Hey Tweeters,

Early on Monday morning Scott Downes and myself drove from Ellensburg to the
Iron Gate Trailhead and began a trek to the Horseshoe Basin area of Okanogan
County. En route we swung by Aeneas Valley Rd and quickly picked up a few
Bobolinks in the hay fields. Just south of Palmer Lake there was a Chukar
right in the middle of Loomis-Oroville Rd. Along Toats Coulee Rd we had
neat views of many Lewis's Woodpeckers flycatching from mullein stalks.
Arriving at the trailhead a little after noon, we put on the backpacks and
hiked roughly 6 miles on the Tungsten Mine trail. Four hours later we set
up our base camp on a slope about 1/4 mile east of Horseshoe Pass on the
trail to Smith Lake. In the evening as I was walking through the wet tundra
and short willow thickets nearby, I startled a Spotted Sandpiper from her
nest of four eggs located on a grassy islet in the middle of the stream.
Perhaps one of the highest elevation nests known from Washington at about
7100ft? A Pine Grosbeak warbled from across the meadow as Scott heated up
dinner.

On the first morning (7/8) I woke up to the sounds of a cow Moose grunting a
short distance away in the meadow. It quickly moved on, and we began our
day hike in search of ptarmigans on Armstrong Mountain (elevation 8138ft).
Walking up the slope there were pipits and the usual alpine things all over.
Vesper Sparrows were noted singing in three separate areas on the southeast
slope, but we weren't able to find any nesting evidence. At the top we had
great views of Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches, but we couldn't find Scott's
ptarmigan if our lives depended on it. We searched the whole area rather
extensively, but still came up empty handed and started walking back around
noon. We found a Melissa Arctic, an elusive butterfly very local in
Washington. This one couldn't fly too well, so we we able to study it up
close. The gorgeous 360? view from Horseshoe was another consolation prize
for missing ptarmigan. A Brewer's Sparrow was found in the krummholz in the
saddle between Arnold Peak and Armstrong Mtn as I walked back towards camp.
One must wonder if this could have been a dispersed "Timberline" Sparrow
from areas further north, though it would be very difficult to say for
certain. Having had no luck in one area owling on the 7th, we tried a
different area that looked to me like it had very good potential for Boreal
Owls. And indeed we got lucky, as a Boreal Owl sung three or four times
just as it got dark! Attempts to see it were futile, but we were very
pleased to hear the breeding call.

Wednesday we birded on a short forest hike east of the meadows. The best
birds were a pair of Bohemian Waxwings which I spotted flying over the trail
giving their distinctive harsh buzzing. We also hiked to the Silver Forest
(a very old burn, mostly knocked down now) east of the basin, though the
birding there was relatively slow. The only woodpeckers to be found were
nesting flickers.

We started hiking down the track at about 6:30am on the 10th. On the way
down we heard a Northern Pygmy-Owl tooting, saw many Three-toed Woodpeckers
(all the trees in many areas were scaled of bark), and had two Pileated
Woodpeckers. It took us only 2.5 hours to get down.

The birds:

