Tweets -; Yesterday, I drove up to the Sawmill Creek Burn in extreme SE King County. This is between Windy Gap and Kelly Butte, and is accessed off Hwy 410 near Greenwater by taking FR-70 to FR-7030 to FR-7034.

FR-7030 gets off to a really bad start with a failed culvert leading to flowing water over the roadway -; could get ugly. But the rest of the way was quite passable. I would suggest a higher clearance vehicle -; don't try to take your Prius.

The directions to the hotspot I was following placed me at the top of the burn, where there are a couple of spurs with viewpoints. Most of the best parts of the burn are down below, but it's pretty easy to find the way down. There was no snow, so I was fully able to drive around all of the lumber roads riddling the burn. It was salvage logged, but the topography meant they skipped many groves of trees.

Highlights:
a.. Sooty Grouse -; heard one up at the top of the burn site
b.. Osprey -; odd to see this as a flyover in high elevation King County
c.. BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER -; at least 3 in one grove of large burned trees: male drumming, female feeding at least one juvenile. Had 1-2 BBWO at another grove at the very bottom of the burn
d.. Olive-sided Flycatcher -; several singing
e.. Canada Jay -; adults feeding young in the upper part of the burn
f.. Warbling Vireo, Orange-crowned Warbler, MacGillivray's Warbler, Townsend's Warbler, Wilson's Warbler, Western Tanager -; great looks in some of the unburned deciduous groves
g.. Rock Wren -; calling from the rocky cliffs well above
h.. House Wren -; 1 or 2 singing in the lowest parts of the burn
i.. Western Bluebird -; 1 or 2 pairs
j.. Mountain Bluebird -; at least 10
k.. Townsend's Solitaire -; several calling and singing from high perches
l.. Hermit Thrush -; all over, giving great looks, nice singing
m.. Evening Grosbeak -; one close look at a pair, several flyovers
n.. CASSIN'S FINCH -; quite a bit of singing, plus a great look at a pair at eye level
o.. "Slate-colored" Fox Sparrow -; singing and calling at the high part of the burn
I had a total of three SNOWSHOE HARE sightings, two at separate locations in the burn, and one on my way up.

It was a very enjoyable way to spend a morning. In the afternoon, after I made my way down to Enumclaw, I "discovered" what turned out to be an eBird Hotspot named the "Veazie marsh and fields" east of Enumclaw, north of Hwy 410, before 410 starts up into the hills. There is a pullout on the west side of the road at the south end of the two marsh ponds. Viewing is limited to walking the side of the road. Being tall is an advantage, as is a scope. But MY OH MY it was filled with birds.

Highlights:
a.. Wood Duck and Mallard families
b.. Pied-billed Grebe -; pair with young chicks being fed
c.. American Coot -; adult and two independent chicks
d.. Virginia Rail -; at least 3 heard
e.. SORA -; saw one adult, saw one independent juvenile, heard a third bird whinny!
f.. Least Sandpiper -; at least 3
g.. Wilson's Snipe -; at least 1
h.. LESSER YELLOWLEGS -; one. All shorebirds were seen on the far edge of the ponds
i.. Tree Swallow -; HUGE FLOCK, with a few adults, but at least 120 that appeared to be brownish juveniles. Spent a lot of time roosting together on wire fences. Presumed pre-migration flock
j.. BANK SWALLOW -; maybe 50, mixed in with the Tree Swallows, making for a very difficult identification challenge. Maybe 50-50 adults and juveniles. In flight, they were often flying in formation (known and very useful field mark) Perched adult birds were easily identified by their crisp neck bands and by the white wrapping more towards the back of the neck than on the Tree Swallows
The longer I looked, the more species I turned up.

It was a real swallow fest, with five species and many, many birds (plus 10+ Vaux's Swifts flying low)

A really good day.

= Michael Hobbs
= www.marymoor.org/birding.htm
= BirdMarymoor at gmail.com
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