Subject: [Tweeters] American Three-toed Woodpecker on Waptus River trail
Date: Jul 30 14:23:48 2008
From: Scott Ramos - lsr at ramoslink.info


Tweets,

Mark Crawford and I made a 22-mile loop north of Roslyn this past weekend, July 26-27, hiking up Pollalie Ridge, an overnight at Waptus Lake, with return down the Waptus River. Although the most abundant creature we 'experienced' was of the blood-sucking variety, we were treated to a good collection of avian species.

At almost every point of the walk, we were accompanied by Evening Grosbeak which we could hear, and occasionally see, while in the river valleys as well as along the ridge tops. Almost as abundant were Pine Siskin, followed by Western Tanager. With the range in elevation we covered, the melodies of both Swainson's Thrush and Hermit Thrush were always around us. In particular, leaving Waptus Lake, both species were singing at the same elevation, a fascinating treat.

Best event of the trip, though, was when we crossed through a recent burn area not far from the Waptus River trailhead. Mark spotted a female-juvenile pair of American Three-toed Woodpeckers chipping away the loose bark from the now dead fir trees. Mom was always first, followed by junior a few steps below. When Mom found an appropriate morsel, some signal was given, unheard by us, and junior immediately climbed up to grab the offering. Then, back to chipping and climbing until Mom provided again. We watched as they investigated several trees before moving out of sight.

Trip list follows.

Scott Ramos
Seattle

Pollalie Ridge-Waptus River loop, July 26-27, 2008
Bufflehead
Common Merganser
Osprey
Spotted Sandpiper
Mourning Dove
Common Nighthawk
Rufous Hummingbird
American Three-toed Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Western Wood-Pewee
Pacific-slope Flycatcher
Cassin's Vireo
Gray Jay
Steller's Jay
Common Raven
Mountain Chickadee
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Winter Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Swainson's Thrush
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
Varied Thrush
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Townsend's Warbler
Western Tanager
Chipping Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
House Finch
Pine Siskin
Evening Grosbeak

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