Hello Tweets:

Four of us hiked at Mt. Rainier, Sunrise, on Sunday, Aug. 3rd. Weather,
flowers and mountain were spectacular. Mike West, his brother and partner, and
I started out late morning from the Sunrise parking lot, hiking toward the
Glacier Overlook. There were a few Dark-eyed Juncos and Pine Siskin along the
way. This route takes you along the Skyline Trail where there is one
snow-patch requiring sound footing on a very narrow ledge. About 1/8th of a mile
before reaching First Burrroughs we saw Her. A White-tailed Ptarmigan, in the
rocks to our right. After several minutes of great viewing, 3 youngsters
started milling about. By now it is about 2 p.m. After eating lunch at the
Burrows and enjoying the view, we started down the trail toward Shadow Lake. A
flock of Gray-crowned Rosy Finch flew by, with a couple of them stopping on a
large rock, giving us a better view. About 4 p.m. while still on the trail,
we saw another White-tailed Ptarmigan, down-slope, on our left. This parent
had 4-5 youngsters who were calling in soft mewing voices. The little ones
were quite spread out, but the parent stayed in one place, trying to keep an
eye on all of them. Needless to say, we were thrilled at our good fortune of
seeing two ptarmigan families. As we started on our way again, an American
Pipit gave us good views when it landed on one of the nearby stones near the
trail. We encountered 3 Rufous Hummingbirds before returning to our car at
5 p.m. On a side note, the Greenriver Restaurant is open for business again,
under the name of Buzzy's. Hours are 6 a.m. to 3 p.m., except on Tuesday
when they are closed.

Cheers! and good birding, Joyce Meyer
_meyer2j at aol.com_ (mailto:meyer2j at aol.com)



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