Dear Tweeters,

Today I hiked from Rainy Pass to Cutthroat Pass (Skagit County). It was good birding, although there were lots and lots of hikers and high-country campers. I also visited a few spots along SR 20 enroute. Surprisingly, the birding was very good during "the heat of the day," and things never really quieted down until near dusk. It only got to about 80 degrees in the mountains, and mostly stayed well below that.

Highlights included:

American Kestrel: a pair wind-hovering right at Cutthroat Pass.

THREE-TOED WOODPECKER: at least one female on the trail. I think I heard at least one or two other woodpeckers tapping nearby. The female pecked a big piece of bark off, and it landed on my head! Isn't that aggravated battery with a fir-arm enhancement?

Hammond's Flycatcher adults and juveniles were at County Line Ponds.

Clark's Nutcrackers could be heard below Cutthroat, but I saw none.

Grey Jays were looking for handouts along the trail.

Red-eyed Vireos were still singing and scolding at County Line Ponds.

Golden-crowned Kinglets with young were along the trail. The juveniles looked sort of like some weird species of vireo!

RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET, adult and juvenile, in last stretch of subalpine near rock outcrops, well below Cutthroat Pass.

Townsend's Solitaire, one in the spot where they usually are, in the last bit of subalpine, just before the "alpine parkland" starts near Cutthroat Pass.

Mountain and Chestnut-backed Chickadees: there were lots, all along the trail.

Chipping Sparrows, one near the big, sunny, stony slope where the trail first bends right. Others up near timberline, where they usually are.

PINE GROSBEAK: one beatiful red and grey individual, seen on my way up and my way down, right by the trail. This is above the stony slope, but below the log footbridge, in the section of trail with lots of fir trees that have resin-filled "bark-zits." Pine Grosbeaks have turned up here before. Today's bird was eating blossoms of foamflowers (sugar-scoops) while hopping about on the damp ground. A good landmark is a large fallen treetrunk that runs along parallel to the trail, on the uphill side. The 3-toed Woodpecker and the Pine Grosbeak were both right near this log.

Evening Grosbeaks: there were a few along the lower portion of the trail.

Surprisingly few warblers showed up. I saw three Yellow-rumped, and no other warblers on the trail, although this walk almost always produces at least a few Townsend's in the forest, with MacGillivray's and Wilson's up near timberline. There was a lone Black-throated Grey at the NP 213 Road (just west of the big National Park sign along SR 20). That was it for warblers for the day.

Espadrilles of black biting flies flew many sorties. This time, I wore long pants and a long-sleeved shirt, and lost less than a pint of the old A-positive.

Yours truly,

Gary Bletsch ? Near Lyman, Washington (Skagit County), USA ? garybletsch at yahoo.com ? ?