At dawn on Friday, 24 January, Denny Granstrand and I headed southeast from
the Yakima WA area to Idaho's Sun Valley region where a Siberian Accentor
has been reliable at a feeder for weeks now.

Our first stop was the McNary Slough area east of Pasco. Bird activity was
much less than that of December, but a Blue Goose and White-breasted
Nuthatch were notable.Waterfowl were present in modest numbers, but the
Russian olive dominated riparian held far fewer birds than in late fall. On
to the Walla Walla River delta, we noted 5 American White Pelicans and about
15 Dunlin. The usual mass of gulls was not as impressive as usual, but we
marvelled at 1000+ Redheads and 800+ Canvasbacks and Greater and Lesser
Scaup in the bright sunshine - a kaleidodcope of reds, whites, blacks and
greens - off the grain port at the delta's south side. Denny remarked it was
the largest number of Canvasbacks he'd ever seen. We also studied a probable
intergrade Clark's X Western Grebe - a bird not quite right for a full-blown
Clark's.

Then it was south to the Spring Creek Rd area of Oregon's Blue Mtns. where
we birded a bit in the Douglas fir and pine forests. The woods were very
quiet, producing only a handful of Mountain Chickadees, and Red-breasted and
White-breasted Nuthatches. We stopped a short time later at the LaGrande US
Forest Service station to pickup their beautiful pamphlet on Great Grey Owls
at Spring Creek. That area is a proven site for a dense (by Great Grey
standards) breeding population of these mythical owls.

Denny suggested a circuitous route into the foothills of the Wallowas to get
to Baker City. On this detour, Golden Eagle and American Dipper were the
highlights plus grand views of the alpine summits of the Wallowas, truly a
wonderful sight.

We motored on into the night (taking advantage of Idaho's 75 MPH speed
limit), staying at Twin Falls, about an hour south of Hailey, where the
accentor was in residence. The morning of the 25th dawned snowy and windy,
bordering on blizzard conditions. A massive west coast storm, fueled with a
subtropical connection had spread north of California and Nevada during the
night, ending the good road conditions for the next zillion miles of our
journey (or so it seemed).

We hadn't quite got the time of sunrise right because of the time zone
change so went north of Hailey into Sun Valley for a abbreviated tour in the
period before it was fully light. It's obvious a lot of money has been
pumped into nice homes and lodging in this valley, as well as nice cars and
well-dressed folks. We breakfasted at Shorty's, a '50's diner owned by
Bruce Willis. By the way, Demi Moore also lives nearby. If the accentor
isn't incentive enough for the horrendous drive, maybe the thought of Demi
nearby might be.

During the course of driving around upscale Ketchum, we chanced upon a
mountain ash loaded with berries, which was also loaded with Bohemian
Waxwings and Pine Grosbeaks. Just as we were stopping here, Guy McKaskie
(California's most celebrated living ornithologist) and his girlfriend slid
to a halt, also to admire the spectacle. I counted 30 grosbeaks in that and
neighboring trees, easily the most I've ever seen. Bohemians numbered about
a hundred and were impressive in their own right. Guy and Trish (sp.?) had
arrived in the area the day before and had spent several hours studying the
Siberian Accentor. They led us off to the house with the accentor after a
fine study of the waxwings and grosbeaks, both species rare or local in
California, so this was a treat for them.

The feeder with the accentor north of Hailey. Feeders seemed to appear north
of town. There might be a cultural explanation for the lack of feeders in
Hailey proper and their presence north of town. Away from feeders, there
were no birds in this area. Denny and I drove up and down the streets of
Hailey proper and saw not one bird. We also saw no feeders.

We arrived at the feeder to find a half dozen other birders waiting for the
Siberian waif which was, at first, hiding among the spruce and poplars in
the yard. In a few minutes, the celebrated accentor arrived and foraged on
the spilled seed on the snow below the feeder, with other birds coming to
the feeder: Hairy Woodpecker, Black-capped Chickadee, juncos (including
Slate-colored) and Cassin's Finch. It was somewahat warbler-like in its
profile, though larger than a parulid. Behaviorally too, it flitted about
like a warbler. Guy remarked how poor the illustration was in the National
Geographic guide as compared to the Peterson fieldguide. I would agree. A
nice one-page write-up of the accentor, along with a guest sign-in (with the
signatures of big guns of the birding world like Jon Dunn and Paul Sykes)
was in a plastic bag draped from a tree by the feeder. On the fact sheet was
the accentors Russian name: "Sibirskaya Zavirushka," (phoenetically perhaps
See-beer-sky-ya zavv-eee-roosh-ka - I like that!!!) and other details of the
life history of this bird. We learned this was a bird that breeds in river
valley taiga thickets and occurs from the Urals east to the forests of
eastern Siberia and winters in north and eastern China. It is the only
accentor - a small family of Eurasian brds - to reach North America, where
it has been noted in western Alaska on a few occasions.

Guy provided good directions to the nearby gold mining (abandoned) town of
Triumph where Black Rosy Finches were visiting a feeder along with the more
numerous Gray-crowned Rosy Finches. Two life birds for both of us in 30
minutes! I found the Black Rosy a truly beautiful bird - the rosy hues are
so nicely set off from the blacker body feathers.

