Subject: N.E. Washington Birding Trip
Date: Aug 30 10:35:21 1999
From: lu&krk - xenops at email.msn.com


Patrick Sullivan, Dave Beaudette, and I, Ken Knittle, just returned from the
Northeast part of Washington. Our first birding stop was Friday afternoon
up Cameron Lake to Duley Lake where we had 9 shorebirds species with the
best being 2 Short-billed Dowitchers, and a small flock of Red-necked
Phalaropes. The sun was going down as we headed down Greenaway Rd. which
produced a Solitary Sandpiper and a family of Gray Partridges in the dust of
the road with the young sparring each other as young roosters do. At the
bottom we went around Big Goose Lake and had Great-horned Owl and several
Common Poorwills. We were planning to owl in Ferry Co. So when we got to
Hwy. 21 and headed north from Cache Creek Rd. we stopped and listened and
immediately had a Western Screech-Owl. We stopped 4 other places and had
owls calling at each place: Barred, Great-horned, Northern Pygmy, and
Saw-whet. We did not use any tapes or called any of them up. They just
were calling when we would stop and listen.

We camped at 13-mile Trailhead and had the Pygmy Owl there plus late Verges
and a dead Western Rattlesnake. We checked out the shorebird spot south of
Curlew Lake and only found 2 Solitary Sandpipers---pretty dead as was Curlew
Lake and Boulder Creek Pass. At Barstow we headed east up Rettinger-Richart
Rd. where we found Common Yellowthroat, both Rails, and several duck
species. The sewer ponds at Colville looked good, but we couldn't get in to
see them due to NO TRESPASSING signs, although we did see a Red-necked
Phalarope. Our next stop was some ponds along the road to Little Pend
Oreille NWR where we hit the jackpot for Stevens Co. shorebirds which are
tough to find. Where there was water/ponds on both sides of the road we
found 2 more Solitary Sandpipers, 1 Semipalmated Sandpiper, another
Short-billed Dowitcher (rare in eastern Wash. anywhere) and 2 Double-crested
Cormorants--another tough Stevens Co. bird.

All afternoon we spent going around Calispell Peak in 12-inches of fine dust
on the logging roads and ran into the Airforce ground troops practicing. It
was super hot, but we pished out a family of Chestnut-backed Chickadees with
Mountain Chickadees. Single Sharp-shinned and Cooper's passed by and a
female Mountain Bluebird and Hammond's Flycatcher which hadn't moved south
yet. Much of that dust was still on the car and in it when we got back
home.

Calispell Lake is super low! No good for viewing shorebirds from the road.
So 5 Semipalmated Plovers were our best shorebirds. We camped at Pioneer
State Park just north of Newport and after many hours of campers talking,
etc. a family of Barred Owls started talking to each other. I forgot to
mention at Usk there was an Osprey swimming. It took about 20 mins. for
him/her to make it to shore of a distance of about 200 feet.

We birded Williams Valley which is due west of Deer Park where there are
quite a few dairies and Calif. Quail. It looked good for Barn Owl too which
we'll have to save for our next trip. Down along Long Lake in a burn we had
House, Rock, and Canyon Wrens and a large flock of Swifts that were
following a thunderstorm type cloud.

Reardan Ponds were high. Tough shorebirding! Our best bird was a Stilt
Sandpiper which was with a Dowitcher too far away to ID, later talking to
Jim Acton who was there a hour before us who had a Short-billed Dowitcher.
Jim also said that the Swanson Lakes were birdless---I'm glad we didn't go.
We did stop by the Davenport Cem.---DEAD! Has been dead all summer so far
(per Jim)

Our best bird of the trip (which we always save for last) was one juv.
Whimbrel at Atkins Lake just north of Hwy. 2 in east Douglas Co. Whimbrel
are very rare in eastern Washington anywhere.

Ken Knittle back in Gold Bar with a dusty car
xenops at msn.com