Subject: [Tweeters] Hart's Pass & Skagit birding
Date: Sep 10 22:59:55 2011
From: Ryan Merrill - rjm284 at gmail.com


On Thursday night I met up with Ryan Shaw and Dan Waggoner at the
Hart's Pass campground. Just after dusk, before I had arrived, they
were treated to three Long-eared Owls flying around above the
campsite. We spent an hour or so owling, finding three vocal and very
cooperative Northern Saw-whet Owls, all of which we saw well. Before
going to sleep we had another flyover Long-eared sighting.

Friday morning we walked up the Pacific Crest Trail toward Slate Peak
where there were a lot of birds. Highlights included a Prairie
Falcon, 45 Horned Larks, 5 Clark's Nutcrackers, 50+ Audubon's
Warblers, a Vesper Sparrow, and 4 Pine Grosbeaks. Up at Slate Peak
there was a Northern Goshawk that Ryan & Dan almost have me convinced
me of (photos), a Townsend's Solitaire, another Vesper Sparrow, and at
least 120 more Horned Larks. West of Hart's Pass in the meadow down
the road there was a young Golden Eagle. We saw another Golden Eagle
east of the pass while heading down to Mazama.

This morning there were around 30 Lincoln's and 45 White-crowned
Sparrows in the great sparrow habitat in Newhalem, though there were
very few other migrants. We spent the rest of the day shorebirding on
the flats which Gary posted about. Highlights of the 17 species found
were 18 Whimbrel at Jensen (much easier to find in spring than fall in
Skagit), 2 Semipalmated Sandpipers (getting late for them, Channel Dr
& Samish Flats), 60 Pectoral Sandpipers (Samish Flats, La Conner &
Jensen), a Sanderling (Jensen), 4 Stilt Sandpipers (all in view at
once at Channel Dr). There was also a Bank Swallow along Maupin Rd
with hundreds of Barn Swallows and Savannah Sparrows. At dusk I
watched a Great Horned Owl attack a group of roosting yellowlegs and
dowitchers, though wasn't able to tell if it was successful.

Also, this past Wednesday up at Ward's Pass south of Glacier Peak I
saw a lone White-winged Crossbill heading east just north of the pass.

Good birding,
Ryan Merrill