Hi Tweeters,

Chris Sterns and I had a nice autumn hike and birding trip along the Killian Creek Trail No. 113 on the Northwest side of Mt. Adams. Trails were surprisingly snow-free up to the 5700 ft mark, where we decided to turn around due to time constraints.

Not extremely birdy but the views were spectacular of both Mt. Adams and Mt. Rainier. The white glistening snow from both mountains were a nice contrast to the blue skies.

Not alot to report, but we had no problems finding several PINE GROSBEAK along the 2.8 mile trail which connects to the Round-the-Mountain trail. At one point, we had several beautiful males feeding about 10 feet above our heads. Their plumage this time of year is stunning. A couple of AMERICAN THREE TOED WOODPECKERS were along the trail.

It took me seven attempts to find any crossbills in the area. We finally found a small flock of WHITE WINGED CROSSBILLS and several flocks of RED CROSSBILLS in areas of cone laden trees, along the 6 mile-roundtrip hike. Lots of good area to explore!

We had no problems finding several flighty SOOTIES and subadult SPRUCE GROUSE along the scenic area.

I have never seen Mt. Adams and Mt. Rainier with such clarity. Mt. Adams reflection on the pristine waters of Takhlakh Lake was magnificient with the complex clouds. I took one of photos pointing my camera at just the lake's surface.

http://www.pbase.com/spruce_grouse/recent_photos&page=all

A nice, November autumn's day!

Good birding,

Khanh Tran (Portland, Oregon)