Hey Tweets,

I made the hike up Snoqualmie Mountain (just baaarely in King County, reached from Alpental) today, and had some great birds! The hike... oh gosh... except I didn't say oh gosh during the hike. On the way up, I was so winded that I couldn't properly swear, and it sounded like I was asking for Vietnamese noodle soup... On the way down, it was steep and treacherous enough that my knees were barking at me, and I was able to swear with a bit more vigor. :D

Anyhow.. the birds! The first exciting bird of the trip was a Northern Pygmy-Owl while I was still in the trees - and then again once I got out of them where the trail splits to Guye Peak, and Snoqualmie Mountain. I had tried the NOPO call to pull in any passerines that might be there in the trees... after continuing that for a min or two, just for the heck of it I gave a single Barred Owl call, which immediately got the Pygmy-Owl tooting. After trying to see the bird for a bit, I gave up and moved on to the clearing a short way beyond, and met other hikers. As we talked, the NOPO perched on a tall snag and called repeatedly for several minutes, giving great looks and listens - easily the best and longest view I've had of this owl.

Plodding up the dusty trail, I tried not to look up too often, because as soon as I did, I inevitably slipped. I made a few stops along the way, and at one point got to enjoy a Golden Eagle cruising along the ridge at the top. This, again, was not a life bird for me, but far and away a life look, including views of the underside and topside of the bird as it flew.

At the top, I looked for my ptarget birds - White-tailed Ptarmigan. Despite doing a bit of scrambling through rock/heather meadows, I found none, but a pair of Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches were a great consolation prize.

There were more raptors coming through - I had a Bald Eagle at the top (!), a fair number of birds that flew towards the sun, and too high for me to ID, and I had what I thought was a Prairie Falcon fly within 20 feet of me, but looking at guides afterwards, I think the brown-ish falcon I saw was a juvenile Peregrine Falcon.

Nothing eventful on the way down, but had Varied Thrushes in both directions (my favorite bird) so it was a good day.

-Tim Brennan
Renton