With Matt Brady, an out-of-state birder, I birded parts of Okanogan and Douglas Counties on friday and saturday (7/27-7/28). Passerines were much less vocal and conspicuous than a month ago, but that was expected. Unfortunately, windy conditions in the lowlands and cold, rainy conditions in the higher elevations helped to limit our trip list.

Some of our sightings:

Highway 2 east of Waterville (Douglas)-
1 Swainson's Hawk
tons of Horned Larks

Jameson Lake Road (Douglas)-
Lark sparrow- huge numbers
Brewer's sparrow
White-throated swift
Canyon Wren- heard only
Rock Wren
Spotted Sandpiper
Short-eared Owl- flushed from roosting spot on ground

Okanogan River Mouth-
16 American White Pelicans
Caspian Tern
Ring-billed and California Gulls

Wakefield-Cameron Lake Road (Okanogan)-
Duley Lake had 12 Long-billed Dowitchers, 3 Western Sandpipers, a Greater Yellowlegs, a heard-only Lesser Yellowlegs, and a group of maybe 50 peeps on a small island that was beyond the range of my optics. Also full of Eared Grebes, Ruddy Ducks, and lots of eclipse ducks that I didn't study enough.
Vesper Sparrow- rufous wing patch plainly visible, usually I don't see this.
Grasshopper Sparrow- at Little Goose Lake, not singing at all. We had to walk through the grass for awhile to flush it.
Gray Partridge- also near Little Goose Lake
Pygmy, RB nuthatch
Lewis' Woodpecker
Golden Eagle- 2 juveniles and an adult, vocal

Tonasket-Havillah Road (Okanogan)
Both Bluebirds
2 Swainson's Hawks, vocal
1 Barn Owl
3 Short-eared Owls
1 Barred Owl at Highland Sno Park- vocal

FR 39 (Okanogan)
Boreal Chickadee- several near Freezeout Ridge
Brown Creeper
Varied Thrush
Hermit Thrush
Winter Wren
Nashville Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler- still singing
Macgillivray's Warbler- still singing
Three-toed Woodpecker- about 10 were present in a burned tract a mile or two north of the intersection with FR 3820.
Black-backed Woodpecker- 1 was present in the same burn, originally identified by longer drumming, then it flew right up to us for awesome looks and good comparison side-by-side with three-toed.

Highway 20 near winthrop (Okanogan)-
Black Swift

FR 37 (Okanogan)-
Dusky Flycatcher feeding 4 fledgelings. We studied this bird for awhile since it was not vocalizing. Medium-bill, mostly dark except at the base of lower mandible. Seemingly long-tailed due to short primary projection. The adult(s) (we never saw more than one at a time but suspect there were two parents) were hunting in the understory below pine forest.

Loup Loup-
Williamson's Sapsucker
Townsend's Solitaire
RB and WB nuthatches
Townsend's and YR warblers (all Audubon's)

Can't wait to do this route again next May or June. Empids, thrushes, and most sparrows had stopped singing. Also the owling near Havillah would probably be a lot better earlier in the year. Maybe then I'll be able to get Boreal and Great Gray Owls, and Spruce Grouse.

Tim Perkins
Sammamish, WA