Tweeters,
Here's a recap of a trip to the northern Columbia Basin this past weekend.


NORTHERN COLUMBIA BASIN
26-27 JANUARY 2002

Denny Granstrand and I visited several areas in the northeastern Columbia
Basin of Washington. From about noon to dusk on the 26th, we drove the
"Lincoln County Winter Drive" birding route. This route roughly parallels
US-2 both north and south of the highway between Davenport and Reardan. It
features some of the higher elevation (> 2,500 feet) Columbia Basin
wheatfields. "Northern" birds were sought here.

North of Harrington en route, beside SR-28, were 5 Tundra Swans in a swale
with some open water, an unusual January sight I thought for this region. To
me, this winter has been mild in eastern Washington, with no hard freezes
thus far, and little or no persistent snowpack.

Before we began the drive, we checked the Davenport Cemetery. In the row of
birch trees lining the cemeteries eastside was a large flock of Common
Redpolls; we estimated 125 birds. Though our scope (~30 X) study of these
birds was brief (perhaps a couple minutes), it was time enough to pick out a
very pale bird featuring no visible flank and undertail covert streaks, an
area of light pink on its upper breast, a bright white, streakless rump
patch, and frosty white on its folded wings. We had side-by-side studies of
this bird with the many Common Redpolls present. We ascribed this individual
as a male Hoary Redpoll. Though it appeared about the same size as the
Common Redpolls nearby, its fluffy plumage made it appear a tiny bit larger.
Shortly, the flock burst into flight and took off towards Davenport, about a
mile away. We were not able to relocate the redpolls in town. Also in the
spruces at the cemetery were several Brown Creepers, perhaps five Mountain
Chickadees, and a number of House Finches.

The highlight of the "winter drive" was exceptional views of a nearly pure
white adult Snowy Owl on Detour Road. We noted another Snowy Owl far off in
a swale perched atop a fence post. Otherwise, a number of Rough-legged Hawks
(wheatfields) and a few Red-tailed Hawks (shrub-steppe or weedy fields) were
the principal birds noted, besides the ever-present Common Ravens.

During early evening, we drove west to Electric City to spend the night.
Early the 27th we visited the thistle feeder south of Electric City, where a
Hoary Redpoll had been present earlier in the month. We found American
Goldfinches and one lone Common Redpoll. Next, we toured the shore of Banks
Lake, finding all three mergansers (10+ Red-breasted) in the Devils
Punchbowl. We noted 14 species of waterfowl here and three of gulls, Herring
being the most numerous. One Ring-billed and 2 Glaucous-winged (adults) were
also seen. American Coots were by far the most abundant bird, numbering in
the thousands.

A brisk walk in Northrup Canyon revealed an adult Golden Eagle soaring
against the lichen-encrusted cliffs. Another short walk to weedy growth
besides Russian Olives along the entrance road to Steamboat Rock State Park
revealed about 5 American Tree Sparrows. It was a delight to my ear to hear
them call "teedle-ee," a note I don't often hear; usually the more common
call is a wiry, slightly inflective "tseee."

Finally, we toured the high plateau terrain south of Grand Coulee both west
and east of the "Almira" Road (also called Old Coulee Road). In the environs
of Jack Woods Butte (2,819 feet), really just the highest knoll in this sea
of wheat farming country, we birded slowly west along Douglas Road (50 NE)
and nearby grid roads. Here we saw:

Northern Harrier - 2
Red-tailed Hawk -3
Rough-legged Hawk -10, including1 dark
Gyrfalcon - 1 gray adult
Prairie Falcon - 1
Horned Lark - 1000+
Common Raven - 75+
Bohemian Waxwing - 75+ in farm house Rocky Mountain Junipers
Lapland Longspurs - 10
Snow Bunting - 1+
Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch - 500+ in wheatfields reached by a half-mile hike
going south from Douglas about 1 mile west of Old Coulee Road

Finally, along Lenore and Soap Lakes, we noted quite a number of Ruddy Ducks
and but one Eared Grebe on Soap Lake.

Andy Stepniewski
Wapato WA
Steppie at nwinfo.net