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Tiffany Mountain

There are still wildflowers blooming on Tiffany Mountain! It’s over 8200′ elevation so the snow hasn’t been gone too long. The hike starts out in a burned forest and climbs steeply for a while and then it’s out in the open before approaching the last pull to the top. Lots of birds teased us flying back and forth in the snags. We were able to see Yellow-rumped Warblers, White-crowned Sparrows, Pine Siskens, Clarks Nutcrackers and several other species. On the slope to the top, there were scads of Horned Larks and we were able to see many migrating raptors including a Golden Eagle, Prairie Falcon, Coopers Hawks and others. Weather was perfect for the hike although a little bit hot, almost opressive, on the way down through the burned forest. We cooled our feet in Boulder Creek and felt much better. And driving down Mary noticed a cinnamon black bear! It was a beautiful animal and quickly lumbered up the hill and away from us.

trail through the burned forest

Fireweed

Mary in front of Tiffany

Lupine

old wood and nails at the top. I wonder if there used to be a lookout?

Who piled these nails?

an old survey marker

A young Horned Lark that doesn’t know it ought to be afraid of us.

yoga practice

Lots of ladybugs in the rocks on top

Whoooo is watching us?

Orchard cat

North Cascades Wildflowers

Last week Juliet and I got away to the Harts Pass area for a ‘hike’ which turned out to be more of a plant walk than a vigorous outdoor exercise. Weather was perfect and bugs didn’t bug us too much. Flowers were great! Such a huge variety. She is much better than I am at identifying all the individuals or finding them in a field guide. On a good day, I can come up with family ID but seldom can I tell you the proper name of an individual plant. I carried a camera with only one lens – a macro – and no tripod. It was a little breezy so the tripod would not have helped. I was glad to leave the extra weight behind. The elevation is over 6000′ and there were still snow patches around. We also looked at and heard birds, bugs, butterflies and some mammals – a marmot, a big chipmunk, pikas AND we saw a Jumping Mouse on the way up. It had a little round body with an incredibly long tail and it jumped across the road with leaps and bounds! It was a lifer for me. What fun.

Oh, the Joy of Being a Boy

Well what would you do all afternoon if you just had the afternoon to do what you want? Jump off the picnic table over and over again?

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Flycatchers nesting

Empidonax species. I have never mastered the ID skills for this group of birds. I’m not alone. There are several Empidonax flycatchers that appear in this area including Hammonds, Dusky, Gray, Willow, and Pacific-slope (Western). There’s a Cordileran too but I’m not sure how the Pacific-slope, Western and Cordileran all fit together. They are either one species or two. Not to confuse the matter further. (insert smile here) Obviously, I’ve not been taking this matter of Empidonax identification seriously.

Anyway, these two birds have a nest at a house on the river by the cottonwood forest. This is the same place that had the Cedar Waxwing nest. If you have a thought on their ID, do let me know. For those that pay attention to these things, the bird on the wire bobbed its tail up and down. Maybe Hammonds?

From someone who knows these birds better than me: Lots of yellow on the belly during the breeding season, strong eye-ring with a bit of tear drop look, large and wide bill with orange lower mandible, and the nest is on a building (probably lined with moss or lichens) means ‘western’ type, probably in our area Pacific-slope although there is a possibility of Cordillean Flycatcher here as well.