Marv Breece and I (Ken Knittle) had a great weekend in eastern Washington leaving Gold Bar a little past midnight after work and
driving 1200+ miles. We had 72 species plus 1 dead Saw-whet Owl. The weather was cold like single digit, but no wind so we were
glad for small favors. We checked for Barn and Long-eared Owls along Frenchman Hills Rd. and only came up with 1 Great Horned Owl
on O'Sullivan Dam. Next we had 2 Barn Owls in Lincoln Co. along I-90. We pulled into Newman Lake looking for the Great Gray Owl-no
luck as it hadn't been seen for over a week. We then back tracked to Hwy. 2 to work the back roads near the Spokane-Lincoln Co.
line. We had a Prairie Falcon eating along Hwy 2 two miles east of the county line. We began seeing lots of Rough-legged Hawks and
hoped for Bohemian Waxwings in every town, but they did not appear to be in as there were Mt. Ash berries not touched yet. We found
a flock of American Tree Sparrows on the Old State Hwy which had produced Snowy Owls and Grys in past years.
We continued west to Bagdad Jct. Rd. and found 6 Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches with some Horned Larks. They gave us excellent looks.
We headed south to Almira then west to Atkins Lake where there were lots of Snow Bunting earlier reported by Jerry and Sandy
(thanks). We headed back to the Great Gray Owl spot and had a nice Short-eared Owl along Hwy 2. It began snowing and no owl so we
headed for cover. We again tried for the Great Gray at first light Sunday morning. The elusive owl must have moved on.
We headed for Colville in hopes of White-headed Woodpeckers. Just 9.0 miles south of town Colville we hit the jackpot with a
Northern Hawk Owl on top of a large tree west of the road above a green and yellow Waste Management sign and small road. The Little
Pend Oreille NWR was snowy and lots of hunters. Zillions of Red Crossbills making every sound possible and lots of Clark's
Nutcrackers--no White-headed Woodpeckers. Our fingers were frosty as we continued north to Kettle Falls and then followed Lake
Roosevelt south. We finally found Waxwings eating Elderberries with Tree Sparrows in the brush, but they all were Cedars---Rats!
Fort Spokane had 23 Turkeys wandering the grounds around the fort which would have made a nice photo for Thanksgiving.
On our way home we again saw many Snow Buntings around Atkins Lake along the road edges--sure a good spot!

P.S. Hope someone will get to refind the Hawk Owl and pass the info. on.

GREAT TRIP!

Ken Knittle, Gold Bar, WA
xenops at msn.com