Hi Tweets,

I had the great pleasure of birding with the amicable and generous Tom Mansfield this weekend in hopes of finding some fancy chickens and boreal birds. We succeeded in finding all our target birds and an unexpected one, a NORTHERN HAWK OWL! We had great kharma for this trip, as the birding Buddha looked upon us and shined. We were fortunate to have several priceless moments and many cooperative, photogenic birds..

We started our whirlwind trip at Mt. Baker under foggy conditions but managed to find two male WHITE TAILED PTARMIGANS. While Sir Tom was snapping photos, a noisy GRAY CROWNED ROSYFINCH breezed over our heads. We found several cooperative SOOTY GROUSE perched up on rocks on our way up Table Mountain. Some of them looked very zenlike and ethereal against the foggy conditions.

Our next, stop was Hart's Pass late Saturday afternoon. As we drove towards Meadows Campground in hopes of finding other birds, I spotted an accipter/owl like silhouette, and immediately shouted to Tom, Holy XXXX, thats a NORTHERN HAWK OWL!! We immediately got out of our cars to get better views as the bird remained up high on a snag for ten minutes. What a gorgeous creature.

Proceeding onward to look for Boreal chickadees, we instead heard and found a NORTHERN PYGMY OWL at a distance. Returning to the car, I looked up to a Western Larch, and spotted a female SPRUCE GROUSE actively feeding on the needles. We also found a low feeding female, AMERICAN THREE TOE shortly before seeing the hawkowl again.

Next morning, we ascended to Salmon Meadows and was successful in finding up to three BOREAL CHICKADEES among a mixed flock of birds. This time of year, the latte colored birds looked really pretty and crisp. Later, Tom spotted a very gorgeous male WILLIAMSON'S SAPSUCKER while looking for a male SPRUCE GOURSE. En route, we had several CHUCKARS, and a soaring pair of GOLDEN EAGLES, and one COMMON LOON on Conconully Lake.

We ended the trip by making a quick stop at the Leavenworth's Fish Hatchery, and immediately found a female WHITE HEADED WOODPECKER about 5 feet above our heads. It was quite tame and drew a mini crowd of non-birders as well. Also found a LINCOLN'S SPARROW and perky DIPPER along this cool, nature trail. A nice way to end the trip!!

I posted a few scant PHOTOS to my website. Wait until you see what is between Tom's legs!!

We had a BLAST on this fun, successful adventure.

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

Good birding,

Khanh Tran (Portland, Oregon)