Tweeters:

Plenty of birds around this weekend--the thrill of fall migration is upon us. Yesterday morning I birded the area along 12st Street SE (this is the road that goes over I-5 just north of the Everett STP by Dagmar's Landing, dead ends just before Steamboat Slough). There were some nice birds, including 40 CINNAMON TEAL and one BLUE-WINGED on a marshy area east of the horse barn; and at least three E. KINGBIRDS were in the area (one was near the n.e. corner of the sewage ponds). But the best bird for sure was a 1st-fall LEAST FLYCATCHER that put in a brief appearance in low elderberry-alder-brambly thickets just off theSteamboat Slough dike, about 75 yards up. I was counting WILLOW FLYCATCHERS (a nice local count of 29 for the area, incl. several family groups) when the bird hopped into the open. Description: small Empid (and I had a Willow very close by), appearing proportionately big- and round-headed nontheless, nice circularly-even eye-ring, short primary projection and short bill & short-tail, among others.

Then today, inspired by successes of Mr. Tranh and Gary Bletsch, I decided to try my luck up in e. Skagit County--birding just that section that is accessible via Rt 20, southeast and upslope of Ross Lake i.e., between County Line Creek and Rainy Pass. Key areas were the Rainy Pass to Cutthroat Pass segment of the Pacific Crest trail, Milemarkers 150 and 152 pulloffs along Rt 20 itself, and the Mt. Hardy burn parking area, the entry for which is between 150 and 152 off Rt 20.

The best find for the area was two BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKERS. Mr. Tranh had reported one from the Rainy Pass-to-Cutthroat Pass trail about a month back, but this species is nonetheless quite rare--Gary, I show these being the 7th-8th for the species in Skagit County, with all coming (until this year's) from the Mt Hardy burn between 1993 and 1999.

The first bird showed up on the edge of a nice flock of songbirds just northwest (downhill) of milemarker 150, the bird visible from the shoulder of Rt 20; minutes later, I had a second bird at the edge of another flock at milemarker 152--and also visible from Rt 20. Both birds were males (yellow on crown); the shortness of the tail is so pronounced the birds look almost tail-less in flight; both birds vocalized as well before being spotted.

I had no luck on Spruce Grouse, and missed RC Kinglet, Mt. Bluebird, Townsend's Solitaire, hummingbirds, among others. But there were a number of other birds of interest, the complete list follows. I had 42 species for the day for the County Line Creek to Rainy Pass section.

EASTERN SKAGIT COUNTY (Rt 20 accessible bewteen County Line Creek and Rainy Pass)

Mt Hardy Burn parking area=MHBPA

Golden Eagle 1a (soaring over MHBPA, burn itself)
Am. Kestrel 3 (Cutthroat Pass)
Prairie Falcon 1 (same)
Vaux's Swift 5
Black Swift 2
N. Flicker 1
Hairy Woodpecker 2
BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER 2 (mlpsts 150, 152 along Rt 20)
Am. Three-toed Woodpecker 1 (female, about half way up trail to pass--thanks to Spitzer twins, this must be also Gary's bird)
woodpecker, sp. 1
Olive-sided Flycatcher 6
Hammond's Flycatcher 1
Warbling Vireo 3
Cassin's Vireo 1 (milepost 152 flock)
Steller's Jay 1
Gray Jay 6
Clark's Nutcracker 14 (flock of 8 at Cutthroat)
Com. Raven 6
Chestnut-backed Chickadee 30
Mt. Chickadee 7
Brown Creeper 7
Red-breasted Nuthatch 16
Winter Wren 5
Golden-crowned Kinglet 12
Hermit Thrush 2
Varied Thrush 4
Am. Robin 6
Orange-crowned Warbler 2
Nashville Warbler 3
Yellow Warbler 5
Townsend's Warbler 48 (20 at MHBPA)
Yellow-rumped (Aud) Warbler 14
Wilson's Warbler 2
MacGillivray's Warbler 5
warbler, sp. 2
Black-headed Grosbeak 1 (near Rainy Pass parking, high elevation)
W. Tanager 10
Chipping Sparrow 12 (territorial bird near Cutthroat Pass)
Dark-eyed (Ore) Junco 34
Evening Grosbeak 103
Pine Siskin 111
WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL 1 (MHBPA, flover)
Cassin's Finch 1 (upper part of trail to Cutthroat Pass)
Pine Grosbeak 1 (female, upper part of trail to Cutthroat)

A word to anyone who wishes to try for the woodpeckers: go EARLY. Auto and motorcycle traffic was surprisingly heavy. A good technique is to drive slowly along Rt 20, listening for flock birds with window down, always watching for cars coming up behind. Be sure not to impede others; most people aren't going too fast on ascent up the pass, but be real careful! Take advantage of the pulloffs if someone comes up from behind.

Scott Atkinson
Lake Stevens
mail to: scottratkinson at hotmail.com
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