Hey y'all . . .



I'd better get this written up before I forget the details. It'll be wordy,
as I rarely get out like this, so if you want just the facts, skip to the
bottom for the quick list and general locations. You'll miss the part about
the ice cream though if you do.





I spent a couple of days roaming solo through Douglas and Okanogan counties.
I didn't quite rack up the counts I had planned as the birding gave way to
road adventuring and just looking over the area itself at times,
particularly up toward the Canadian border on Sunday. I was happy with the
trip though.



Highlights started quickly. I didn't want to burn 4 valuable Saturday
morning hours driving (or be dead tired at the end of the day by starting it
at 3am in Sammamish), so I drove out to the Leahy Sage Grouse lek site
(thanks to helpful and highly accurate directions) late on Friday night and
just slept in the truck right there. A Western Meadowlark right next to the
truck woke me up at 4:45am as light eased into the sky. By a bit after 5am,
there was just enough light to make out some white puffy something-or-others
due north. I counted just 5 males on one patch. Not realizing the extent
of the lek, I then scanned around to say hi to the other W Meadowlarks and
Horned Larks which would turn out to be as common as Robins as the day
panned out. At the time, they were a nice way to add to the start of the
day. A nice bonus was the very vocal "V" of 20 or so Sandhill Cranes flying
north overhead. Then as it got lighter, I started scanning further west
adjacent to my personal little 5-Sage Grouse lek patch and WHOA!!!!!! There
had to be upwards of 20, possibly more . . . all male. I was then joined by
Jim and Alan (sp?) from Spokane, and we all celebrated one of the easiest
lifers of our careers. We headed our separate ways sometime shortly after
7am I think. Hey youze guys, what did you all see during the day?



The next several hours were spent slowly meandering westward through the
dirt roads of Waterville Plateau. The Plateau experience culminated with
what I consider to be the most productive part of the weekend as I made my
way down and up and down a jeep trail on the western portions just north of
McNeil Canyon (1992 Delorme, page 84, B1-2 -- across the Columbia from
Chelan airport/Hugo). There I was unexpectedly stopped by one lone male
Blue Grouse giving me a private "crossing the road" show. No kidding, if I
weren't married with kids (not to mention mostly human), I might have
considered running off with the chap right then and there. Don't get me
wrong, the Sage Grouse were impressive . . . but it's the hooting that'll
get ya if you let it. Anyway, that minute or two was probably the best of
the trip. He went up the hill, I went down. Two star-crossed species . . .
it wasn't meant to be. Moving on, I picked up two lifers on my "hey, I
gotta finally get these this year" list . . . Pygmy Nuthatch and Cassin's
Finch. Also saw a couple of Chukar as close as I've ever been as I came to
a No Trespassing dead end to what I thought would get me down to a lower
portion of McNeil Canyon Rd. Had to go back up and down which was good
because I got some great looks at a Say's Phoebe acrobatically making a
moth's life, well, shorter . . . and a Northern Shrike doing the butcher
bird thing with some remaining scraps of some hapless victim on a sharp
twig. There's also an apiary up there, so once you see it, close your
windows fast. I had many curious honeybees around and on my truck for a
while there. A couple Gray Partridge flushed from near the truck at one
point around there as well. Only seen them a couple of times. I had a
"probably" Prairie Falcon coming off a telephone pole, but I was going too
fast at the time to stop quickly and get a look. Never saw the underside.
It would be another one of those "gotta finally get" lifers, so I didn't
count it. I'd need a better encounter than that to make it official.



Got down to Rt 97 and bolted north to the Okanogan phase of the trip. A
quick stop at Bridgeport Bar was fruitless. It was mid-afternoon and it
just felt "non-birdy" if you know what I mean. No Swamp Sparrow or Am Tree
Sparrow that I could find, (too bad) but got a Chipping Sparrow. At this
point is was basically time to get north, find a place to park, have dinner,
and prepare for the pitch darkness that would engulf the place I chose to
try to at least hear some owls. I ended up on W Lost Lake Rd east of
Havillah, just inside the Okanogan National Forest where FR 33 and FR 300
come together (Mt. Bonaparte trailhead). Only a Varied Thrush and an
agitatingly agitated squirrel were heard as the sun fell. My eyelids
followed suit not long after having brought what turned out to be a pretty
boring book with me to burn a few Saturday evening hours.



Sunday morning started on the late side (5:50am) with light already around.
Darn. What about the owls? Then I heard a few single low resounding hoots
spaced about a minute or two apart. Not sure what they were and would
appreciate any opinions. The Stokes CD wasn't conclusive at all. I guess
it lacks some hoot variations. Do Great Grey Owl make single low
*resounding* hoots? They come in soft multiple hoots on the CD. Anyway,
took a walk here and there around the area, but the lingering crusty snow
and the dead ends to private land made it a limited time spent admiring the
Mountain Chickadees, Kinglets, Brown Creeper, Nuthatches . . . the usual
coniferous suspects. I had hoped for a Boreal Chickadee at some point, but
no luck. With so many Mt. Chickadee around, it got tough to stay interested
in examining each sighting. I think I'll make the visit someday to
Shuttleworth Creek Rd in BC for the action they've been reporting up there
lately. On the way back to the civilization of Havillah, I picked up great
views of my final of 4 lifers of the trip, a male Williamson's Sapsucker. I
also heard drumming which matched the Stoke's CD pattern of a Red-naped
Sapsucker, but I guess I'd more likely figure it was a Williamson's. It
started out with the snare drum like pattern followed by distinct taps
ending at a distinct count of 6. Any Sapsucker drumming experts out there
want to conclude it was a Red-naped?



