Overall, we didn't see any large flocks of White-winged Crossbills this morning. Most birds were paired up or seemed to be in the process of it. At one of the switchbacks just above the first wooded section, we saw a female carrying nesting material suggesting that these birds are breeding up there. We also noticed a female Cassin's Finch carrying nesting material. The only 2 Pine Grosbeaks we saw were also paired up.

I uploaded a few amateurish pictures of the White-winged Crossbills and Pine Grosbeak on my blog at birdmeister.wordpress.com.

A note on the conditions: On the way down the steep trail we truly appreciated having showshoes. If you haven't seen the crossbills, this is the way to go.

Stefan Schlick
Hillsboro, OR


To: tweeters at u.washington.eduFrom: michaellf at myway.comDate: Sat, 23 Feb 2008 21:34:29 -0500Subject: [Tweeters] White-winged Crossbills & More



Today Stefan Schlick and I decided to try the Skyline Trail at Stevens Pass in hopes of viewing some of the wintering finches that have been reported earlier by others. We arrived at about 8:00 am, put on our snowshoes and immediately began the hike up toward Skyline Ridge. Shortly, we were hearing and seeing flocks of PINE SISKINS in the conifers along the trail. After about 20 minutes of hiking we met Ted Kennefik at a switchback along the trail and birded with him for about 1/2 hour or so. At this point we observed several CASSIN'S FINCH, PINE SISKINS, RED CROSSBILLS, and heard some EVENING GROSBEAKS. Finally a pair of WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS perched about 20 feet or so from where we were standing, affording great views.Stefan and I then hiked further up the trail to the first tower, and from this point to the spot where the trail to Skyline Lake is reached, the birding was great. At the tower we had a pair of PINE GROSBEAK, and a small flock of 10 WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS, along with one COMMON REDPOLL, and some more PINE SISKINS. Near the point where the trail to Skyline Lake takes off there was another group of about 8 WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS another COMMON REDPOLL, along with PINE SISKINS and CASSIN'S FINCH. We saw no Red Crossbills in this area, only the White-winged Crossbills.A great morning of birding.Cheers and Good Birding; Michael FlemingBallard, WAmichaellf AT myway.com


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