Happy Memorial Day all,
Anna Kopitov and I birded Stampede Pass Road off eastbound I-90 at exit 62. After making a stop there while on a bird-a-thon trip last Thursday, Anna wanted to spend more time at this location so she invited me to join her on a return trip. The first time we pulled over to bird we were greeted by a Gray Catbird and a female Common Merganser. The Merg was obviously disturbed by us being there, not wanting to keep her from her nest and because it was otherwise very quite we moved a bit further down the road. We could hear birds but they were staying hidden. We continued to drive up the road stopping every several hundred feet to get out and check for birds. Little by little we were able to accumulate 20 species. On the way out we stopped again where we hade seen the merganser and catbird. This time it was quite a bit birdier. We were finally able to ID the Hammond's flycatcher who had been teasing us most of the time we were there. Our highlight was a Hermit Warbler. it was life bird #295 for me. We had nice looks at a pair of Red-breasted Sapsuckers at their nest cavity. YR warblers must be nesting nearby too because we saw a female with a bill full of nesting material.
The MAWA can be seen at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24984572 at N02/5778406924/in/photostream
the other birds were:
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Townsend's Warbler
Vaux's Swift
Song Sparrow
Wilson's Warbler
Bald Eagle
Varied Thrush (heard only)
Rufuf Hummingbird
Warbling Vireo (lots of them)
Tree Swallow
Hairy Woodpecker ( feeding at Sap wells)
Canada Goose

Seattle was mostly sunny and warm when we left and Stampede was cold and cloudy but we had a great couple of hours up there.
Linda Phillips
Kenmore