Subject: [Tweeters] WOS trip Aug 15 Skagit
Date: Aug 16 08:38:30 2011
From: Gary Bletsch - garybletsch at yahoo.com


Dear Tweeters,

Despite mist and showers in the morning, seven intrepid WOS members, plus your trepid correspondent, had a good birding trip to the mountains in Skagit County yesterday (8-15-2011).

Highlights included a GOLDEN EAGLE and a SOLITARY SANDPIPER. We also saw six mountain goats, two pikas, two deer, a chipmunk, lots of hoary marmots, a garter snake, a frog with red legs, and a few confused salmonids trying to get into the fish hatchery ahead of the crowd. Wildflowers were still putting on a nice show above Cascade Pass. Interesting caterpillars provided occasional diversions. Biting insects were surprisingly few.

The original plan was to hike to Cutthroat Pass, but since a bridge is washed out on that trail, necessitating a ford of Porcupine Creek, we changed plans. We went up Cascade Pass Trail and Sahale Arm instead.

Unfortunately, intermittent rain worsened as we approached Sahale Arm, and numerous snow patches made the going slow on the first part of the trail up Sahale Arm, so most of the party retreated before entering ptarmigan country. Rain continued to interfere with the search for the ptarmigan and rosy finches, so the Sahale Arm party retreated after a cursory search for those species.

Of course, once everyone met up in the trailhead parking lot, the sun came out, and the weather stayed clear for the rest of the day, as it remains this morning!

On the way back west, we visited Marblemount Fish Hatchery and Barnaby Slough. The latter place has changed markedly. Now apparently in a state of total abandon, Barnaby Slough seems to be reverting to nature; trails and even roads are disappearing in a growth of shrubs and small trees. However, we were able to pick our way past stinging nettles along the traditional route out to the end of the ponds. Without some weedwhacking or occasional vehicular traffic on the hatchery's roads, this site will probably become a thicket in a few years.

Here are the birds we found, roughly 55 species:

Wood Duck--one glimpsed at Barnaby Slough

Hooded Merganser, one at Barnaby Slough

Turkey Vulture--several at Marblemount Hatchery

Osprey--one at Marblemount Hatchery

unknown small raptor (sharpie or Merlin) carrying prey through fog by lower part of trail to Cascade pass

Golden Eagle, one adult at Cascade Pass, probably male (looked smallish)

Sooty Grouse, a few heard at Sahale Arm, calling from isolated thickets of treeline conifers, surrounded by steep and wet heather

Ruffed Grouse, hen and one juvenile at Barnaby Slough

Solitary Sandpiper, one with Spotted Sandpipers at the hatchery

Spotted Sandpiper, six or more at the hatchery; no spotted adults seen

California Gull, two adults flying west, right over Cascade Pass

Barn Owl, one near Hamilton in the morning

Common Nighthawk, one heard at Barnaby Slough, 4 seen just west of there

Black Swift, eight or more at Sahale Arm, two just west of Barnaby Slough

Vaux's Swift, one glimpsed at Barnaby

Rufous Hummingbird, several at Cascade Pass Trailhead and Sahale Arm

Belted Kingfisher, several at the hatchery

Hairy Woodpecker, one smallish female at Barnaby

Northern Flicker, one heard along Cascade Pass Trail

Western Wood Pewee, one heard singing at Barnaby

Northern Rough-winged Swallow, two at hatchery

Barn Swallow, several at the hatchery

American Pipit, six or so on Sahale Arm

Golden-crowned Kinglet, several along Cascade Pass Trail

Cedar Waxwing, three or more at Barnaby Slough

Townsend's Solitaire, one on Sahale Arm

Hermit Thrush, one along Cascade Pass Trail

American Robin, a few here and there at each site

Varied Thrush, a few along Cascade River Road and Cascade Pass Trail

Black-capped Chickadee, a few at Barnaby

Chestnut-backed Chickadee, small flocks at most forested sites visited

Red-breasted Nuthatch, several on Cascade Pass Trail

Brown Creeper, one or two heard at Cascade Pass Trail and at Barnaby

Grey Jay, two or three making even weirder noises than usual, Cascade Pass Trail; I think one was imitating a Steller's Jay "three stooges" call

American Crow, small flock in Concrete on our way up

Eurasian Starling, ditto

Warbling Vireo, one at hatchery

Hutton's Vireo, one heard at Barnaby

vireo sp, one at Barnaby

Orange-crowned Warbler, one at the hatchery

Yellow-rumped Warbler, one each at Cascade Pass Trail and Barnaby

Black-throated Grey Warbler, one or two glimpsed at the hatchery and/or at Barnaby

Townsend's Warbler, two at Cascade Pass Trail

Yellow Warbler, one at the hatchery

Western Tanager, one or two at Cascade Pass Trail, plus a female still feeding a couple of fledglings at Barnaby

Spotted Towhee, one heard singing at Barnaby

Song Sparrow, one or two each at the hatchery and Barnaby

White-crowned Sparrow, one glimpsed at the hatchery

Oregon Junco, several family groups, including at least one fledgling, at Cascade Pass Trail and Sahale Arm

Black-headed Grosbeak, one heard at Barnaby

Red-winged Blackbird, three or four at Barnaby

Red Crossbills, several heard at Sahale Arm

Pine Siskin, two or three at Sahale Arm

Evening Grosbeak, close to ten along Cascade Pass Trail and Sahale Arm

--my aplogies if I have omitted any species.


Big Misses: Pacific Wren and Common Raven!

Yours truly,

Gary Bletsch




Gary Bletsch?Near Lyman, Washington (Skagit County), USA?garybletsch at yahoo.com?Mentre che li occhi per la fronda verde
ficcava ?o s? come far suole
chi dietro a li uccellin sua vita perde, lo pi? che padre mi dicea: ?Figliuole,
vienne oramai, ch? ?l tempo che n?? imposto
pi? utilmente compartir si vuole?.??