Outstanding photos! I just had to post a reply because a picture of a silver
phase Red Fox that appeared in the Tacoma News Tribune and Olympian a couple
of weeks ago prompted quite a discussion among biologists interested in the
status of Washington's native Red Foxes. There has been some concern, in
recent years, based mainly on impressions that these foxes of the mountains
were becoming less common. The one that was photographed for the newspapers
was at Paradise. They're beautiful animals and more commonly bear the
"silver" pelage than their non-native cousins of the lowlands who are more
typically the red phase that most of us think of when we think of Red Fox.

Tweeters is great but the sharing of wonderful photos like Khanh Tran's
photos really keeps me interested in this forum.

Kelly McAllister
Olympia, Washington

----- Original Message -----
From: "Khanh Tran" <fsprucegrouse at yahoo.com>
To: <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Sunday, October 12, 2008 11:52 PM
Subject: [Tweeters] Mt Rainier and Mt. Adams Autumn birding weekend


> Hi Tweeters,
>
> This weekend, I decided to take advantage of the nice fall weather and did
> some ambitious hikes to both Paradise, Sunrise, and on the Killian Creek
> Trail near Mt. Adams.
>
> I did snap a few photos of scenic areas as well so birder can get a feel
> for the place. Not alot of cooperative birds this time but these are
> probably my best spruce grouse photos. The subjects were stunning in
> appearance! You can see why the male is one of my favorite NW birds!
>
> http://www.pbase.com/spruce_grouse/recent_photos&page=all
>
> TRIP REPORT:
>
> Birding was slow at Paradise on noonish Saturday, but I did find two
> flocks of GRAY CROWNED ROSYFINCHES near the higher access point to
> Panaroma Point. There was a total of 125 birds roughly giving
> unsatisfactory distance looks but the birds were quite vociferous with
> their jhew, jhew calls as they flew by at one point.
>
> Hiking along the ridge towards Panaroma Point and about 100 feet down, I
> spied on three WHITE TAILED PTARMIGANS that were about 90% white. Other
> than that only there were a couple of PRAIRIE FALCONS, and 5 BLACK BEARS.
>
> I was highly entertained by a perky AMERICAN DIPPER near a stream
> crossing. On my way out to Sunrise for some owling, I had one gorgeous
> BLACK FOX that was very photogenic.
>
> Owling conditions were ideal at Sunrise, with a full moon, little wind. I
> had a weak responses from two BOREAL OWLS and a NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL near
> the Shadow Lake area. Lower down produced a calling BARRED OWL. The road
> will be closed on Monday for the year.
>
> I hiked up to the Second Burroughs on Sunday afternoon and found a flock
> of 200 plus GRAY CROWNED ROSYFINCHES. On my way out, I had a small flock
> of 5 PINE GROSBEAKS near Shadow Lake. A very quiet day otherwise.
>
> Weather condition at Horseshoe and Takhlakh Lake near Mt. Adams were more
> ideal this time and I was successful at find a few decent birds. What a
> beautiful area!
>
> I found several species of woodpeckers including a pair of BLACK BACKED
> near Takh Takh Meadows, three AMERICAN THREE TOE WOODPECKERS near
> Horseshoe Lake, one RED BREASTED SAPSUCKER by Cispus River, and one
> PILEATED. An active NORTHERN GOSHAWK was patrolling the roads for grouse
> and a pair of PINE GROSBEAKS were present at Horseshoe Lake.
>
> I had an extremely successful outing with SPRUCE GROUSE on this trip as
> found a total of 8 birds from four different locations. I found 3 adult
> SPRUCE GROUSE males within a 4 mile stretch from the Killian Creek
> Campsite to Horseshoe Lake. They were extremely beautiful and quite
> different from the Okanogan ones in terms of markings, size, and color.
>
> I also found a female SPRUCE with 5 subadult chicks. This batch was the
> most cooperative for photos. I instructed the bunch if they didn't, I
> would turn them into Fancy Chicken Stew. Guess what?? They listened to
> me:) But after a cold fall day of birding, that does sound good. I also
> found five SOOTY GROUSE in the area as well.
>
> What a great time of year to bird!
>
> Good grousin,
>
> Khanh Tran (Portland, Oregon)
>
>
>
>
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