Tim,

I have seen several White-tailed Ptarmigan in King County in the past few
years, most recently on the north flank of Big Snow Mountain in early
September 2012. I have also seen them near on the E and W flanks of Mt.
Hinman, N of Dip Top Gap (the saddle N of the Lynch Glacier/Pea Soup Lake)
and near La Bohn Lakes. (Note that the USGS 7.5' map erroneously labels La
Bohn Gap; the real La Bohn Gap is the low spot on the divide between La
Bohn Gap and Chain Lakes.) All of those sightings were accessed via
off-trail travel.

Your best bet via a day-hike trail may be the tarn-spotted alpine basin
between Alta Mountain and Lila Lake. That area can be accessed via the
Rachel Lake/Rampart Ridge trail, and then taking the informal trail N when
you hit Rampart Ridge. I've seen ptarmigan in that basin, although it has
been a few years. If you go there, be prepared for a workout. The crowds
thin out after Rachel Lake.

I have not had a confident ID of a Spruce Grouse E of the Cascade Crest as
far south as King County.

Have fun and good luck!

Steve Loitz
Seattle, WA
steveloitz at gmail.com



On Mon, Jul 15, 2013 at 10:50 AM, Tim Brennan <tsbrennan at hotmail.com> wrote:

> Hey Tweets!
>
>
>
> I know that there are good places to go in the state for high country
> birds like White-tailed Ptarmigan and Spruce Grouse, but in the spirit of
> always-trying-to-find-a-harder-way, I?d really like to do some exploring
> for these birds in King County.****
>
> ** **
>
> Just a few problems: ****
>
> 1) There are only two extremely sketchy county records for Spruce
> Grouse in the county, and Ptarmigan are up there? but there haven?t been
> any reports of birders finding them in the last couple years that I know of.
> ****
>
> 2) I?ve never been up hiking in the Alpine Lakes area and would
> probably get lost before getting eaten by a bear while falling off of a
> cliff ? that is at least my wife?s best guess.****
>
> 3) Having never seen either of these target birds, I can?t exactly
> say useful things like ?That looks like good Spruce Grouse habitat ? let?s
> go over there!?. I?m not sure I could pick a spruce tree out of a
> line-up for that matter.****
>
> 4) I?m sure I?m missing something else?.****
>
> ** **
>
> So I?m hoping to make my way into the Alpine Lakes area ? maybe even up
> towards the Pacific Crest, but still in King County - on the weekend of
> August 16-18, and am looking for maybe three other adventurous folks to
> explore this underbirded area with me. All positions are currently open
> ? bonus if you know where you?re going up there, and have some
> camping/hiking/backpacking (?) savvy, if you have some knowledge of habitat
> in general, and/or can pick out things like? spruce? or? grouseberry
> (apparently this is a plant that grouse like? imagine that!). Oh! If
> you are good with ?Where?s Waldo?? books, it may also help ? I may have
> walked right by Ptarmigan and their advanced cloaking systems many times
> for all I know ? my eyes are awful for things like that.****
>
> ** **
>
> Sense of humor necessary, and please don?t tell me about nice places to
> see these birds in other counties ? I know they?re out there, but I feel
> like poking around in ?the backyard?. Failure is an option! :D****
>
> ** **
>
> I am working to figure out a trip plan as well, so if anyone has some
> experience hiking that area this time of year and possibly birding it, I
> would love to hear from you as well. Also it seems very difficult to
> find a ?range map? for things like spruce trees? so any leads there would
> be great.****
>
> ** **
>
> -Tim Brennan****
>
> Renton****
>
>
>
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