Tweets,



After weeks of fine weather, two nasty frontal systems blew in for our field
trip to the Cascade Crest near Naches Pass, King County. We woke at 4:30 AM
Monday to rain and low clouds, but the eight of us set off anyway hoping the
predicted clearing would soon materialize. No such luck. The Crest was
socked in down to 4000 feet and it felt like winter at the top.



Not much to see or hear at our target locations so we decided to carry on
down the east side, first on Forest Service spur 7080 to 9015 to the Little
Naches Road, FSR 90. We eventually did locate some sun and managed some nice
scope views of Red Crossbills. Perhaps our most unusual bird was a
sporadically singing DUSKY FLYCATCHER on the way up just east of Greenwater
in a clear cut at the junction of SR-410 and FSR 70, in Pierce County. There
appeared to be two or three Duskies there, perhaps a family group, foraging
near the ground and around the edges of a small clump of Douglas Firs in the
middle of the clear cut. This sort of situation seems to provide the best
opportunity to find Dusky Flycatchers nesting west of the Crest.



Lots of EVENING GROSBEAKS throughout the route. Nice views of a CHIPPING
SPARROW and a male LAZULI BUNTING in a meadow high up the Little Naches
River. Best "birds" were the several ELK, including a cow with a half-grown
calf, and a SNOWSHOE HARE, and lots of wild flowers.



We limped home after a flat tire - which required eight birdwatchers to
change while a bitter wind blew the fog in our faces at Green Pass -- and
overheated brakes on our second vehicle, but everyone got home in one piece
on schedule.



So it goes,



Gene Hunn

18476 47th Pl NE

Lake Forest Park, WA

enhunn323 at comcast.net