Then it was a calculated 5-6 hours meandering the back roads up toward
Molson and Nine Mile Rd before having to turn south to make it home for
dinner. There are lots of Killdeer up there. Surprised me. I also saw a
Clark's Nutcracker which is always nice, and picked up my best poker hand
(pair of Goldeneye or better to open) of the trip. It was also fun to step
on soil just on the north side of an unassuming barbed wire fence north of
the road. It was the only time I've visited Canada without being asked if I
had anything to declare.



On the way down to Oroville, I hit a patch of sage lacking any fences or no
trespassing signs . . . and I heard some intriguing song from the hillside
beckoning one last determined birding effort. At first I figured it to be W
Meadowlark, but I decided to hoof up there a bit to try to get a look. They
were coming from low in the sage. I got within literally 10 feet of one,
but never got a look at anything flushing away as I approached. What a
disappearing act!! Then they taunted me, singing just out of sight. I even
hiked up higher and scanned down below for a while to see if I could ever
see one fly or scurry from bush to bush. No luck, and the wind then
abruptly picked up. I got back to the truck, slapped in the CD to check on
Vesper, Lark, and Sage sparrow. The closest was probably Vesper, but it
wasn't the same. I was most hoping it would be Sage, figuring the scurrying
would explain why I didn't see any fly, but the song was nothing like what I
heard over and over and over and over and over and over . . . . . . oh well.



So it was time to gas up and boogie out of Oroville to points south and
west. The last great highlight was a strategic visit to the Baskin Robbins
in Wenatchee. The stretch over Blewett Pass was thoroughly enjoyed with
Smashmouth's Astro Lounge on the stereo and way too much Jamoca ice cream
for a late lunch, which concluded just west of Cle Elum (2 TV's Diann).



All told, 56 species, 4 lifers, many dips (the main peril of going solo and
having to watch the pesky road once in a while), a few critters of the
fur-bearing variety (squirrel, chippy, coyote, rabbit, deer, a few marmot,
and some kind of large weasel-like substance along the Okanogan River near
Cordell I think). And now I finally know first-hand what northern Okanogan
county looks like.







Quick summary:



WP = Waterville Plateau, page 84-85, stayed north of Rt 172 pretty much

McNeil Canyon jeep draw area (1992 Delorme, page 84, B1-2)

Okanogan area, Delorme, page 115, A6, A7





Common Loon - Columbia at Brewster (I didn't do much water fowl scanning -
obviously, from my list)

Sandhill Crane - about 20 flying over Leahy lek - very vocal

Canada Goose

Mallard

Ring-necked Duck

Barrow's Goldeneye - Molson Lake (near Canadian border -- seen with Common
Goldeneye . . . my poker pair)

Bufflehead - Molson Lake

Common Goldeneye - Molson Lake

Killdeer - northern Okanogan area, north of Havillah

Turkey Vulture - 2 over Cle Elum on the way back

Bald Eagle - W Lost Lake road - east of Havillah, also up near Molson

Northern Harrier - WP

Red-tailed Hawk

Rough-legged Hawk

Osprey - Oroville

American Kestrel - WP

Blue Grouse - walked across the road in front of me in full display - jeep
draw in McNeil Canyon

Sage Grouse - 20 males at Leahy lek [LIFER]

California Quail - here and there all day

Chukar - jeep draw in McNeil Canyon

Gray Partridge - WP

Rock Dove

Mourning Dove

Northern Flicker - all day long, but no complaints - one of my favorites

Williamson's Sapsucker - W Lost Lake road - east of Havillah [LIFER]

Hairy Woodpecker (male and female) - W Lost Lake road - east of Havillah

Western Kingbird - WP I think

Say's Phoebe - WP

Horned Lark - WP

Tree Swallow (various other Swallow sp. possible, only saw one in the binos
to really look at in Havillah)

Clark's Nutcracker - Molson area, another favorite of mine

Steller's Jay

Black-billed Magpie

American Crow

Common Raven

Mountain Chickadee

Brown Creeper

Pygmy Nuthatch - jeep draw in McNeil Canyon [LIFER]

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Mountain Bluebird - many in northern Ok County, none seen on WP

Western Bluebird - many in northern Ok County, none seen on WP

Varied Thrush

American Robin

Northern Shrike

European Starling

Savannah Sparrow

Song Sparrow

Chipping Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Snow Bunting - WP, closer longer looks then I've had in the past, one lone
forager, then a couple of modest flocks

Western Meadowlark

Red-winged Blackbird

Red Crossbill - jeep draw in McNeil Canyon

Cassin's Finch - jeep draw in McNeil Canyon [LIFER]



______________________________________

Ned McGarry
Sammamish, WA
ned.mcgarry at verizon.net