Mike Smith and I (Kelly Cassidy) originally intended that the Boreal
Owl trip would be purely recreational, but somehow or another, we found
ourselves packing rat and mouse traps and making plans to pick up a
couple of tracking plates... We got a slow start on Friday morning,
since the original vehicle we loaded developed mechanical problems by
Bellvue. Back to Seattle to trade in Mike's Bronco for a Coop
vehical. (Mike worried about the cost of auto repairs for the entire
trip.)

We finally left Seattle around noon. We stopped in Winthrop to pick up
a couple of tracking plates and drove to Tiffany Springs. By then it
was nearly 6 PM and the sun sets at 7 PM. We had wanted to set the
small mammal traps at intervals between Tiffany Meadows and Baldy Pass,
but it was clear that daylight was against that plan. We settled for
96 traps in a boggy area south of Tiffany Campground (since we were
hoping for a bog lemming). We set out one of the tracking plates at
the edge of the forest baited with liver. (The tracking plate is 2
pieces of aluminum covered with soot. The hope is that the carnivores
will leave a clear print when they come to the bait.)

We met the owling group at Baldy Pass about 8:30 PM. About 18 people
in about 10 cars eventually took part in the prowl. Andy was not one
of them. He had to cancel due a family emergency. Scott Ray took
over. Scott played his Boreal Owl tape at intervals along the road
back to Tiffany Meadows campground. The net result was no Boreal Owl
response. (Sigh.)

Next morning we found that the small mammal catch for the night was 0
(zero). The number of carnivore tracks was 0 (zero). At Tiffany
Meadows Campground, we did get a fantastic view of a White-Winged
Crossbill group (1 male, 2 juvies, a possible female) through David
Wright's scope. They were uncharacteristically stationary as they fed
on conifer seeds. The Subalpine Fir/Engelmann Spruce/Lodgepole Pine
forest was not exactly bursting with animal life on a late September
morning. We saw Gray Jays, and we heard a Raven, a Clarks's
Nutcracker, and a Red-breasted Nuthatch.

We decided to split from the Tweeters group and try for the east side
of the Okangogan Valley were trapping records (and bird records) are
minimal. We stopped at Freeze-out Pass on the way and walked along the
ridge up to subalpine meadows with scattered White-bark Pine. The
highlight was group of 5 spruce grouse in the closed forest. Other
animals noted were Mountain Chickadees, Gray Jays, Clark's Nutcrakers
(collecting White-bark Pine nuts), Ravens, juncos, tunneling evidence
of pocket gophers (Thomomys talpoides) and a group of 4 ROBINS.

Once again, time was not on our side and we made it as far as Fish Lake
north of Conconully, in the Stinlehekin (I'm sure I blew the spelling)
Wildlife Area. We set 96 traps and two tracking plates, drove to
Tonasket for a great dinner at Don's (?) Drive-in (the pie is highly
recommended), and camped at Fish Lake. It was as cold at Fish Lake in
the Ponderosa Pine zone by early morning as it had been in the
Subalpine Fir zone the previous night. Our small rodent catch was a
sum total of 5 Deer Mice (Peromyscus maniculatus). (To put that in
perspective, 10% of all museum records for Washington's 110 mammal
species are Deer Mice.) We had no carnivore tracks, but it did look
like a mouse or a shrew had scurried across the plate to investigate
the liver. We heard coyotes at night, but they apparently were not in
the mood for liver.


Bird life at Fish Lake was more interesting. We saw (or Mike saw and I
heard): Black-capped Chickadees, Magpies, a Sharp-shined Hawk (posing
for a fantastic close view), an Osprey, Ruby-crowned Kinglets down from
their high-montane breeding habitat, Coots, a Rudy Duck, a Stellar's
Jay, a Clark's Nutcracker, (heard only) a Pygmy Owl (heard only), a
Western Screech Owl (heard only), and a Great-Horned Owl (heard only).
a Pied-Billed Grebe, a Hairy Woodpecker, a White-crowned Sparrow, a
Rufous-Side Towhee (heard only), and several ROBINS.

So, in summary, we saw no Boreal Owls, no Boreal Chickadees, had no
carnivore tracks, and trapped only the most common mammal in Washington
State. However, we went back to Seattle pleased that we were able
to score so many ROBINS.

Kelly Cassidy
Washington Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
University of Washington
Seattle, WA