hi group ...

went up to Timberline at Mount Hood on sunday ... hiked only a few
hundred yards up the hill and wandered through the trees ... was
looking for the Clark's Nutcracker (which we found) and also the
grey-crowned Rosy Finch or the Cassin's Finch, both of which
"googling" said I might find around Timberline ... what we found was
this bird ...

http://columbiariverimages.com/Birds/HoldingPen/mount_hood_unknown_bird_08-16-09.html

I'm thinking the black central spot on Bird #1 might just be dirty
feathers ... something about the way the feathers lie ... I could be wrong ...

both birds were in a loosely grouping of 3 to 4 other birds ...

both were Finch-size, although Bird #1 appeared to be slightly larger
to us comparing it to Bird #2 ... although that could be just an
illusion with the tree top ... neither match images in the books for
Grey-Crowned or Cassin's ...

other sightings were the Common Raven and American Kestrel ... could
hear Chickadee sounds in the trees but never spotted one ... and
there were flocks of 20-30 smaller birds which flew around the slopes
and the motion appeared Goldfinch-like ... always too fast and too
far away for me to ID ...

thanks for the help on my unknown(s) ...
Lyn





Lyn Topinka
http://EnglishRiverWebsite.com
http://ColumbiaRiverImages.com
http://RidgefieldBirds.com