Guy also said the Gyrfalcon was still being seen on a power pole just to the
south of Hailey in Gannett. Dependable it was; this magnificent adult
gray-phase Gyr was only two poles away from its usual perch. While we were
scoping this wonderful bird (impeded a bit by the moderate snow falling),
several more birders pulled up. Their Explorer had Utah plates, so I asked
them if they had Gyrfalcons very often. "No, we're from Houston, we don't
get them much (an understatement)." They were glad they had rented a 4 X 4
for the five-hour trip from Salt Lake.

I wondered what might be so attractive to the Gyr about this particular
spot. All I could determine was there were a few ducks in a nearby slough in
an otherwise open tundra-like (pasture land covered with snow) landscape.

South and west of Hailey we got off the beaten track and took Idaho 46 south
to the Snake River plain. This road had not been plowed as yet, and
visibility was next to zero. Birds were few. On the expanse of sagelands, we
encountered two flocks of Snow Buntings (10-30 birds) and three Rough-legged
Hawks. In tune with Washington's shrub-steppe Idaho's is virtually as
birdless in winter, it seemed.

Our next area to explore was the Hagerman Valley about 25 miles west and
north of Twin Falls on the Snake River. We had the recent Audubon Christmas
Count issue, so we could prepare for the valleys winter birdlife. The hot
bird reported at the state fish hatchery was a Tufted Duck. This we missed,
but we did see a nice variety of birds, almost all in man-created wetlands.
The landscape is reminiscent of the Tri-Cities of Washington. Many
introduced groves of Russian olives form "the upright woody material"
(structure), with diked ponds, in an irrigated agricultural setting. Birds
were everywhere - a wide array of waterfowl, raptors, crows, starlings (of
course) and blackbirds, Song and White-crowned Sparrows.

Below the Upper Salmon Falls powerplant was a lone American White Pelican,
Double-crested Cormorants, five species of gulls (Ring-billed, California,
Herring, Glaucous-winged, and one first-year Glaucous). Several
Glaucous-winged were obviously "Olympic Gulls!" (Glaucous-winged X Western
Gull hybrids). I thought it amazing that the interior gull contigent here
was identical as that hundreds of river miles west and downstream on the
Snake River). "What hath we wrought?" No doubt prior to dams on the Snake
there were few or no gulls in winter here on the Snake.

Then it was on to Nampa in the dark, both of us really excited about the
great birds and new places we had just experienced.

At first light in the morning we tried for the Peregrine Falcon which
frequents the sugar beet processing plant in Nampa. What a place. A
remarkable smell, steam belching - all in the pouring rain (the snow had
changed to pelting wet stuff) No peregrine, but we did note about 100
American Pipits in the beet receiving yard, presumably eeking out an
existence on this quite unnatural site. We persisted at spying on the crests
and tops of all the mammoth structures and stacks that makeup this large
facility, but no falcon was about. There were many Rock Doves, though.

So, it was on to Marsing to try for the stake-out Great-tailed Grackles at
the city park on the Snake River. As we trudged about the snow-covered
island, we did flush 28 Common Snipe, surely an impressive winter count for
these parts, plus lesser numbers of Killdeers. As we returning to the
vehicle, the grackles put in an appearance, begging like the domestic ducks
at the picnic tables. There were five female-plumaged Great-tailed Grackles.
Only one record exists of this species in Washington (one male in May in the
mid-1980's). Is this species finally on the verge of making it into the
Pacific Northwest as a regular part of the avifauna?

Denny and I wanted to give the stinky sugar plant one more try before
high-tailing it back home. Another effort proved futile, so we were off to
the I-84 on ramp. Fortuitously a slow train prompted us to backtrack where
the lure of the chase overtook us once again: "Aw, lets try once more." In a
minute we both caught sight of an adult Peregrine Falcon (a tiercel?)
zooming by the buildings in the distance, but speeding ever closer to us. We
watched it gyrate and hurtle in after one of our prized pipits. That
particular pipit seemed to escape, but a minute late we viewed the falcon
ripping into what appeared to be a small passerine atop a pole which was,
for an instant clear, then again enveloped in the steam from the facilities
belching stacks. We left elated!

It was high time to head back; we knew the going was going to be slow.
Enroute back, we added a Barrow's Goldeneye on the Snake River upstream from
Weiser (of fiddle fame) and raptors here and there, along with masses of
Brewer's and Red-winged Blackbird and meadowlarks southeast of Payette.

The interstate was closed over the Blue Mountains due to jack-knifed
18-wheelers blocking the roadway.I hatched a plan to - detour north to Elgin
and thence west to Tollgate and down into Milton Freewater. The road turned
out to be in excellent condition for winter driving, with packed snow, but
at least no ice. The snow was awesome by the road east of Tollgate - it
reminded me of March or April at Paradise on Mt. Rainier. And, these
mountains receive only a third of the precipitation of the Cascades. Anyway,
we enjoyed good going and were happy to leave the hundreds of trucks which
lay idle about La Grande, waiting for the freeway to reopen.

My hats off to Kas Dumroese who writes and airs the excellent "Northern
Idaho/Eastern Washington/Northeastern Oregon Rare bird Alert." Kas provided
a wonderful list and great directions of exciting birds on his 18 January
tape. We saw many of those reported.

Wow, what a trip - 1,250 miles in three days!

Andy Stepniewski
Wapato WA