Hi All,

Snoqualmie Ridge has 20+ miles of trails through and around the various neighborhoods. Most are soft-surfaced and well-situated for feeling much more isolated than you actually are. From a birding perspective, the trail system visits a variety of enjoyable and productive habitats. My life list for the Snoqualmie Ridge area currently stands at 95 in less than two full years of fairly casual birding. The trails are, for the most part, very lightly used relative to the number of people who have access to them - worth checking out if you have occasion to be in the area.

Over the last several evenings, I birded ('assisted' by my yellow Lab Bekka - on leash, of course) one of the trails that parallels the riparian and mixed forest areas along tiny Fisher Creek, which flows into the Snoqualmie River at the west end of Snoqualmie. In addition to the usual resident species, the walks yielded the location's first of the year SWAINSON'S THRUSH, two WESTERN TANAGERS hawking bugs from the top of a fir, ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, EVENING GROSBEAK, VAUX'S SWIFT, and probably ten individual WILSON'S WARBLERS singing away at various spots, with three providing good visual looks. A RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER, PILEATED WOODPECKER and HAIRY WOODPECKER also made appearances.

Last evening, however, I got a long-awaited bonus. Despite having spent innumerable hours in the outdoors over the years, I had never seen a bear in the woods - excluding habituated national park bears, which I don't count as a truly wild sighting. We were walking through a previously cleared flat with Scot's Broom and doghair alder toward a riparian area to try to get a visual on a singing Swainson's Thrush when I saw a large black 'dog', quickly followed by a second one, heading into the brush. My first reaction was to wonder why the dogs weren't on leash, and 'What breed are those things anyway?' when a much larger black furred critter followed the first two into the brush - and my inefficient brain finally said, BEARS! The two young were clearly yearlings, as they were much too large for this year's cubs. Momma looked to be quite healthy as well as very large, and I was glad we were not any closer (they were maybe 30 yards away) or in between mom and the kids. The!
re are
corridors from Snoqualmie Ridge to Tiger and Rattlesnake Mountains as well as access to major forested tracks in the foothills, so it wasn't totally surprising to see them. I'll be watching much more closely for tracks along the trail in the future! (Trail walkers in the area have also sighted bobcat and cougar on occasion.)

John Tubbs
Snoqualmie, WA
johntubbs at comcast.net
www.tubbsphoto.com