Sorry for the lateness of this post but better late than never.
James (my partner) and I decided to check out Coeur d'Alene Lake, Idaho,
last
Saturday, Nov. 7, 1998. We left Moscow, Idaho, at 1000 PST and headed north
on U.S.
95. Then, at Plummer, we turned east on ID 5 to Heyburn State Park,
visiting
Hawley's Landing and the boat ramp on Lake Chatcolet (around 1145 PST).
Then we continued on ID 5 to St. Maries then ID 3 to the St. Maries sewage
ponds and on north to ID 97. We followed many of the directions in Kas
Dumorese and
Dan Svingen's Birder's Guide to Idaho, including O'Gara Road to Harrison
then Blue
Lakes Rd. to Thomson Lakes Rd. to Harlow Point Rd (about 1530 PST). We then
continued north on ID 97 to Wolf Lodge Bay (1620 PST). Then darkness ended
the birding. The weather was mostly cloudy and very breezy, particularly at
Harrison. It was about 40 F.

Latah County: Several Buteos that were too distance to identify very well.
I suspect many were Rough-legs but I hadn't seen one yet this fall so I
didn't call any of them RLHA. There were several Red-tails. At the rest
area, I heard several Chestnut-backed Chickadees.

Benewah County: Just as we past into this county, I saw a large bird
soaring overhead. It was all dark, too large and wrong shape for a Common
Raven. The shape was definitely GOLDEN EAGLE. A short distance down the
road, we did see several Common Ravens. There were several more Buteos, as
well as some definite Red-tails.

Lake Chatcolet: I checked the lake with a spotting scope from the boat ramp
in Heyburn State Park. I found several RED-NECKED GREBES and a HORNED
GREBE. There was a large flock of over a hundred AMERICAN COOT and another
large flock of waterfowl I couldn't identify from their. We also checked
out Plummer Marsh from the newly constructed interpretive center but it was
quiet. GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS were calling in the trees. We then walked
down to the boat dock at Hawley's Landing. I could see the second waterfowl

flock quite well from there; it was mostly MALLARDS and AMERICAN WIGEON
with a few NORTHERN PINTAILS mixed in. Around the flock, there were about
twenty WESTERN GREBES and at least three COMMON LOONS. I scanned the
cottonwoods along the St. Joe for any large birds but didn't see any.

Lake Benewah: We stopped at one of the overlooks to Lake Benewah. We were
rewarded with about ten PIED-BILLED GREBES and no ducks. I figured out why
when I spotted the three hunters and their lame-looking decoys (I've never
seen a goose list to one side like that!) There were a few GREAT BLUE
HERONS, MALLARDS, RING-BILLED GULLS, and NORTHERN PINTAILS in the vegetation
near the resort. A DOWNY WOODPECKER was working the trees along the edge of
the lake and I could hear CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEES and GOLDEN-CROWNED
KINGLETS. Near the turn to Benewah Lake Resort, there was a STELLER'S JAY.

St. Maries Sewage Ponds: There was a surprising diversity of diving ducks
for such a small pond. I found COMMON GOLDENEYES, BUFFLEHEADS, RING-NECKED
DUCKS, and LESSER SCAUPS with the Mallards. The cottonwoods along the levys
was surprising devoid of Bald Eagles. Several ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS were in
the rice fields.

O'Gara and Locust Roads to Harrison: This was the most frustrating part of
the trip. Don't let the non-birder drive. There were grebes, loons and
ducks all along the road but I don't know what species. James refuses to
stop on narrow, almost deserted little roads with no pulloffs. Imagine!!
We did see one WILD TURKEY along the road (he did stop for that!).

Harrison: I walked out onto the jetty and scanned the lake with the scope.
I spotted an odd-looking loon. It held its bill up above vertical and
looked different from a Common Loon. Unfortunately, the darn think swam
behind a bend in the shoreline and I never did see it again. Looking back
up the lake, there was a blizzard of birds in the air. I'm sure these were
mostly ducks; I couldn't tell because they looked just like little dots at
that distance, even with the scope zoomed to the highest power. A loon flew
past but just as it was about to land, I lost it in the sun (ouch!).
Basically, I couldn't see anything close enough to identify.

Blue Lakes and Thompson Lakes Road: We saw several GREAT BLUE HERONS up
close and personal. Beautiful birds. We also saw the Osprey nest build
around the model Great Horned Owl and around the rebar. How funny! When we
were on Thompson Lake road, we found ten HOODED MERGANSERS among a large
group of MALLARDS and CANADA GEESE.

Harlow Point Road: This was the best part of the trip. We stopped just
past the intersection with ID 97 and Thompson Lake Road and scanned the
river flats with the spotting scope. The most exciting find was over 100
HOODED MERGANSERS swimming and diving among the waterfowls gathered there.
I also found about twenty GADWALLS. Most of the rest of the hundreds of
swimming birds was MALLARDS, AMERICAN COOTS, and AMERICAN WIGEON. There
were several RING-BILLED GULLS and a single BONAPARTE'S GULL flying around
the waterfowl. We continued down the road and found more Gadwalls, several
Western Grebes and a Common Loon. A CLARK'S NUTCRACKER was perched in a
ponderosa pine.

We quickly drove the rest of the route trying to get to Wolf Lodge Bay
before dark. We saw only one Bald Eagle in Turner Bay, flying towards Wolf
Lodge Bay.

Wolf Lodge Bay: Not a darn thing. Nothing in the water and no eagles in the
tree. We did see a lone GREAT BLUE HERON in a pine tree. Apparently, we
were a bit early for the hoards of eagles.

Cheers
Deb

Deborah K. Beutler
Dept. Zoology
Washington State University
Pullman, Whitman Co., WA

dbeutler at wsunix.wsu.edu