Hello Tweets,

My mother and I enjoyed a rewarding 3 day trip over to the Grand Coulee area on Grant Co.,mainly to participate on the Grand Coulee CBC on the 21st of December. The weather was very exceptional all 3 days with clear skies and cold temperatures. Our main highlight of the trip was a Yellow-billed Loon that we located during the CBC and observed from the Sunbanks Waterfront Resort on Banks Lake. The Yellow-billed Loon was a total unexpected species for us and one that is very noteworthy for eastern WA,especially on a CBC! The Yellow-billed Loon was located after thorough scoping from campsite#19 within the actual resort area on Banks Lake and due to the relative distance of the bird no photographs were obtained until we relocated the bird again today(December 22nd)on our way home at the same general location. The bird remained in close association with up to 2 Common Loons and a single Pacific Loon both days and clearly showed all distinguishing field marks diagnostic of the species. It was truly a grand highlight and a new species along with the Pacific Loon for the Grand Coulee CBC. The Sunbanks Waterfront Resort is accessed off S.R.155(just south of the Electric City city/town limits)immediately north of the "causeway" as it crosses over Osborn Bay Lake. A road travels west of S.R.155 to the resort area,then taking the second dirt road on your right to the actual viewing area for Banks Lake,which is best accessed from the upper camping area then driving a short distance to campsite #19. We observed the Yellow-billed Loon and the Pacific Loon by scoping to the northwest of this location,as conditions were very ample and calm allowing great views of both species. We were never approached by anyone at the resort,so it doesn't appear to be "off-limits" to people during the winter season. We have placed 2 photographs of the Yellow-billed Loon onto our website,which can be accessed at the following link: http://www.pbase.com/godwit/current/

Away from the Yellow-billed Loon we both enjoyed our visit again to the Grand Coulee area after missing the Grand Coulee CBC last year. We tallied 58 species in our area of the 89+ species encountered during the entire count,which was a record high for this CBC! We owled in Northrup Canyon on the morning of the 21st,which yielded 3 species of owls including up to 4 Northern Saw-whet Owls and 3 Long-eared Owls. Additional highlights in our area not mentioned previously included the following:

1 Eared Grebe
1 Western Grebe
3 Red-breasted Mergansers
3 Northern Harriers
2 Cooper's Hawks
3 Red-tailed Hawks(including 1 adult dark-morph bird)
3 Great Horned Owls
1 Hairy Woodpecker
1 Northern"Yellow-shafted"Flicker
15 Black-capped Chickadees
3 Mountain Chickadees
1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
3 Townsend's Solitaires
1 Hermit Thrush
1 Northern Shrike
1 Spotted Towhee
1 Harris' Sparrow(observed and photographed with 10-12 White-crowned Sparrows in a brushy area along the northern edge of the a golf course,which lies just north of the Grand Coulee Airport,which is first record for the Grand Coulee CBC)
15 Gray-crowned Rosy Finches(observed along the rimrock cliffs along S.R.155 north of the Northrup Canyon bridge)
1 Purple Finch(a female bird observed in a dense,extensive Russian Olive thicket north of the Grand Coulee Airport,being a first record for the Grand Coulee CBC)
1 Common Redpoll

Today(December 22nd)we began our day in the Grand Coulee Park area along S.R.174 in Grand Coulee,mainly in search of several highlights noted from others during the CBC yesterday. Upon arriving at Grand Coulee Park we immediately heard,then the Blue Jay followed by a flock of 500+ Bohemian Waxwings and up to 13 Pine Grosbeaks that all gathered in the park foraging in a large Mountain Ash tree. As we stood along the sidewalk bordering the park and S.R.174 we watched the noisy Bohemian Waxwings and the Pine Grosbeaks feed on the Mountain Ash berries,but at times the flock remained very erratic. The Pine Grosbeaks eventually scattered and separated from the Bohemian Waxwings,as they flew off by themselves to an unknown location along the residential hillside south of the highway. The Blue Jay remained actively calling,but was only seen a few times,but nonetheless was a nice way to start our day. We continued in the area by walking a few of the side streets between Banker and Knute Streets and along Roosevelt Drive that borders the park to the north. We also checked another nearby location bordering Crescent Bay along Garner Ave.,which also produced a few notable species too. Other highlights noted during our morning visit included the following:

1 Cooper's Hawk
2 Steller's Jays
7 Mountain Chickadees
1 Red-breasted Nuthatch
1 Brown Creeper
1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
2 Townsend's Solitaires
8+ Varied Thrushes
15 Cedar Waxwings
1 Cassin's Finch(foraging in the large Mountain Ash tree at Grand Coulee Park)
20 Pine Siskins

On our way home we made a few stops away from relocating the Yellow-billed Loon from the Sunbanks Waterfront Resort. Our first stop was made from the Coulee Playland Resort in Electric City that lies along the northend of Banks Lake,which hosted 4 gull species included the following:

3 Ring-billed Gulls
18 Herring Gulls
1 Thayer's Gull
2 Glaucous-winged Gulls

Continuing along S.R.155 we relocated a first-winter Glaucous Gull on Banks Lake immediately south of Steamboat Rock State Park,which is quite possible the same individual bird than noted by Teri Pieper located the yesterday during the Grand Coulee CBC. The bird was first observed in flight,as it flew north towards the park then eventually to the west out into the lake then finally landing with 2 Herring Gulls allowing good,but somewhat distant scoping views of it. A Western Gull was noted along Hwy.2 at Dry Falls Dam,then at Soak Lake up to 30 Eared Grebes were noted with large numbers of Ruddy Ducks.


A few species of note encountered on the 20th of December included the following(beginning with a morning visit made at the Kent Ponds in southern King Co. before driving to Grand Coulee):

Kent Ponds:

2 Am.Bitterns
2 Tundra Swans
3 Eurasian Wigeons
2 adult Cooper's Hawks
1 Merlin
1 Greater Yellowlegs
10 Long-billed Dowitchers
1 adult Northern Shrike


2 Pacific Loons below Wanapum Dam(south of Wanapum State Park)in Kittitas Co
1 Eared Grebe,6 Varied Thrush,and 1 Northern Shrike at Wanapum S.P.
1 Pacific Loon along Hwy.17 at Blue Lake(north of Soap Lake)



Good birding,

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
Fircrest,WA
godwit at worldnet.att.net