Today Sherry and I hiked the 10 mile round trip to 3rd Burroughs Mountain in Mt. Rainier National Park. The ptarmigan were on our minds, but were not really expected. We were just out to see the outstanding scenery from 3rd Burroughs Mountain. We first had Mountain Chickadees and Pine Siskins near Sunrise. Pretty slow birding on the way up. On the way to 2nd Burroughs Mountain we had the Prairie Falcon do a fly by twice and then again for third time on 3rd Burroughs Mountain. On 3rd Burroughs Mountain we had lots of American Pipits and Horned Larks. Three White-tailed Ptarmigans (1 male and 2 hens) were found by Matt & Jeanette, a really nice young couple from North Seattle, and failry new to birding. The ptarmigans were about 100ft down the slope from the top of the ridge, and were also lifers for Matt and Jeanette. Thanks guys for a nice find and showing us the birds as well. The only birds that we missed were 2 Gray-crowned Rosy Finches that were seen by Chris Chappell, who was also up on 3rd Burroughs. Chris is only back in Washington for visit.

Dave Hayden
dtvhm AT nwrain.com
Centralia, WA