Yesterday Natalie and I made the jaunt up to Heather Meadows at the end
of Hwy. 542 near Mt. Baker, and while we did more driving than bird
watching, it was a beautiful day and a great time to get into the
mountains. While driving north on I-5 from Tacoma we watched an immature
Bald Eagle descend across the highway to land in a fir tree near those
annoying flashing highway billboards north of Fife, and while continuing
north through Everett we saw a single Osprey flying along the west side
of the freeway.

We didn't arrive at the end of Hwy. 542 until almost 4 p.m., and so while
the sun was shining, there were not any butterflies to distract my
attention, just a few moths flapping in the mountain breeze. During our
first stop at Artists Point, the first bird we saw was a young Raven
diving at a dog and its owner as they stood on the snowbank with great
views of Mt. Baker. I am not sure if the dog or human even noticed the
close brush of the Raven. We watched this bird touring the parking lot
for dropped morsels while another immature raven tore at the bark on the
gnarled hemlock trees that line the parking lot. There were too many
people at Artists Point to see many birds, and we were not set to do a
late evening hike, so we proceeded back down the road to the Lake Ann
Trailhead and did a little walking there.

Immediately on arriving at the Lake Ann Trailhead we saw a flock of 10-15
finch-sized birds fly out of the meadow below us and across the road and
down the mountain. We didn't get the chance for a good look at these
birds, so while we were hoping to see a Gray-crowned Rosy Finch or some
crossbills, we really don't have enough to go on to make this flock into
either. We didn't see rosy coloring on the birds in flight, but we did
see a patch of white at the base of the tail on the birds. Dark-eyed
Juncos were ubiquitous along the small portion of the trail we walked
while fending off mosquitoes before applying Deet back at the car. The
only other bird highlight was a high-flying raptor soaring between our
vantage point and Mt. Shuksan. The bird was so high that we couldn't make
out markings very well, but I think it was a Red-tailed Hawk.

Our next stop on the way down the mountain was at Austin Pass, where the
meadows are in full bloom right now and a real sight to see. No new bird
species here, but we watched an upset squirrel - likely a Golden Mantled
Ground Squirrel - as it tried to draw everyone's attention from the
scenery. A single Gray Jay landed on top of a tree and then flew off in
its normal flap-glide brand of flight, and again there was Dark-eyed
Junco calling everywhere.

We made one more stop on the way down the mountain and back toward I-5,
this time at a pullout in the road to let some speedier drivers past, and
while pulled over Natalie heard a high-pitched call that had us out of
the car and looking around once again. After hanging out for 10 minutes
or so, we started doing some bird calls - Natalie doing her immitation of
a Northern Pygmy Owl and me doing standard pishing, and soon there were
quite a few of the high-pitched calls coming from the rocky slopes to our
right. By a stroke of luck, I looked over with binoculars and saw a Pika
- small rodent shape with rounded ears - standing at alert on top of a
boulder. I hadn't seen Pika in the wild before, but I knew immediately
that's what it was since I just finished reading a section in Robert
Michael Pyle's "Where Bigfoot Walks: Crossing the Dark Divide" about him
finding Pika in a slash pile near Mt. Adams.

We had hoped to have time to stop at Fir Island or Samish Flats on the
way home, but darkness beat us to the punch.

Rob

--
Rob McNair-Huff <mailto:rob at whiterabbits.com>
White Rabbit Publishing <http://www.whiterabbits.com>
Publisher of Mac Net Journal <http://www.whiterabbits.com/MacNetJournal>
The Equinox Project <http://www.whiterabbits.com/weblog.html>
Co-author of Insiders Guide to the Olympic Peninsula