from Summerland to Box Canyon and back
and spent a glorious sunny afternoon exploring the S slope of the
Sarvent spires, just E of Panhandle Gap on the E side of Mt Rainier
above Summerland. Among the various birds (I don't have my list handy)
I saw that afternoon were several prairie falcons coursing over the
meadows, along with a Northern Harrier or two. The previous day in the
fog I flushed two short-eared owls in the same area.
Brian Pendleton
kc7wpd at hotmail.com
Auburn, WA

-----Original Message-----
From: TPerk11 at aol.com [mailto:TPerk11 at aol.com]
Sent: Tuesday, July 17, 2001 12:53 PM
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Subject: Prairie Falcon at Mt. Rainier


I spent the weekend up at Mt. Rainier with some non-birders, but did a
little casual birding up at Sunrise and found a few good birds, most
notably an adult PRAIRIE FALCON from sourdough ridge at about 6500 feet.
The bird was plainly visible as it rapidly crossed a valley meadow,
showing a pale upperside and characteristic dark axillaries and coverts,
and only light markings on the breast. It briefly perched on the ridge
and then flew off eastward. The Breeding Bird Atlas does not show
prairie falcons as far west as Mt. Rainier and I would be interested in
learning if there are any other records.

I was hoping to spot a ptarmigan, but no such luck. Other interesting
species noted from the trail up to Burroughs Mountain included:

RING-BILLED GULL- a flock of 20 at 7000 feet
CLARK'S NUTCRACKER
GRAY JAY
MOUNTAIN CHICKADEE
WINTER WREN- gleening insects in the open off heather
TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE
HERMIT THRUSH
VARIED THRUSH
AMERICAN PIPIT- several across the alpine tundra
TOWNSEND'S WARBLER
YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER- audubon's
FOX SPARROW- numerous
GRAY-CROWNED ROSY-FINCH- heard calling but seen only fleetingly, like
most of my rosy-finch sightings.

Notable mammals included a black bear scene in the same valey as the
prairie falcon, numerous hoary marmots, and a pica.

- Tim Perkins
Sammamish, WA