Hi Tweets

On Monday the 10th Eastside Audubon took a trip to the Sunrise area on Mt. Rainier. We went out SR 410 to Greenwater and stopped at the Forest Road 70 turn. We worked the clearcut under clear skies and warm temperatures. While there we saw NORTHERN FLICKER, VIOLET-GREEN (lots of them), BARN and NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOWs, BEWICK'S WREN, MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD, AMERICAN ROBIN, WESTERN TANAGER (both male and female), SONG SPARROWs , WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW (mostly juvenile and one adult), and DARK-EYED JUNCO.

We pushed straight on up to Sunrise. Mt. Rainier was covered with an extensive cap, but the lower reaches of the mountain were visible and the view from the area was stunning. We took the trail to Frozen Lake and along the way saw CLARK'S NUTCRACKER, RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH, at least two families of MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDs, TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE, HERMIT THRUSH (a quick fly-by), VARIED THRUSH, AMERICAN PIPIT, YELLOW-RUMPED, TOWNSEND'S and WILSON'S WARBLERs, CHIPPING SPARROW, CASSIN'S FINCH and PINE SISKIN (including a very young juvenile). We heard COMMON RAVEN. A COOPER'S HAWK flew thru, and a PRAIRIE FALCON zoomed thru at one point. Although we made a great effort we did not find the White-tailed Ptarmigan that have been reported up there.

We did get a nice look at a HOARY MARMOT, first running up the hill and then on a rock. By the time we left the clouds had rolled in and were lowering.

We stopped at the White River Campground on the way down from the mountain and saw both adult and juvenile GRAY JAYs, STELLER'S JAY, and a few BLACK SWIFTs were overhead.

On the way home we picked up GREAT BLUE HERON, RED-TAILED HAWK, ROCK PIGEON, EUROPEAN STARLING and RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD.

It was a nice day, mostly spent at elevation.

Brian H. Bell
Woodinville WA
mail to bell asoc at isomedia dot com