Tweeters:

Took an early start to the holiday weekend by hiking from Deep Park campround (5300') up to Elk Mt. in the n.e. Olympics, CLALLAM on Friday, Sept. 3. Inspired by a week-old report from 'ol Bob that a flock of Rosy Finches had been seen by Elk Mt., I decided to give it a shot, as this species is rare in the county. I also figured the old burn at Deer Park might yield an Am. Three-toed Woodpecker based on old reports.

I did not find either bird but found 38 species over the course of 12-mile hike to Elk Mt. and back. The course was about 50% subalpine forest, 50% arctic-alpine meadow and rocky scree & crags; the Deer Park campground and burn, along with the short drive to Rainbow Point, is a very birdy section.

Weather was clear and wind only appeared mid-afternoon. The best bird was a SWAINSON'S HAWK seen for several minutes as it hunted the south-facing slopes of Elk Mt, moving from rocky outcrop to rocky outcrop before heading downslope and presumably across the valley. Also surprising here was a SHORT-EARED OWL soaring high above Elk Mountain (6600') with 7 COM. RAVENS; this was a unique site for the species (but are there other high Olympic SE Owl encounters out there in Tweeterland?) The number of insectivores seemed high this late in the season; on the other hand, finches were few and crossbills were absent altogether. A RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET was the first of fall and another CHIPPING SPARROW turned up in a junco flock on Green Mt. I'm thinking today's cold wet weather had to have pushed a few of the summerers out. The complete list:

SWAINSON'S HAWK 1 (intermediate morph juv)
Am. Kestrel 2
Sooty Grouse 1
SHORT-EARED OWL 1
Band-tailed Pigeon 7
hummingbird, sp 1
N. (Red-sh) Flicker 6
Hairy Woodpecker 2
Olive-sided Flycatcher 2
Hammond's Flycatcher 5
Empid, sp 1
Barn Swallow 1
Horned Lark 37 (high count)
Steller's Jay 1
Gray Jay 17
Com. Raven 23
Chestnut-backed Chickadee 48
Red-breasted Nuthatch 41
Brown Creeper 1
Winter Wren 1
Golden-crowned Kinglet 14
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1 (FOS)
Hermit Thrush 3
Varied Thrush 2
Townsend's Solitaire 1
Am. Robin 39
Am Pipit 1
Orange-crowned Warbler 19
Yellow Warbler 2
YR (Aud) Warbler 57
Townsend's Warbler 5
Wilson's Warbler 1
W. Tanager 1
CHIPPING SPARROW 1 (Green Mt)
Savannah Sparrow 10
DE (Ore) Junco 135
Purple Finch 1
Pine Siskin 29
Evening Grosbeak 1

Scott Atkinson
Lake Stevens
mail to: scottratkinson at hotmail.com