Subject: On Course - Gold Mountain (Cascade) - 9/13/2003
Date: Sep 15 07:50:32 2003
From: Desilvis, Denis J - denis.j.desilvis at boeing.com


Tweeters,
Although I'm on the DL for golf, I walked around the Cascade course at the Gold Mountain golf complex at Bremerton (actually, I think it's Gorst) Sunday. Highlight for me were four BLUE GROUSE. I'd seen a displaying Blue Grouse, and several times young, in past years at the course. I was actually looking for them while I waited for my golfing foursome to tee off on the 14th hole, where I'd seen young grouse before during this time of the year. I heard a rustle in the understory, and wasn't sure what it was. I imitated a Pygmy Owl call and pished a couple of times (hey, whatever works!), and was rewarded by a juvenile Blue Grouse about 20 feet away popping up its head. I focused in (I was carrying binocs) and called a couple of more times, and the grouse started coming toward me. A rustle at my feet--another Blue Grouse about 5 feet away. As I continued to make sounds, the two grouse were joined by a third, all of which came out of the understory onto the open area. One of the grouse came within 2 feet of me, and they started eating some of the softer vegetation around me. A fourth grouse remained in the understory. I finally had to leave the grouse foursome as the golfer foursome I was with finished teeing off, but not before I noted that these grouse were all molting into what I'd call either basic or definitive plumage (unsure of grouse molt terminology). Quite a thrill to be that close to a bird that I'd seen mostly at a distance!

Birds seen during this outing include the following:
Bald Eagle
Blue Grouse
Killdeer
Glaucous-winged Gull
Downy Woodpecker
Steller's Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
Violet-green Swallow
Barn Swallow
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Bewick's Wren
Winter Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
American Robin
European Starling
Song Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
RED CROSSBILL (many small flocks)
American Goldfinch

May all your birds be identified,

Denis DeSilvis
Seattle, WA
denis.j.desilvis at boeing.com