Subject: [Tweeters] Pine Grosbeak near Naches Pass, King County
Date: Apr 16 23:52:45 2007
From: Matt Dufort - zeledonia at gmail.com


Hi Tweeters,



With Sunday?s clear, calm, warm weather, the mountains were beckoning to me.
So I headed out past Enumclaw and up FR 70 towards Naches Pass. I also
figured with the light snow pack, I might be able to drive higher up the
road than is normally possible at this time of year. I got stopped by snow
around 3600 feet elevation, then hiked up most of the way to the pass. I
found few birds along the way, but heard the distinctive call notes of a few
Pine Grosbeaks around mile 15. I also heard an unidentified sapsucker
calling near where a pair of Red-naped Sapsuckers nested last year, but
could never get a look at it.



A bit lower down, I flushed a Ruffed Grouse from the roadside just below the
snow line. Much lower down on FR 70, just across the county line into
Pierce County, I stopped to look at another Ruffed Grouse on the roadside.
Upon getting out of the car, I was surprised to hear a Western Screech-Owl
calling repeatedly from just up the hill.



I also managed to find a Dipper where Hwy 410 crosses the Greenwater River.
This is a nice spot for swift-water birds ? in the past, I?ve seen both
Dippers and Harlequin Ducks from the bridge.



Good birding,

Matt Dufort

Seattle, WA


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