Good morning Tweets,

My wife and I had a great hike out to Third Burroughs Mountain from the Sunrise trailhead yesterday. Fifty feet or so after we started down the further side of Second Burroughs Mountain we encountered a good-sized flock of Gray-crowned Rosy Finches flitting about and actively feeding on the ground. They were difficult to count as they blend in so well and they kept skittering about but we figured there were at least three dozen birds, both adults and juveniles with a slight preponderance of adults. Several came within 10-15 feet of us at which time my wife's new camera decided to run out of battery power. When we returned from Third Burroughs there were still birds feeding in the same location and as we crossed over Second Burroughs Mountain and were descending the trail on the south side (going toward first Burroughs Mountain) there was another flock of GCRF actively feeding there as well. Again there were well over three dozen birds. During the hike we also encountered quite a few American Pipits, one Horned Lark, one Raven, and heard but not seen several Mountain Chickadees and several Clark's Nutcrackers. There were also two Mountain Goats in the valley just beyond the first ridge coming up out of Sunrise and a herd of 34 Mountain Goats (by my count) dust bathing just to the left (south?) of the trail going between First Burroughs and Second Burroughs. There were also lots of Yellow-Pine Chipmunks and quite a few Golden-Mantled Ground Squirrels and lots of people. For anyone who might head out there, there were three significant snow patches on the way up to First Burroughs and while many people were crossing them, we were glad we had our cheapie strap-on (very) mini crampons.

Good birding,
Jud Scovill
(Green Lake neighborhood of North Seattle)