Hi Everyone,

Last year and again this year, I was able to get a pass for the masters professional golf tournament (Boeing Classic) that's going on this week at Snoqualmie Ridge. Although I enjoy watching all competitive activities and sports, I'm not a golfer. However, the golf course, normally off limits to non-members, is quite bird-friendly (Hugh Jennings did the original Audubon survey for them after it was completed). So, everyone else walking the course is using their binoculars to watch the golfers (including me at times). However, I baffle people by frequently staring up at the trees with my bins. (One guy today said, 'What do you see up there??' When I said I was birding, I got this blank, non-comprehending stare and chuckled to myself.)

Today I had a very interesting situation in a very small section of woods on one of the holes. This location is at the very top of the ridge (approximately 900 feet elevation) and thus a likely place for migrants to drop down and refuel after a night of flying. Overall today the course was pretty quiet, but when I came to this particular location, the treetops and mid-level of the canopy were bustling with activity. In a subset of that patch of woods, perhaps 30 yards by 30 yards, I had the following species in ten minutes of observation:

CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEE (flock of approx 15)
PINE SISKIN (approx 10)
WESTERN TANAGER (2)
BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER (2)
YELLOW WARBLER (1)
CEDAR WAXWING (flock of approx 20)
WARBLING VIREO (2)
RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD (1)
SPOTTED TOWHEE (1)
AMERICAN ROBIN (4)

Obviously some of the birds are non-migrants, but I would guess that a number of them are. This patch of woods is actually visible with a scope from public roads, so I'm going to continue to check this location during migration and see if today was just serendipity or if for some reason it happens to be particularly attractive as a refueling stopover.

Just before finding this high-activity location, I had a Sharp-shinned Hawk circling relatively high up over the course, being harrassed by a large flock of finches. The smaller birds stayed fairly tightly flocked, presumably for 'safety-in-numbers' defensively in case the accipiter opted to go on the offense, but every so often one or two would break from the group, dive on the Sharpie and then return to the flock. This went on until the hawk flap-flap-flap glided its way out of my sight.

The course rough (tall grass) apparently contains a ton of Savannah Sparrows, as an exploratory walk through a portion of rough by one hole flushed several, and other probable Savannahs were seen periodically doing short hop flights between locations in the rough.

Yesterday a flock of EVENING GROSBEAKS numbering about 10 flew overhead and into the very top of a very tall Doug Fir bordering one of the fairways.

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