Subject: Waterville Plat. WOS Trip
Date: Nov 10 07:16:16 1997
From: "Andy Stepniewski" - steppie at wolfenet.com


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From: "Andy Stepniewski" <steppie at wolfenet.com>
To: "TWEETERS" <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Subject: WOS Waterville Plateau trip
Date: Sun, 9 Nov 1997 21:19:42 -0800
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Ten keen WOS observers met Saturday 8 Nov at 0730 at the Dry Falls =
minimart
for a day of birding in north-central Washington on the Waterville =
Plateau.
A stiff northerly breeze was blowing while we were introducing, so I was =
a
bit apprehensive about our prospects. I asked for some car-pooling so I
would have some company. Rick Romea, Cindy Spreecher and Martha Taylor
piled into my rig and we were off.=20

Ten minutes later at our first stop besides Atkins Lake, we began =
birding
in calm and mild temperatures! I began by giving a mini tutorial on
continental glaciation to the group, as the southern terminus of this =
huge
ice sheet reached just south of Atkins Lake in this area, as evidenced =
by
the impressive basalt erratics which are scattered about the landscape =
on
the plateau.=20

Tundra Swans were the spectacle on the lake itself, with lots of Canada
Geese winging overhead, many flocks heading south, aided by the =
northerly
flow. Northern Harriers and Rough-legged Hawks were seen here, too. =
Around
the lake were several hundred very pale Horned Larks, the males having =
no
real yellow, but distinctly tinged with cinnamon, therefore possibly
"Pallid" Horned Larks (Eremophila alpestris arcticola)? About 35 Lapland
Longspurs were nervously flying about, most staying well-hid in the big
dirt clods on these plowed fields. I challenged Bruce LaBar to pick out =
a
cosmic longspur like a Smith's etc., but I guess there were none around.
Early arrival Snow Buntings (2-5) were seen by a few lucky participants
here, too.

Jim Flynn picked out a local rarity here: a lone Bonaparte's Gull, my =
first
for the Waterville Plateau. Though fairly common on the Grand Coulee =
Lakes,
it seems this species rarely strays from these lakes or the Columbia =
River
in eastern Washington

North and west from Atkins Lake, we skirted the edge of the vast =
sagelands
which still mantle the plateau on either side of Moses Coulee (too rocky =
to
plow and farm?). Here, the main objective was Sage Grouse. This is the =
best
area left in Washington for this threatened bird. I had seen 10 in two
separate flocks a week ago on a scouting trip.=20
I suggested we fan out and walk the ground to increase our chances of
finding this elusive bird, but with no luck. Old droppings were seen by
several of us, however. Kraig and Kathy Kemper retraced our route on =
Sunday
and found 30 Sage Grouse near where we were searching! Consolation for =
our
efforts, however, was a Golden Eagle.

Heading north on the plateau again we stopped at a grove of Russian =
olives
(Heritage and 13 NE) where I had seen 10 or so Long-eared Owls on my
scouting trip. We were again skunked. Yuck! But again, Kraig and Kathy
turned up two on their "retracing" trip a day later.

Our next major stop was the Central Ferry Canyon Wildlife Area where a =
few
Sharp-tailed Grouse survive. Before descending into the wildlife area, =
we
walked around the "Packwood Cemetary" at the upper end of the canyon,
birding the ponderosa pine and Douglas fir groves. Steller's Jay, seed
hoarding Clark's Nutcrackers and Pygmy Nuthatches were notable here. In =
the
wildlife area, we again, we fanned out in all directions in hopes of
tripping on these grouse again with no luck! A lone Cooper's Hawk, five
Long-eared Owls and 10 Bohemian Waxwings were the highlights here.

Retracing our route south, local experts (from Bridgeport) Meredith =
Spencer
and Richard Hendrick led us to a spot new for the rest of us: the very
northern end of the plateau at an overlook (north end of "Gould" Road on
the DeLorme, p. 100, D-3). Here, we were on an outcrop of the Okanogan
Highlands, a granite of sorts. Nearby were the impressive flood basalts =
of
the Columbia Basin region. A juxtaposition of Columbia Basin and =
Okanogan
Highlands flora was evident also, with bluebunch wheatgrass and =
sagebrush
typical of the former and ponderosa pine, bitterbrush and Idaho fescue =
of
the latter.=20

What a grand view! I believe we were all excited by the landscape =
before
us: the Columbia River far below along with the Okanogan River mouth, =
the
Okanogan Highlands to the east, the Cascades to the west. Overhead were
para gliders, one being spied on by a soaring Bald Eagle. Adding more
excitement was a Prairie Falcon flashing by at impressive speed. In the
pine forests were numbers of Red Crossbills. What a memorable spot. =
Thanks
Meredith and Richard.

Heading south, we cruised by several guys just north of Mansfield, one
wearing a heavy leather glove. I had a hunch they were falconers. I
stopped and peered around, and noted a large gray raptor perched in a =
pine
a half mile or so, off to the north. I hollered: "is that a Gyrfalcon?"
"Yep, but you all better leave cause our bird won't come back with all
these people around." We'll, we promptly left as the Gyr came speeding
into the bait (is that what the stuff being flailed around by the =
falconer
is called?). We assume these guys got their bird back.

Dusk was approaching, but we had one major stop left: Stallard Lake =
north
of St. Andrews. Enroute, we stumbled upon another falcon, this time a
Peregrine. It had jesses and was in hot pursuit of a duck. At a ponds =
edge,
a springer spaniel was dashing about, evidently having just flushed the
dabbler. We lost track of the falcon as it made off after the duck, not
seeming to gain on its prey, as Tom Schooley noted. So it was a four =
falcon
day on the Waterville! Never mind two of the were captive birds; they =
were
flying in their element. By the way, these two were excluded from the
official trip list. I thought it interesting that, in all my years of
birding (28), I had never encountered captive falcons engaged in sport. =
In
the couse of an hour on the Waterville, we stumbled on two. Was there a
convention of falconers here this weekend?

By the time we reached Stallard Lake, the light was fading. We were able =
to
make out many more swans and a variety of other waterfowl. Just as we =
were
ready to leave, I picked out the distinctive "tseet" of an American Tree
Sparrow in the weeds by the road. It was, unfortunately, too dark for
calling in the critter for a view.
=20
Well, we all negotiated the primitive "2-Tracks" which crisscross the
Waterville and made it back to Dry Falls. I was a little worried about
Marcus Roening out there on the roads in his I-5 corridor sedan, but at
least he didn't whine about it to me. I hope his oil pan's intact, =
though.

We ended with about 53 species. There were 13 waterfowl, 8 raptors, but =
no
chickens! This negative data is noteworthy because the Waterville =
Plateau
has at least 7 resident chickens: Gray Partridge, Chukar, Ring-necked
Pheasant, Blue, Sage and Sharp-tailed Grouse and California Quail.=20

Thanks, everyone, for inviting me to share this great part of eastern
Washington. Next time, we'll see a chicken or two, I promise. Or, go =
with
Kraig and Kathy.

Andy Stepniewski
Wapato WA

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