Subject: [Tweeters] WW Crossbills Feb 28 - Yes
Date: Feb 28 20:07:36 2008
From: Lynn & Carol Schulz - linusq at worldnet.att.net


Dear Tweeters:
Many thanks to Matt Dufort and all of the others who reported the "finch fest" at
Steven's Pass. Because of the enthusiastic reports I drove up there today, and got
White-winged Crossbills. I have been hoping to get this species for about 8 years.
Thanks so much to the Tweeters community!
I used to go up Skyline Ridge Trail (we called it Heather Ridge) many years ago on
X-Country skis and on snowshoes. But it has been about 15 years since I tried on the
snowshoes. Despite my apprehension, they worked great. I got on the trail about
8am, and went low and slow, listening for the birds. I was hearing lots of Pine
Siskins and Evening Grosbeaks. I heard and saw a few Red Crossbills. The weather
started to clear. I made it up past the powerlines, and started up the steep trail.
I found I was packing way too much gear. It was hard. I had a fairly heavy pack,
packed my scope over my shoulder (I probably should have left it below), and used a
ski pole to steady myself. The clouds cleared and the sun was really bright. I was
glad I'd brought a baseball cap and dark glasses.
I only made it up to where the trail starts to switchback, about a 450 ft elevation
gain. There was a nice view over the tops of trees, so I waited there. After awhile
I heard a short song of WW Crossbill, the grating trill that some books call a
rattle. In about 5 minutes a pair of WW's came in and perched near the top of an
evergreen tree about 100 feet away. They remained there for about a minute. Wow!
It was 9:30am. A birder couple came up and joined me a little later in the morning.
We observed two White wing pairs a couple more times, and got good quick looks at
them in the scope. A female White wing came in once, and I was glad we had the scope
because her bill did not look like it was crossed. But you could see that it was in
the scope. She kept calling ch-ch-ch-ch. At first I thought we were hearing Common
Redpoll.
I never saw Common Redpolls, but may have heard some. (I find finch calls and songs
difficult to learn.) The Pine Siskins were very hard to see, even though they were
giving their ZZZZZee song all around us. There were a number of Cassin's Finches
including one beautiful male that flew in fairly close. As I walked down the trail
later, there were many Evening Grosbeaks in the trees calling and flying.
Although I looked, I never got to see the behavior of finches on the roads eating
salt/gravel. The highway was bare and pretty dry. I walked around in the various
parking lots, including the lower one to the west and only saw 2 Red Crossbills up in
a tree.
I noticed that there were sanicans in most of the lots. In the big north lot where
we park for the Skyline Ridge trail, there is a single sanican east of the big gray
bldg. there. Across the street from the lot, there is a RV lot E. There is a nice
clean pit toilet back there near the E lot sign. Down in the lower lot there was a
cluster of sanicans.
Here are some notes I wrote to myself about the trail. They're from a X-Country Ski
book I have. Obviously I did not go the whole way, but some folks might want to.
----------------------------------------
Steven's Pass - Skyline Ridge (Heather Ridge)
>From Mteers Book, "Cross Country Ski Tours 1"

Rnd trip - 4 miles
Elev Gain - 1200 ft
High Pt - 5200 ft
Avalanch Potential - low
Maps - Grn Trails: Stevens Pass & Benchmark Mt
Access - drive to Stevens Pass, park on north side in large parking lot. Elev 4050.

Scramble up snowbank behind service bldgs and follow a cat track to the left.
[Things have changed. Now it is a little different. If you park in the big north
lot, park on the west side and walk to the left up a little gravel road. You will
then need to turn right up some snow steps, onto a snowy road past some houses to
near the power lines.] Pass a
cluster of vacation cottages on the right and follow an old road through the trees to
a telephone relay station at the foot of the open slopes.
To the rt [left side now] of the bldg a primitive road, obscured by snow heads
steeply up; climbing
skins are very helpful. A quarter of the way to the ridgetop the road fades.
Switchback onward. In unstable condits, stay to the left (west)side of the hill.
At 4900 ft, by a radio relay shed, the hard climbing ends and Mt Hinman and Mt Daniel
come in view. However, the really big picture awaits above. Ski northwest just
below the heavy timber, then turn uphill in thinning forest to the snow plain of
Skyline Lake (5092 ft). Continue to the base of a rock knob on the ridge crest.
Unless equipped w/ ice ax, do not try for the top; be satisfied with the superb view
from the saddle including Glacier Peak to the north and Mt Stuart to the southeast.
{There is more about sking the slopes...]

Thanks again everyone!
Yours, Carol Schulz
Des Moines, WA
linusq at att.net