Hello Tweets,

Yesterday afternoon my mother and I enjoyed a rather slow,but nice visit at Sunrise(Mt.Rainier). The weather was nearly perfect with clear skies and distant views of Mt.Baker and Glacier Peak to the north followed by equal views of Mt.Adams to the south with a thin haze of presumed ash clouds(plumes)from Mt.St.Helens. We birded and hiked along the north trail to Frozen Lake then back to parking lot and most noteworthy were a few lingering raptor migrants during the late afternoon hours,primarily observed north of the ridge trail. Our main highlight was a single light-morph adult Swainson's Hawk observed circling several times alone over McNeeley Peak,showing quite narrow pointed wings with an obvious dihedral. The bird was very crisp and an exciting bird to see,as it eventually gained elevation and drifted to the south. This is the latest personal fall record of Swainson's Hawk we have encountered in WA and our 3rd for the location. Additional noteworthy raptor sightings included 2 Prairie Falcons and 2 Golden Eagles,all noted from the general area,as we scoped various sunny ride tops to the north. Up to 48 Gray-crowned Rosy Finches were counted just north of the base of the trail that leads to Mt.Freemont at Frozen Lake,but then were flushed by a Merlin continuing north over the ride top towards Mt.Freemont. Other notable species encountered at Sunrise included the following:

1 adult Northern Goshawk
3 Red-tailed Hawks
34 "Alpine"Horned Larks
4 Steller's Jays
14 Clark's Nutcrackers
8 Common Ravens
58 Mountain Chickadees
1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
3 Townsend's Solitaires
6 Am.Robins
4 Varied Thrush
78 Am.Pipits
22 Golden-crowned Sparrows
12 Dark-eyed"Oregon"Juncos
3 Lapland Longspurs
2 Am.Goldfinches(our first personal record for this location at 6500' feet)


Good birding,

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
Fircrest,WA
godwit at worldnet.att.net