Hi Tweets, a recent trip to Methow and Okanogan Valleys was fun and
brought out some good birds. Highlights include Great Gray Owl in
northeastern Okanogan county, and a Clay-colored Sparrow at the Camas
Creek Burn.

Rainy Pass was actually Snowy Pass when we went over on Tuesday (June 6),
so we didn't stop to look for birds here, but it was snowing pretty good,
with still alot on the ground. Winter is still 'in' up in the Cascades
high country.

The Methow Valley was crawling with good stuff, including Lazuli
Buntings, Black-headed Grosbeaks, and Western Tanagers. Seems like a
Pewee was in every tree, and there were 10 Chipping sparrows for every
Pewee. Higher elevation birding at Rogers Lake did not turn up any
boreal species (not even a Boreal Chickadee), nor did a hike along the
Freezeout Ridge trail. The area seemed empty of birds except for
Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Townsend's Warblers, and Spotted Sandpipers. This
spot looks like it would be good for any of the northern Tringa
sandpipers, assuming they wanted to nest in our fine state.

Okanogan Valley had several species similar to the Methow, plus
Bobolinks. The Great Gray Owl was seen and heard at dawn (5:00 AM) on
Friday (June 9) at last year's spot. Williamson's Sapsuckers were here also.

Finally, on the way home, we stopped at the Camas Creek burn to try for
Black-backed Woodpecker. I really wanted to see one, so I had a 'no tree
left unturned' approach. We dipped on the woodpecker, but I was rewarded
with excellent views of a *Clay-colored Sparrow*!! For anyone who wants
to try for it, it was at the eastern end of the burn, about 100 feet
above the road (halfway up the slope), and about 100 feet from the
forest's edge. The time was about 5:00 PM, so it was not the least bit
interested in singing, but perhaps an early-morning visit would provide
some vocal hints as to where it was.

Here are my notes on the Clay-colored Sparrow

Small, clear-breasted Spizella sparrow. Prominent facial markings
including a white stripe above the eye (no color in the lores), a white
stripe below the ear patch, and a white chin leading to a very light
breast (sort of off-white). Behind the ear patch is a white area,
extending on to the nape, where it becomes very light gray. Top of head
and wings had similar coloration of light brown with darker streaks.
Feeding in flowering shrubs, occasionally perching on burned branches.

I sketched the bird and then compared it to the guides to confirm my
suspicions that it was a Clay-colored. I have only seen on before, so it
is not my best-known species, but its markins seemed very distinct, and I
viewed it for a long time in good light (and at close distances) while
taking notes and sketching it. I am more familiar with the other
Spizella species, especially Brewer's and Chipping.

Another interesting find (with fur) was a probable Columbia Ground
Squirrel at about 6000' near Freezeout Pass. Small patches of Artemisia
tridentat occur up that high (along with a few ponderosa pines) mixed in
with the more expected subalpine fir and engelmann spruce. We saw a
ground Squirrel with distinct red hues on the throat, face, chest, and
belly. Unfortunately, we didn't have the old collecting gun...

Just so I don't focus on only rare species, we had robins at every stop
we made, from shrub-steppe to subalpine.

-------------
Michael R. Smith
Univ. of Washington, Seattle
whimbrel at u.washington.edu
http://salmo.cqs.washington.edu/~wagap/mike.html