Tweeters,

I wanted to pass along a few notes from a short birding tour mostly in the
Okanogan region, which I led this week for a group of ten. Highlights
included:

Great Gray Owl - a family group of four (two adults and two fully fledged
juv's) were seen very close to Havillah Rd., almost exactly .5 mi. south (or
on the Tonasket side) of the turn into the Sno-Park. We saw the family of
owls around 6p.m. and again around 8 p.m. in this area, with the young
perched on fence posts right along the edge of the road, and the adults
hunting close by. Pretty amazing looking into those big yellow eyes from a
few yards distance!

White-winged Crossbills - small numbers at two locations: about .5 mi. south
of Long Swamp campground on FR39, and near the Thunder Mt. jct. much further
south on FR39

Spruce Grouse - two hens along FR 39, one of them (with at least one large
chick) just beyond the first big burn area from the early 1990s fires

Boreal Chickadee - heard at a number of spots along FR39 south of Long
Swamp, seen best near the first big burn a few miles in from Long Swamp

Nine species of woodpeckers included:

Black-backed Woodpecker - near Thunder Mt. jct. on FR39 and near Loup Loup
Campground

Three-toed Woodpecker - along the main ski trail beyond the parking area for
the Havillah Sno-Park (this species is present in good numbers in the
diseased spruce stands along FR39 as well)

White-headed Woodpecker - feeding on mullein along the Tonasket-Havillah
Rd., in an unusual aggregation of birds that included three nuthatch
species, finches, and two other woodpecker species


On a more local note, a Peregrine Falcon was perched on the high power line
tower near the Delridge exit from the West Seattle Fwy. yesterday evening.

Good birding,
Bob Sundstrom

Bob Sundstrom
Seattle, WA
mailto:ixoreus at home.com