Hi Tweets,



I spent today up around Sunrise at Mt. Rainier, doing some hiking and
birding. The definite highlight was four Baird?s Sandpipers foraging on a
snowfield near the top of Second Burroughs Mountain. I?ve heard before that
they often stop over in such areas on fall migration, and have seen this
once before in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, but I was still caught
offguard by shorebirds probing a snowfield at over 7000 feet! The lighting
was bad, but the two birds I got good looks at were juveniles. It was
really nice to see them in this habitat, something I know occurs but don?t
get to see very often.



This particular snowfield (the single large one remaining on the south side
of Second Burroughs Mtn) was packed with birds, with about 25 pipits, 15-20
Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches, and the Baird?s. Also got great looks at two
juvenile Rosy-Finches right along the trail near the summit of Second
Burroughs. Looked for Ptarmigan with no luck, but the sandpipers made up
for it. Also in the area were Clark?s Nutcrackers, some nice flocks of
Mountain Chickadees, many Chipping Sparrows, and a few small groups of
Mountain Bluebirds.



It was mostly clear, warm, and a great day to be up in the mountains.



Good birding,

Matt Dufort

Seattle, WA


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