Hi Tweets -
I made a trip up to the Naches Pass area on the SE edge of King County today -- pretty birdy up there, with some nice [for King co] birds mixed in.

I hiked the trail out to the far end of Government Meadows from 6:30 - 9:30 this morning --
Warblers were thick - mostly Yellow-rumped Warblers & Townsend's Warblers, but also many Orange-crowned Warblers, several Nashville Warblers, and a Yellow. I had a MacGillivray's later as well, making Wilson's the only expected warbler missing -- there were multiple big mixed flocks that were fun to sort through and imagine what might be mixed in.

Also present were several CASSIN'S FINCH , CHIPPING SPARROWS, LINCOLN'S SPARROWS and FOX SPARROWS.

On the way out, after coming across a couple MOUNTAIN CHICKADEES, I got lucky and re-found one of the BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKERS Evan & Scott had earlier this year -- as with when they had it, it was not too far from the beginning of the trail, working a group of snags and vocalizing a good bit.

Moving over to Windy Gap for a few hours, many of the same birds were present but highlights included:
LEWIS'S WOODPECKER - 3 young ones [same as Evan's last week?]
MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD - 1
CASSIN'S & PURPLE FINCH , many in mixed flocks, as Evan reported last week
NORTHERN GOSHAWK - being harrassed by a Cooper's Hawk- also had 2 or more Sharp-shinned Hawks for the accip-trifecta.

On the way back down FR7036, a RUFFED GROUSE in the road was nice final bird for the trip.

I stopped at the mouth of the Cedar River on my way home - alas no Stilt Sandpiper, but it was great to have some shorebird diversity in King County - we had:
SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS - 3-4?
SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER - 1 [earlier reports said another was present as well]
SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER - 1 - another tough King Co shorebird
Western, Least, Spotted Sandpier and Killdeer rounded out the mix.

Good birding,

Matt Bartels
Seattle, WA