Hello Tweeters,
Had a very long trip and productive trip, starting at about noon at Lake
Easton State Park on Thursday, the 28th of June, and ending yesterday, the
2nd of July at Washington Pass, with many miles covered and birds seen in
between. During the entire 5-day period Carol Schulz and I encountered 173
species including 8 species of owl, 10 species of woodpecker, and 10 species
of Fringillidae finches. Here is a rundown of where we went, when we went,
what we saw.

6/28/01 Lake Easton State Park to Liberty (Kittitas Co).
Lake Easton
4 Barrow's Goldeneyes (female with 3 chicks on lake)
1 Common Goldeneye (female flying in middle of lake)
1 CASPIAN TERN (on stump in middle of lake; unusual for location)
20 Townsend's Warblers
3 NASHVILLE WARBLERS

Liberty
1 WILD TURKEY (male calling north of Liberty)
2 BLACK-CHINNED HUMMINGBIRDS (females north of Liberty)
2 Veerys (singing in Liberty)
10 Dusky Flycatchers (some singing day and night)
3 MacGillivray's Warbler
All owls except Pygmy were heard and/or seen between 9:30 p.m. on the night
of the 28th and 12:30 a.m. on the 29th
3 FLAMMULATED OWLS (N of Liberty, along FR 9712)
1 SPOTTED OWL
1 LONG-EARED OWL (flying above FR 9705)


6/29/01 Liberty to Cameron Lk. Rd. to Hart's Pass (Okanogan/Whatcom Co).
Liberty
1 Northern Pygmy-Owl (calling along FR 9712 [where we camped] with a rapid
"purring" call at 9:00 a.m. on the morning of the 29th)
Approx. 100 passerines mobbing my pygmy-owl toot; including 35 Mountain
Chickadees, 1 pair of Rufous Hummingbirds, Dusky and Hammond's Flycatchers.

Cameron Lk. Road (Okanogan Co).
Lazuli Bunting S of Duley Lake
Duley Lake
3000+ Am. Coot
150+ Eared Grebe
15 Pied-billed Grebe
2 Double-crested Cormorant
1 Northern Pintail
7 Am. Wigeon
2 Northern Shoveler
5 Green-winged Teal
2 Canvasback
10 Redhead
15 Ring-necked Ducks
15 Lesser Scaup
9 Hooded Mergansers
4 Bufflehead (females and eclipse male)
300+ Ruddy Ducks
1 Prairie Falcon (hunting Cliff Swallows & Rock Doves at the swallow colony
along with a Red-tailed Hawk)
2 American Avocet (presumed breeding)
4 Greater Yellowlegs
2 Lesser Yellowlegs
1500+ Cliff Swallow (at their colony near Duley Lake)
5 Grasshopper Sparrows
1 California Gull (Little Goose Lake)
3 Grasshopper Sparrows (N of Duley Lake)

Mazama (Okanogan Co).
15 Black Swifts

Hart's Pass (Okanogan/Whatcom Co).
1 imm. Three-toed Woodpecker (called twice as we pulled into the upper
campground, then later seen in flight along with Ruth & Patrick Sullivan, and
Ken Knittle)
35 Black Swifts (flying through the campground in a westerly direction in 2's
and 3's every 1 or 2 minutes)
Common Poorwill (calling at 11:00 p.m. in Whatcom Co)
Had NO owls despite a couple hours of searching with Ken Knittle, Marv
Breece, and the Sullivans.


6/30/01 Hart's Pass to Washington Pass to Loup Loup Campground (Okanogan Co).
Hart's Pass
Met up with the WOS trip at sunrise at the top of Slate Peak, where we were
lead well above timberline, across fairly narrow rocky ridges, and along
steep slopes searching for ptarmigan for 2 1/2 hours, without any luck, but
had a great time and lots of excursus nonetheless. Near the parking lot had
Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches, Am. Pipits, and Solitaires, and then it was down
to the valley in search of Spruce Grouse and White-winged Crossbill, both of
which we did not find.
2 Brown Creeper
1 Am. Dipper
1 drumming Black-backed Woodpecker

Washington Pass
10 Savannah Sparrows
3 Lincoln's Sparrows
13 Clark's Nutcrackers
Marv Breece & Carol Schulz had 1 pair of PINE GROSBEAKS fly over at the road
while I was at the far side of the meadow, and later Marv & I had 1 pair of
WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS fly over at the West side of the meadow while Carol
was back at the road.

Loup Loup Campground
3 Williamson's Sapsuckers
1 Pileated Woodpecker
5 Townsend's Warblers
3 Wilson's Warbler
2 Orange-crowned Warblers
No Barred Owl was seen/heard despite some looking in the evening hours.


7/1/01 Okanogan to Aeneas to Oroville (Okanogan Co). w/Ken Brown et. al.
Okanogan
3 Lewis's Woodpeckers
Aeneas Rd.
20 BOBOLINKS
3 Red-naped Sapsuckers (2 adults, 1 juvenile)
10 Willow Flycatchers

Little Beaver Lake
1 Beaver
several female COMMON GOLDENEYES w/chicks

Beaver Lake
10 BLACK TERNS
1 pair RED-NECKED GREBES
3 Common Mergansers

Molson Lake area
1000+ Ruddy Ducks
20 Eared Grebes
1 female CANVASBACK
1 probable CLAY-COLORED SPARROW (singing at Molson Lake, sung only twice and
was not seen but was in appropriate habitat)

South of Molson
1 SORA
1 VIRGINIA RAIL
3 NORTHERN WATERTHRUSHES

Muskrat Lake
1 LESSER YELLOWLEGS
2 GREATER YELLOWLEGS
7 WILSON'S PHALAROPES
1 HORNED GREBE
1 female CANVASBACK

Then checked in to hotel in Oroville before heading back to the Havillah area
for owling in the evening and night. Met Ryan Shaw and the Sullivans in the
area, and had close-up views of BARRED and SAW-WHET OWLS, as well as Great
Horned calling in the distance. Also Williamson's Sapsuckers drumming at
sunset.


7/2/01 Oroville to Tiffany Mt. to Washington Pass
Long Swamp
1 imm. (male) NORTHERN GOSHAWK soaring
3 Lincoln's Sparrows

Extensive burn on west side of Tiffany Mt (is this the "Thunder Mountain
Burn?")
8 Three-toed Woodpecker (Including 1 pair feeding an unfledged juvenile male
in cavity between mile markers 23 and 24; very close to 23. Also another
nestling hear begging at another site.)
1 BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER (heard drumming in the distance in this burn)
5 Mountain Bluebirds

Roger Lake
1 juvenile Barrow's Goldeneye
1 Boreal Chickadee (with insects in mouth, obviously gathering food for
nestlings)

Washington Pass
2 Pine Grosbeaks (both singing at opposite end of meadow than the road, 1
male tracked down and seen at the top of a Spruce tree)

Ross Lake area
10 Vaux's Swifts
4 Black Swifts

Everett Sewage Ponds area
1 dark-morph SWAINSON'S HAWK (Seen on a telephone pole on a fast drive-by.
Was not positive at the time but after Scott Atkinson's recent report on
Tweeter's and the bird's apparent slim, tapered body shape, I'm certain that
it's the same bird that I saw.

Charlie Wright, 12
Birdking88 at aol.com
Sumner, WA