Aug 16 we hiked from Rainy Pass (Hwy 20) up the Maple Pass trail to
Heather Pass. Right at Heather Pass we thought we saw a nest like
structure next to the trunk of a small dense conifer. We walked to
the other side of the tree, lifted a branch and beheld a nest
containing at least 2 hatchlings. One was larger with matted
feathers(?), the other smaller and apparently all dark (?)brown lying
at the bottom of the nest. The larger one's head looked black
speckled with white; its breast seemed rust colored and its beak was
golden. We didn't look long or up close for fear of disturbing
these babies. The nest was dark brown and looked as though it had
been cemented with mud.

Just before discovering the nest, we saw a Swainson's thrush perched
on a low tree close by with a large insect in its mouth. It stayed
long enough for us to get a great close up view, then flew to another
nearby small tree. Of course we wondered if that was the mother
altho the large hatchling looked more like a robin in
coloration. Then we thought maybe it was a brown cowbird baby, the
one hatchling being more developed than the second and likely to
claim any food brought to the nest. We couldn't find any pictures
of Swainson's progeny.

Any ideas on this? We'd have posted this right after the hike
except for a computer breakdown!

Thanks. Len Mandelbaum, lmandelbaum at olympus.net