Hi Tweets,

This morning I did a little birding while on a botany
field trip to Cougar Mountain near Issaquah. This is
the first I have gotten out (save my 45 minute walk
around the fill Wednesday morning) since the Sandhill
Crane festival last March. I noted many migrants for
the first time this season right away, such as
Black-throated Gray Warbler and Pacific-slope
Flycatcher right near the parking lot on the east side
of Cougar Mountain. We headed up the trail nothing
the plants along the way. At about 10:00 I stopped
when I heard the distinctive toot of a Northern Pygmy
Owl. I listened closely as this bird continued to
call. I started to toot a response when a second bird
(from the opposite direction) started to answer me!
After another few moments a 3rd bird began calling.
At this point I was totally amazed because one Pygmy
Owl was totally unexpected, but three was
unbelievable! Not too many other migrants except more
of the same, a few Wilson's Warblers further up the
trail. About 11:00 I noted another Pygmy Owl calling,
however I cannot rule out the possibility that this
was one of the same birds heard earlier in the
morning.

Lots of migrant warblers of the same varieties at
Mercer Slough on the way back. Male Rufous
Hummingbirds everywhere in the marsh. Even found a
chickadee nest in a rotted out Prunus emarginata next
to the trail.

Michael Dossett
Bothell, WA
phainopepla at yahoo.com


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