This morning as my son and I were driving up Crystal Mountain Boulevard to the ski area, we came upon a flock of at least 50 small birds pecking at something (gravel, salt?) in the other lane of the roadway. We slowed down to identify them; they were Pine Siskins, and so tame that they didn't fly up out of the road until we were almost on top of them. When they did take off, about 10 birds remained in the roadway, apparently killed by cars coming down the hill. The road curves at that point and descending drivers wouldn't have seen the birds until just before they hit them.
There was no place to stop nearby so we continued up the hill. On the way down later in the day, we found no trace of the dead birds.
Brian Pendleton
Auburn WA
kc7wpd at hotmail.com