Subject: Fw: White-winged Crossbills at Sunrise
Date: Feb 27 21:06:17 2001
From: Matthew Moskwik - yuhaus at hotmail.com


Tweeters,

I thought this might be of interest to people on the west side of the state also.


----- Original Message -----
From: Matthew Moskwik
To: inland-NW-birders at uidaho.edu
Sent: Tuesday, February 27, 2001 8:59 PM
Subject: White-winged Crossbills at Sunrise


Inlanders,

This morning I headed up Mount Spokane in order to look for the White-winged Crossbills that had been seen there earlier in the week. To my absolute surprise I was able to locate five birds (three males and two females) among thousands of red crossbills and pine siskins. They were at the exact spot where Jim saw them earlier in the week (at the snowpark on Mount Spokane). I don't know which was more of an impressive sight---The White-winged Crossbills or the thousands of red crossbills in the area. I have never seen such a large flock of crossbills in my life. Is this unusual to see such a large congregation? Thus, you should definitely take your time and check every bird. Below I will give the directions to the snowpark.

Take highway 2 north from the Newport Cinemas in North Spokane. Drive about three miles (may not be exactly 3 miles) north on highway 2 until you reach highway 206. There will be a traffic light here and a sign telling you to turn right in order to go to Mount Spokane State Park. There is a McDonalds and a Yokes on the right at this spot also. Turn right on 206 and proceed 15 miles to the state park boundary. From here continue on the main road, which winds up the mountain another couple of miles until you reach the snowpark which will be on the right hand side of the road. It is basically a large plowed parking area where you can park and go cross-country skiing (It is at the crest in the road, if you start dropping elevation and find yourself at a ski lodge then you've gone to far). Once you see the snowpark on your right, park your car and look immediately to your left. On your left is a gated road to the summit. The white-wings seem to be hanging around this area. In fact a couple of them came down to this road in order to get gravel. (See Washington Delorme page 89 A8). If you are in the Spokane area I would definitely check this area out, as there may be even more up there than what I saw. I imagine that this area would also be good for Pine Grosbeaks. Good luck.

Birds in the area:

Pine Siskins
Red Crossbills
White-winged Crossbills
Evening Grosbeaks (two flocks of about thirty birds each)
Hairy Woodpecker
Dark-eyed Juncos
Black-capped Chickadees
Red-breasted Nuthatches
Common Raven
Steller's Jays

Matthew Moskwik
yuhaus at hotmail.com
Elk, WA
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