Hey Tweets, today Steve Nord and I braved the Tacoma AND Seattle traffic and
drove up to Marblemount for the Alder Flycatcher and other goodies. We left
Olympia at about 5:30 AM and reached the Alder Flycatcher site at 8:30 AM
with not too much trouble. We started along the trail and heard a Willow
Flycatcher singing often. Then we heard the ALDER singing its signature
song. It was pretty active and made some flycatching forays from the
stunted firs into the tall weeds. Then it worked up into the Cottonwoods
and did some more flycatching from up high while a Willow Flycatcher did the
same back towards the parking lot. It was nice to hear the songs alongside
each other. There was a very territorial LAZULI BUNTING near the cairn of
rocks chasing anything that came near. As we made our way back we met up
with a recently arrived birder (I forgot to get your name!) and tried to
relocate the Alder. It took about a half hour (we had been looking before
meeting up with the birder) before it reappeared and it never 'sang' while
we watched it forage from the stunted firs again. It did give many call
notes to compare with the singing/calling Willow Flycatcher in the
background.

Also here were:
Marblemount Boat Launch (8:35-10:10)

Turkey Vulture 1
Bald Eagle 1 (ad)
Black Swift 4
Vaux's Swift 7
Rufous Hummingbird
Red-breasted Sapsucker 1
Downy Woodpecker 2
Alder Flycatcher 1
Willow Flycatcher 3
Red-eyed Vireo 1
"Audubon's" Warbler 2
Black-throated Gray Warbler 1
Lazuli Bunting 3

Next we headed to the county line ponds at the sign for Whatcom County where
we saw one male AMERICAN REDSTART. We heard two singing and had to wait
almost an hour before it came into view (often sang from inaccessible
locations). We also saw the Spotted Sandpiper chick and parents.

Also here:
County Line Ponds (10:25-11:15)

Spotted Sandpiper 3 (2ad, 1chick)
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Dusky Flycatcher 2
Warbling Vireo 2
Red-eyed Vireo 3
American Redstart 2
MacGillivray's Warbler 1

Then, on a tip from Kraig Kemper (thanks again Kraig and Ryan Merrill who
found the bird this weekend) - who led a WOS trip around the area last
Saturday- we headed up to Washington Pass in order to look for Three-toed
Woodpeckers. Again, after much searching around the parking lot, we
eventually found a male 3-TOED WOODPECKER. We were led to the location by a
male HAIRY WOODPECKER which we watched forage while also hearing a drumming
bird in the background. Not knowing the proper drums for each species, I
was thinking that there probably wouldn't be two male Hairys in the same
small area so we went into the woods to see who was making the noise.
Taa-daa.

Also up here were:
Washington Pass (12:15-13:20)

Red-tailed Hawk 1
Red-naped Sapsucker 1
Hairy Woodpecker
Three-toed Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 1
Gray Jay 2
Steller's Jay 1
Clark's Nutcracker 2
Hermit Thrush 3
"Audubon's" Warbler 3
Townsend's Warbler 2
Chipping Sparrow 1
"Oregon" Junco 4
Pine Siskin 6
Evening Grosbeak 1

Then the dreaded 5 1/2 hour car ride home (thanks to 4 collisions along the
way - not ours - and much traffic). Another reason why it's often hard to
chase anywhere near Seattle. But it was worth it for the great birds and
scenery.

Jason Paulios
Jpaulios at earthlink.net
Olympia, WA