Hello Tweets,

Today my mother and I scouted portions of the Sunrise area at Mt.Rainier
National Park,although we did not encounter any exceptional bird species,
but our day was worthwhile within the 10+ miles hiked throughout the day.
Weather conditions were favorable with clear skies,but very windy conditions
at times. Our main route(s) for the day started from the main or upper
Sunrise parking lot to Second Burroughs Mtn.,then to the Mt.Fremont Lookout
and a return trip back to Frozen Lake and along the Wonderland Trail to the
main Sunrise parking lot through the Sunrise Campground at Shadow Lake. The
main highlights of the day included notable hawk/raptor migration at several
key locations during the day within 6 species including up to 3 PRAIRIE
FALCONS at three seperate hiking locations,which appear to be annual in fall
migration due to recent past personal sightings from the general Sunrise
area. Other notable observations(among more regular occuring mountain
species)included increased numbers of migratory Golden-crowned Sparrows
within large flocks of Dark-eyed"Oregon"Juncos and lesser numbers of
White-crowned Sparrows,mainly from limited forested and/or brushy areas. A
very tame Blue Grouse was noted within the grounds of the Sunrise Lodge area
allowing great close views,being 1 of 2 for the day and on our way home from
the main Sunrise parking lot a single Ruffed Grouse was noted running
quickly across the road out of harms way. A list of additional bird
highlights noted for the day included:

1 Osprey
7 Sharp-shinned Hawks
4 Cooper's Hawks
12 Red-tailed Hawks
1 Am.Kestrel
8 Vaux's Swifts
14 Horned Larks
6 Mountain Bluebirds
2 Townsend's Solitaires
24 Varied Thrushes(apparently migrating due to all but 1 single bird being
observed in flight)
42+ Am.Pipits
1 Cedar Waxwing
5 Yellow-rumped Warblers
1 Townsend's Warbler
8 Chipping Sparrows
2 Savannah Sparrows
2 Fox Sparrows
14 Cassin's Finches
3 Evening Grosbeaks


Good birding,

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
GODWIT at worldnet.att.net