On 6/12/99 Sandy and I decided to check out the birds in Ferry
County. We traveled 328 miles and saw 84 species in Ferry
County. Most noticeable misses were the Empidonaxs, not even
one.

>From Grand Coulee we headed north and then east over Peter Dan
Road (Manila Creek road) and checked on "our" Ospreys. The
chicks have hatched, but she still stays on the nest. Next we
headed north on Hwy. 21 to Curlew, then east on Boulder Creek
Road to Orient. From Orient we headed north to Little Boulder
Creek road and started up into the mountains. What a mess.
More on that later.

On 6/13/99 we got back down out of the hills and went south on
hwy 395 to hwy 20. We took a side trip into Kettle Falls to
gas up and then headed west on hwy 20 to the Inchelium-Kettle
Falls road. Now we are heading south and about 3 miles down
the road we turned onto the Lake Ellen road. We stopped by
the lake, ate lunch, and continued south on Barnaby Creek road
back out to the Inchelium-Kettle Falls road. Whew! At
Inchelium we went on the Twin Lakes Road which turns into
Bridge Creek road and ends up at Hwy 21. The last leg was
south on Hwy 21, then across Manilla Creek road to Hwy 155
and home to Grand Coulee.

We saw CEDAR WAXWINGS all over the County. GRAY CATBIRDS are
abundant all along hwy 21 in the riparian areas. Six miles
south of Republic we drove up to Swan Lake. On the way there a
small bat was flying straight down the road towards us. I
stopped and it landed in the road, and then took off again
just as I was getting the camera. :(

At Swan Lake we saw a pair of WESTERN TANAGERS, HERMIT
THRUSHS, COMMON LOON, and YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS. On the way
back to the hwy we saw an immature NORTHERN GOSHAWK flying
through the woods.

At Sanpoil Lake near Republic we saw CINNAMON TEAL, RED-NECKED
GREBE, AMERICAN WIGEON and the ever-present AMERICAN COOT.

At the south end of Curlew Lake, there were YELLOW HEADED
BLACKBIRDS, RING-NECKED DUCKS, COMMON NIGHTHAWKS, and to our
surprise a WILLIAMSON'S SAPSUCKER. It was a lifer for us a
week ago.

While having an ice cream break at Curlew, a LEWIS'S
WOODPECKER was observed hawking insects. A RED-TAILED HAWK was
also seen soaring in the distance.

We made a side trip out of Orient to Pierre Lake. There was a
WOOD DUCK with five small "baby woodies". How cute!

We started up Little Boulder Creek road in an attempt to find
Togo Mt. Togo Mt. is mentioned in Wahl and Paulson's book "A
Guide to Bird Finding in Washington" 1994 edition. The road
signs have been shot up or missing and there are new logging
roads. We drove so far we ended up in the snow and never did
find Togo Mt. Along the road were VARIED THRUSHES and
DARK-EYED JUNCOS. We camped along side the road hoping the
bears would not get us. Ahh... day two.

In the morning, at our campsite we observed RED-BREASTED
NUTHATCHES, STELLER'S JAY, MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLER and a HAIRY
WOODPECKER.

At Lake Ellen there was a female COMMON GOLDENEYE and a
SPOTTED SANDPIPER. In a pond on the left about a mile south,
was a HOODED MERGANSER with two downy babies. They were
swimming and diving, just like ma. Bored yet?????

At twin Lakes Sandy found a MARSH WREN and there was a pair of
RED-NECKED GREBES. A nice finale to the trip was a BOBLINK
sitting on the powerline at mile marker 127 on hwy 21

The end.

Jerry and Sandy Converse
Grand Coulee, WA

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Remember, amateurs built the Ark and
Professionals built the Titanic.