We were up at 2 AM to go birding with Ruth Fischer with the objective of
seeing Sharp-tailed Grouse on a Lincoln County lek. However, the lek that
we picked to visit had no STGR activity.

We decided to bird the rest of the morning in the Swanson Lakes Wildlife
Management Area (See Washington Birder article in Vol 3 #4 for a
description of this area). During an approximately two hour hike around the
sage/grassy area southeast of Swanson Lake, we were rewarded with 2
sightings of single STGR.

Also at this location there were many singing Vesper Sparrows, Brewer's
Sparrows, and Sage Thrashers. There were also 3 Short-eared Owls, 5 Wild
Turkey, 4 Gray Partridge, and 2 Black-necked Stilts.

After birding the Swanson Lakes area, we went to the Colville Plateau on
Cameron Lake Road in southern Okanogan County where we saw a gray-morph
immature Gyrfalcon. The gyr was initially observed sitting on a fence post
as we drove by. We stopped about 150 ft past the bird. It allowed us to
get out of the car for some great looks while it was perched. After about
10 minutes, it took off to the north.

We were surprised to see this relatively late gyr, especially since we are
not aware of other recent reports. The bird was clearly a falcon based on
its mustache mark, wing shape, and flight pattern of continuous wing beats
as it took off across the open fields. Peregrine was ruled out because it
had a very thin mustache mark and it did not have the dark "helmet"
characteristic of a Peregrine. Prairie was ruled out because it did not
have dark axillaries/underwing coverts nor did it have a white patch behind
the eye. Moreover, this was a large bird that was broad across its
shoulders. When sitting, its wing tips were well short of the end of its
tail. In flight, it looked very large, with broader wings than the other
two falcons. Other field marks included a finely barred tail to further
rule out Goshawk and a streaked breast indicating that it is an immature.

If the gyr was feeding on waterfowl, there were plenty available. All the
ponds were unfrozen with numerous Ring-necked Duck, Lesser Scaup, Northern
Pintail, Green-winged Teal, American Wigeon, Mallard, Bufflehead, and Gadwall.

Also along Cameron Lake Road:
Snow Buntings (20 individuals)
Osprey (we also saw an Osprey on Route 17 in Douglas County)
Trumpeter Swan - 1
Sandhill Crane, hundreds
5 American Avocet
2 Long-billed Curlew (plus another just north of Coulee City)


Bill and Nancy LaFramboise
Richland, WA
wlafra at oneworld.owt.com