TWEETERS OKANOGAN WEEKEND RECAP

8:30pm on Friday evening found the group (about 25 persons) at the agreed
upon rendezvous spot, the cattle guard at Baldy Pass northwest of
Conconully. A round of introductions in the dark and we were off on the
search for Boreal Owls.

Well, NO owls had been found by the time the group arrived at Tiffany
Springs CG at around 11pm so we all hit the sack.

Saturday morning the group split up, some heading north to the 1994 Thunder
Mountain Burn to search for Three-toes and Black-backed Woodpeckers. Others
headed up Tiffany Mountain or headed east for the highlands in the eastern
half of the County. Intermittent rain and 20 mph winds prompted several
parties to pull up camp and head home. A cold front swept through around
3pm bringing a sharp temperature drop. By 7pm the temp was 31 degrees.

Saturday night found about 7 brave souls ready to try for owls again. But
the wind had not completely subsided so conditions were still less than
perfect. The only owl detected was a calling Northern Pygmy Owl.

Several long transects through the ideal habitat by the group did not turn
up the expected Spruce Grouse although Michael Smith's party found 5 of them
along Freezeout Ridge. An additional single bird was seen on Sunday
afternoon in the Mutton Creek drainage. A hunter at Tiffany CG said that
1994 and 1995 have been poor grouse hunting years in this area.

By far, the most abundant species found (by a ratio of 20:1 or so) was
White-winged Cross-bill. They were visible or audible more than half the
time in areas with suitable habitat.

List of species known to have been seen by the group. (I was not able to
contact all participants.)


Northern Harrier 4
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Northern Goshawk 1 30 Mile Meadow
Red-tailed Hawk 2 Tiffany Mt and 30 Mile Meadow
Merlin 1 pursuing a flock of American Pipits at 30 Mile Meadow.
Spruce Grouse 6 (not seen by the main group)
Sandhill Crane 5 flying south over 30 Mile Meadow.
Northern Pygmy Owl 1
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Three-toed Woodpecker 9 Several at Thunder Mt Burn and 2 along Tiffany Mt trail.
Northern Flicker 3
Piliated Woodpecker 1
Gray Jay Common
Clark's Nutcracker Abundant
Common Raven 10+
Red-breasted Nuthatch 20+
Brown Creeper 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 20+
Golden-crowned Kinglet 20+
Hermit Thrush 2
American Robin 50+
American Pipit 35
Yellow-rumped Warbler 6
Chipping Sparrow 1
Savannah Sparrow 2
White-crowned Sparrow 3+
Dark-eyed Junco 50+
Cassin's Finch 2
Red Cross-bill heard only, uncharacteristicly uncommon.
White-winged Crossbill Abundant, 200++ seen and heard
Pine Siskin 25+


I enjoyed meeting all of you and hope to see you in the field again someday!


Scott
_____________________________________________________________________________
Scott Ray Washington Birder Newsletter
Yakima, WA PO Box 191
email: scray at wolfenet.com Moxee, WA 98936
http://www.wolfenet.com/~scray/