Tweeters,

Soap Lake in Grant County is both a town and a sizable lake at the
south end of the Grand Coulee, which is probably well-known to most
people on this list. However, there is another Soap Lake in
Washington, far less well-known, and well off the beaten path. It is
located in Okanogan County, south of Okanogan and NE of Brewster,
among low hills east of the Okanogan River.

In the early evening of July 9, I decided to visit the other "Soap
Lake" for the first time. I recall Dick Cannings telling me years ago
that he had seen AMERICAN AVOCETS there-- a bird I had not seen in
Okanagan County.

The unpaved Soap Lake Road is a loop road which leaves Highway 97
about 2.4 miles south of the junction with State Highway 20 in
Okanogan (where it is marked "Simons Road", but there is also a sign
mentioning Soap Lake), and returns to Highway 97 about 4 miles north
of the intersection with State Highway 17 at Fort Okanogan. The road
was very dusty during my visit, with dust lying 3 inches deep on parts
of the road! The road was easily negotiable in my low-clearance 2WD
vehicle, although it might become a 4WD road for brief periods after
it rains (if it ever rains in that country). The south approach was
definitely better-used, so if someone prefers not to drive the whole
loop, I recommend that approach. The road coming from the north was
less well-used, with low vegetation in the middle of the road for much
of the way-- an obvious sign of infrequent traffic. However, despite
a sign at the north end of Soap Lake warning "Water over roadway, no
thru traffic", the roadway was at least 3 feet above lake level around
the west side of the lake, and was easily passable. The only
difficulty might be if one met a vehicle coming the other way on this
narrow one-lane road, but from the north end of the lake, you would be
able to see an approaching vehicle all the way to the south end. (The
lake is about a mile long.)

The south approach, from near Brewster, is mostly through sagebrush,
and the road climbs quickly from Highway 97, then travels on fairly
level ground for several miles. However, the north approach from
Okanogan (the way I came) is through more varied habitat, including
scattered stands of ponderosa pine and patches of riparian vegetation
(Saskatoon berry, chokecherry, and a few aspens) along some draws and
along a stream that the road follows for a couple of miles. The road
climbs through a wide pass-- no more than about 2000 feet altitude--
and then drops down toward Soap Lake.

Unfortunately, most of the ponderosa pine stands along the north
approach to Soap Lake were roasted by the big Virginia Lake wildfire
which happened just about a year ago. A few patches of pines here and
there escaped the fire, or sustained damage only to the lower canopy,
but over 80% of the forest in the area (and much of the riparian
vegetation) was thoroughly incinerated in the inferno. However, one
verdant glade, with some tall pines, aspens, and dense shrubbery
somehow escaped the fire. A brief stop here produced WESTERN
WOOD-PEWEE, RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER, AMERICAN ROBIN, SPOTTED TOWHEE,
AMERICAN GOLDFINCH, and some VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS. I would have liked
to bird there for longer, but it was getting late (almost 8 PM), and
my goal was the lake.

When I reached the south end of Soap Lake, there was one AMERICAN
AVOCET on the shoreline, along with 3 KILLDEER and a GREATER
YELLOWLEGS. However, just beyond the south end of the lake was a large
pond, which had a small bulrush-covered island not far from shore.
This pond proved to be the breeding site of the avocets. A second
AMERICAN AVOCET was feeding near the edge of the pond, along with 3
young chicks (no more than a week old, I would say-- this may have
been a second nesting attempt). The avocet (presumably the female)
flew out to the island, and called repeatedly, and soon the chicks
began to swim out to the island, which took them 3 or 4 minutes. When
they arrived, one chick began feeding, but the female gathered the
other 2 under her wings and began brooding them. (Although it was a
warm day, the pond was already in shadow and it was getting close to
sunset.) The third chick eventually joined the other 2 under the
female's wings, and soon the male joined the other avocets on the
island.

There were not a large number of waterbirds either on Soap Lake or on
the pond just south of the lake, but many of these were on the pond.
Here's a list of the birds seen at and near Soap Lake:

Green-winged Teal 1 male (pond)
Ring-necked Duck 1 male (Soap L.)
Redhead 6 (Soap L.)
Lesser Scaup 1 male (pond)
Barrow's Goldeneye 1 female (Soap L.)
Ruddy Duck 4 (pond)
Hooded Merganser 2 females (pond)
Killdeer 15
American Avocet 2 ads., 3 chicks
Greater Yellowlegs 1
Least Sandpiper 7 (pond)
Wilson's Phalarope 1 male (pond)
Chukar 1
Common Nighthawk 3
Mourning Dove 4
Northern Flicker 1
Black-billed Magpie 5
Lark Sparrow 2
Western Meadowlark 3
Yellow-headed Blackbird 1 female, several young heard
(apparently nesting in the small bulrush patch in the pond)

Little Soap Lake, located about 1.5 miles farther south, had the
following:

Eared Grebe 2
Teal sp. (probably Cinnamon) 1 female, 9 young
Dabbler species 10 (unidentifiable in poor light)
Ring-necked Duck 2 males
Redhead 1 male
American Coot 1
California Quail 1
Killdeer 4
Common Nighthawk 15 feeding over the lake
Bullock's Oriole 1

This may be the only regular breeding spot for Avocets in Okanogan
County. (If someone knows of other breeding localities, please let me
know). However, Ed Swan reported seeing quite a few avocets about a
month ago at Duley Lake, not far away and higher in altitude on the
Cameron Lake road. Has anyone checked Duley Lake since then?

This was a very quick exploratory trip, to see how good the road was,
and whether or not there were Avocets at Soap Lake. I'd love to spend
more time in the area, and I'm sure that a trip earlier in the season,
or earlier in the day, would have produced a longer bird list. Maybe
some of you will have a chance to check out the area over the next
year or two.

Wayne C. Weber
Delta, BC
contopus at telus.net