Hello Tweets,

Yesterday afternoon/evening(October 12th)we ventured up to Chinook Pass to savor some mountain birding with spectacular conditions, the great scent of mountain air, and great views of the east side of Mt.Rainier. Chinook Pass lies along the Pierce Co-Yakima Co. line along the extreme eastern edge of the Mt.Rainier National Park along Hwy.410. It is an area we seldom visit,but plan to more often since Sunrise has been officially close for the season due to lack of funding,etc.

Yesterday was excellent at Chinook Pass,as we primarily birded the pass area from 12:45pm-6pm. Our main efforts were made by walking the Pacific Crest Trail east of Hwy.410 to near Dewey Lake,then enjoying the remainder of the afternoon along Hwy.410 just below Chinook Pass scoping for migrating raptors. Overall the entire area was quite slow birdwise,which can be expected at higher elevations but a few quality species were encountered making the day exceptional!

We began the day along Hwy.410 at Tipsoo Lake just south of Chinook Pass in Pierce Co.,where 2 PRAIRIE FALCONS flew together along the ridges west of the lake,as well as 2 Cooper's Hawks and 2 Red-tailed Hawks. We arrived at Chinook Pass,as slight winds began to pick up then slow down again in intervals before finally ending making for good conditions for raptor migration. We began by walking the Pacific Crest Trail east of Hwy.410 as it was in good condition with some muddy areas due to seepage from underground water from above the trail. It was great to hike as far as we did,although the trail was quite unproductive.

Returning back to Hwy.410 and our vehicle we decided to scope the visible rides east and north of Chinook Pass for migrating raptors,which in turn did not disappoint! We were able to locate 11 species of migrating raptors of which the main and most unexpected highlight being a BROAD-WINGED HAWK. The bird was observed at 3:15pm at approximately 90 along the northern ridgeline north of Chinook Pass. The bird circled several times and showed most of the main distinguishing field marks well within range,as the lighting remained great! The bird was immediately picked out by it's overall smaller,stockier size compared to several nearby Red-tailed Hawks and was obviously a buteo. The birds shorter,broader wings than a Red-tailed Hawk were very evident too,as well as being tapered(or showing a more sharper point)at the primary tip. Along with these field marks noted as the bird continued to soar on an updraft over the ridge the bird remained good in our spotting scope. The underparts of the bird were very heavily barred with lighter areas on the underwing contrasting darker median underwing coverts and the head of the bird was fairly evenly dark. The bird's underwings also showed a distinct fairly broad black edge extending from the outer edge of the primaries to along the entire edge of the wings. This accented the wings very well,as well as did the obvious banded tail. The tail was banded with even black and white bands as in an accipiter,but showed broader bands with the darkest and broadest band being at the tip of the tail. This feature showed well,especially as the bird "banked" showing it's underparts. The bird eventually ended it's soar and drifted south on flats wings and eventually descended behind a far ridge out of view. It was a great sighting while it lasted,but the bird was just too far for any photos!

We were able to watch raptors until 6pm as light faded rapidly and the air became crisp and cool. We waited near our vehicle,as a PRAIRIE FALCON flew in from the east and allowed great close views,as it flew back and forth near where we were standing before finally flying south into Pierce Co. to an unknown location. A very nice and cooperative NORTHERN PYGMY OWL entertained us along the edge of the highway allowing some photos to be taken of it. The bird remained atop several perches near the highway and also called many times before flying off to other areas. At 6:30pm we began to walk along the Pacific Crest Trail just east of Hwy.410(outside of the Mt.Rainier National Park boundary). We equipped ourselves with warm clothes,flashlights and other gear that we needed for searching for owls that may be in the area. We walked slowly along the trail to about 1 mile east of the highway then worked our way back. The habitat was good,but rather sparse compared to Sunrise. On our decent back to our vehicle at 8pm we heard the distinctive "skew"call of a BOREAL OWL. The bird gave three separate calls,before it became silent never to call again! We continued west along the trail approximately 20 yards from the prior location and located a second bird that also gave 3 "skew" calls. With patience and silence we were able to see this bird's shadow as it flew to an unknown location. Like the 1st bird this bird was never seen or heard again and no matter what it was still a great evening and we returned to our vehicle fairly satisfied! A single calling Great Horned Owl ended our evening,as it called in the distance to the west of Hwy.410.


We have placed 6 photos of the Northern Pygmy Owl taken yesterday onto our website,which can be accessed at the following link: http://www.pbase.com/godwit/recent_photos/


A list of other species at Chinook Pass,as well as a complete list of raptor species encountered include the following:

1 Northern Harrier
7 Sharp-shinned Hawks
5 Cooper's Hawks
2 NORTHERN GOSHAWKS
***1 BROAD-WINGED HAWK***
13 Red-tailed Hawks
1 ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK
2 GOLDEN EAGLES
1 Am.Kestrel
3 Merlins
2 PRAIRIE FALCONS
1 Great Horned Owl
2 Northern Pygmy Owls
2 BOREAL OWLS
1 Hairy Woodpecker
8 Gray Jays
10 Clark's Nutcrackers
4 Mountain Chickadees
3 Varied Thrush
12 Cedar Waxwings
1 Golden-crowned Sparrow
200+ GRAY-CROWNED ROSY FINCHES(observed in a tight,roaming flock just east of Hwy.410 flying northward towards the northern ridgelines)
1 PINE GROSBEAK
17 Red Crossbills
25 Pine Siskins
15 Evening Grosbeaks



A great day for mountain birding!



Good birding,

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
Fircrest,WA
godwit513 at msn.com