Tweeters,

My wife and I took advantage of the beautiful weather over the last few days
and visited two or our favorite places. Paradise at Mt. Rainier has a LOT
of snow still, but with snowshoes I managed to get to the ridge above the
lodge at about 6400 feet. In the basin where the Golden Gate Trail meets the
Skyline Trail, a pair of White-tailed Ptarmigan flew in to one of the few
exposed rocky outcrops. I walked to within 10 feet of them, sat down and had the
pair foraging within 3 feet of me for about a 1/2 hour before they again flew
off. That was on Wednesday, June 25th. Snowshoes or crampons would be
required if trying to get to the ridge early in the morning when the snow is
frozen. Later in the day, if the sun comes out, the snow softens and walking up
in boots would probably be OK.

Today (June 27th, Friday) we hiked out to MP 4 on Dungeness Spit. where
approximately 2000 Caspian Terns are nesting on the bay side of the spit. We
studied the colony for an hour and saw but one pair of Arctic Terns. They were
defending a nest site across the small tidal pool from the Caspian Tern
colony. Two pairs of Black Oystercatchers are also nesting there. If you go, the
round-trip hike is 9 miles on cobble and soft sand. Please do not disturb
the colony. With a scope it is possible to observe the activity from a safe
(for the birds' sake) distance. At the Three Crabs there were 30 Black-bellied
Plovers, 12 Whimbrels, and 8 Marbled Godwits. I have some photos of the
Ptarmigan, Arctic Tern and the Black Oystercatchers. If anyone is interested
send me a private message and I will send you the photos.

George and Eva Gerdts
_geopandion at aol.com_ (mailto:geopandion at aol.com)



**************Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for
fuel-efficient used cars. (http://autos.aol.com/used?ncid=aolaut00050000000007)