I went to Stevens Pass yesterday as well and met two birders on the trail
who must have been Ann Marie and Marv. I briefly saw a group of birds
they were looking at on the top of a conifer, but did not get a close view.
I snowshoed up about 200 yards further than they had gone (a strenuous climb
in what appeared to be 1-2 ft of fresh snow). A male red crossbill sang
and posed for me while I binocked, scoped and photographed (both handheld
and tripod) him. Two gray jays landed on trees nearby. Small groups of
finchy fliers went overhead. I went higher and spotted an unidentified
raptor. My path did not cross that of any grosbeaks, but on my return to
the parking lot I heard singing very much like my white crossbill recording.



Marvin S. Hoekstra

Sammamish, WA

marvin dot hoekstra at verizon dot net







From: tweeters-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu
[mailto:tweeters-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Marv Breece
Sent: Wednesday, March 05, 2008 7:09 AM
To: Tweeters
Subject: [Tweeters] Streven's Pass and Butler Flats



Yesterday (3/4/08), Ann Marie Wood and I visited Skyline Trail at Steven's
Pass in King County. As in the past few weeks, finches of all kinds flew
overhead. Few landed yesterday for close observation. We had a good look
at a single female RED CROSSBILL and many EVENING GROSBEAKS. These birds
were seen while we were standing at the power line near the trailhead. Also
near the trailhead was a pair of PINE GROSBEAKS. They seemed to be
interested in the area around the small Verizon building beneath the power
line. These 2 birds lingered for several minutes at very close range. Last
week I hiked the trail nearly to the lake, just to see Pine Grosbeaks. Ya
never know.....



>From Steven's Pass we headed for Skagit County. A brief time there produced
little of note except for the previously reported YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD.
This bird was in a tree with a mixed flock of blackbirds near the corner of
Green and Dahlstedt Roads.



A large number of vocal WESTERN MEADOWLARKS continues along 36th Ave NW, off
of Norman Road, between Sylvana and Stanwood, in Snohomish County.



It was a good day.



Marv Breece
Seattle, WA
mbreece at earthlink.net