Tweeters,

On October 4, a gorgeous sunny day, I decided to see if I could find the
WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS reported by Gary Bletsch on September 27 at the
gravel pit below the Mount Hardy Burn, near milepost 153 on the North
Cascades Highway in Skagit County (about 4.6 miles NW of Rainy Pass). The
results were positive. I found 2 WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS (a female and a
full-plumaged male) and 8 RED CROSSBILLS, which spent much of the time
perched in a small dead cottonwood right next to the largest gravel pile. On
several occasions, the crossbills landed on the gravel pile to pick up grit,
so it seems like this may be a regular place to look for them. I was able to
get reasonably good photos of both species. My visit was between about 1:00
and 2:00 PM. I saw no other birds there of particular interest, but I was
happy enough, because White-winged Crossbill was new for my Skagit County
list.

I also planned to visit Jensen Access west of Conway to look for shorebirds,
but I did not arrive there until 6:00 PM because I dawdled in the Rainy Pass
and Washington Pass area, enjoying the fine weather and photographing the
scenery. Marv Breece and another birder were still there scoping the
shorebirds, and Marv picked out a RED KNOT among the BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS,
which I also saw. However, I missed the SHARP-TAILED SANDPIPER and MARBLED
GODWIT which he had seen earlier. Drat! I suspected that I had trouble with
my alternator, and sure enough, when I tried to leave Jensen, my battery was
drained and the motor would not start. Marv managed to get me started again
with jumper cables (many thanks, Marv!), which at least allowed me to drive
as far as Conway, where I was able to get a tow to a repair shop in Mount
Vernon. I had to spend an unplanned night in a motel in Mount Vernon and
twiddle my thumbs until the new alternator arrived and was installed by
mid-afternoon on Monday-- but at least the car didn't break down in the
middle of nowhere, which would have been a much bigger hassle.

For the record, WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS have been seen within the last 2
weeks on all 3 of the ski resorts just north of Vancouver-- Cypress Bowl,
Grouse Mountain, and Mount Seymour. So it seems we have a small invasion of
this species underway.

Guess I'll have to make another trip to find my first Skagit County
Sharp-tail!


Wayne C. Weber
Delta, BC
contopus at telus.net