Bald Eagle (1 third year)-soaring over Armstrong Mtn 7/8.
Golden Eagle (1 first year)-hunting on Arnold Peak (seen from our camp) 7/8.
American Kestrel (1)-Horseshoe Meadows (our camp) 7/9.
Spruce Grouse (1 male that Scott saw)-east edge of Horseshoe Meadows 7/9.
Blue Grouse (1 hooting)-Silver Forest east of the Basin 7/9.
Spotted Sandpiper (1 female)-incubating four eggs near camp.
Northern Pygmy-Owl (1 calling)-hike down 7/10.
BOREAL OWL (1)-heard multiple times at Horseshoe Pass giving breeding call
at 10:00pm 7/8.
Black Swift (1)-Scott only, over the Silver Forest 7/9.
Rufous Hummingbird (2 males)-whizzing by us on our Armstrong Mtn hike 7/8;
(1)-female flew by camp 7/9.
Hairy Woodpecker (8)
Three-toed Woodpecker (3)-on the hike up 7/7; (1)-near camp in Basin; (12)
on hike down 7/10.
Northern Flicker (6)
Pileated Woodpecker (2)-on downward hike 7/10.
Olive-sided Flycatcher (2)-singing near camp each day.
Gray Jay (35)
Steller's Jay (1)-at camp 7/9; (1)-on a hike east of the basin 7/9.
Clark's Nutcracker (50)
Common Raven (2)-there seem to be surprisingly few ravens up here.
Horned Lark (75+)-Armstrong Mtn, many fledglings 7/8
Mountain Chickadee (30)
Boreal Chickadee (12)-mainly on hike down 7/10.
Red-breasted Nuthatch (2)-hike east of basin 7/9.
Brown Creeper (1)-high up in the Silver Forest in stunted larches 7/9;
(1)-hike down 7/10.
Rock Wren (3)-Armstrong Mtn 7/8; (1)-hike east of basin 7/9.
Winter Wren (4)-hike down and up.
Golden-crowned Kinglet (8)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (20+)
Mountain Bluebird (1)-at our camp in basin 7/9.
Townsend's Solitaire (8 total)-including several fledglings in Silver
Forest.
Hermit Thrush (80)-the most abundant bird in all areas below treeline.
American Robin (20)-including a few above treeline.
Varied Thrush (15)
American Pipit (60+)-Armstrong Mtn hike, displaying all over the alpine.
BOHEMIAN WAXWING (2 flew over, calling)-on a hike a mile or two east of the
basin, seen by myself 7/9.
Cedar Waxwing (4)-flew over our camp 7/9.
Orange-crowned Warbler (1 grayish subspecies)-Saddle Pass 7/7.
Yellow-rumped Warbler (25)
Townsend's Warbler (6)
Chipping Sparrow (25)
BREWER'S SPARROW (1)-base of Armstrong Mtn in stunted trees, rather out of
place; the face pattern was bold with a gray, lightly streaked nape. It had
a striking white malar. It did not sing, unfortunately. An intriguing bird
to say the least.
VESPER SPARROW (6+)-southeastern slopes of Armstrong Mtn, possible but not
confirmed breeding.
Savannah Sparrow (40)
Fox Sparrow (15)
Song Sparrow (2)-Saddle Pass, must be uncommon at such an elevation.
Lincoln's Sparrow (12 total)-Saddle Pass and Horseshoe Meadows.
White-crowned Sparrow (6 gambelii)-slopes of Armstrong Mtn 7/8
Dark-eyed Junco (35)
Western Meadowlark (1)-on hike up in herbaceous meadows 7/7, yet another out
of place bird.
Brown-headed Cowbird (5)
Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch (9)-summit of Armstrong Mtn, in both Canada and the
United States.
Pine Grosbeak (1 singing)-Horseshoe Meadows 7/7; (2 singing)-valley west of
Armstrong Mtn 7/8.
Cassin's Finch (1)-Horseshoe Meadows 7/9.
Red Crossbill (50 total)-noted especially on hike down.
Pine Siskin (30)

The butterflies:

Two-banded Checkered Skipper (2)
Common Branded Skipper (1)
skipper, sp. (10)
Western Tiger Swallowtail (3)
Cabbage White (5)
Sara Orangetip (10)
sulphur, sp. (2)
Silvery Blue (10)
Zerene Fritillary (1)
Mormon Fritillary (1)
Arctic Fritillary (1)
fritillary, sp. (5)
Mylitta Crescent (5)
checkerspot, sp. (60+)-all that we studied looked to be Variable
California Tortoiseshell (15)
Milbert's Tortoiseshell (1)
Painted Lady (2)
Common Alpine (6)
Vidler's Alpine (1)
Great Arctic (25+)
Melissa Arctic (1)-very nice, seen really well in scree on slopes of
Armstrong Mtn

The mammals:

Columbian Ground-Squirrel
Red Squirrel
Yellow Pine Chipmunk
Hoary Marmot
White-tailed Deer
Moose
cat scat, possibly Lynx?
Coyote

Upon arriving back at the trailhead on Thursday, we drove to Cameron Lake
Rd. In Cook Lake there is a female goldeneye with five chicks which I think
may be Common Goldeneyes, but which I ultimately left unidentified as they
moved to the other end of the lake. Further south along the road there was
a Sage Thrasher with fledgling on the wires, and at the same spot a
Loggerhead Shrike was hunting. At Duley Lake there were just the usual
waterfowl and nothing out of the ordinary. No avocets that we saw, though
others have reported chicks here this summer. We then viewed the river from
Fort Okanogan Interpretive Center, and did see the female Surf Scoter noted
here by the Sullivans on July 4th.

That night we decided to try for the Upland Sandpiper just west of Spokane.
We arrived along Deno Rd at 8:30am on the morning of the 11th, and at 8:55 I
spotted the bird on a post some distance out in the field to the north of
the substation. We watched it in the scope until 9:10, when we took our
eyes off briefly. Looking back 20 seconds later, it had vacated the post.
A state bird for both of us, as we didn't get around to driving out there
for it last year.

Cheers and good birding
--
Charlie Wright
Sumner, WA
charlie at birdwright.com