On Saturday (2/7/04), Joyce Alonso and I ran the
Spokane Audubon "Northern Visitor Trip" across the
West Plains. Fresh snowfall overnight provided us with
2" in the Spokane area and at least 4" around
Davenport. Skys were overcast, but fortunately we did
not encounter fog that often veils this area. Since
temps remained subfreezing for the day, the gravel
roads did not become soupy or muddy. In effect, it was
a perfect winter day for this trip.

In western Spokane County, we saw Rough-Legged &
Red-tailed Hawks, several pheasants, Northern Shrike,
and a couple of BOHEMIAN WAXWINGs (on Thorpe Road),
but dipped on Tree Sparrows. As a precursor to spring,
a few American Robins and some vociferous Red-winged
Blackbirds made their presence known.

Although we didn't find any Snowy Owls on the vast
snowy plains, we did run into a large flock of mixed
Horned Larks and SNOW BUNTINGs. At least fifty Snow
Buntings cooperated nicely for the group by feeding
casually at the intersection of Detour & Gravelle
Roads.

In Davenport, a distant unidentified accipitor seemed
to be tracking a flock of Bohemian Waxwings. Even
though we didn't see the accipitor again, we had
wonderful views of a flock of some thirty BOHEMIAN
WAXWINGs. The waxwings were located a couple of blocks
north of the Catholic Church. When the waxwings
clustered together on the upper branches of a large
spruce, they resembled delicately painted little
figurines.

Although the Davenport Cemetery is often pretty quiet
in winter, we still managed to find three Brown
Creepers, some Mt. Chickadees, and Red-breasted
Nuthatches.

Along Morrison Road, Gray Partridges looked like
immobile rocks as they lay half buried in the snow.
North of Highway 2, we encountered several other
groups of "Huns". The Huns seemed to be having some
difficulty walking through the deep snow.

Our group enjoyed viewing nice examples of both dark
and light phased Rough-legged Hawks cruising the
Lincoln County Bird Route. As an unexpected surprise,
we were delighted to see an adult Bald Eagle just east
of the intersection of Bald Ridge and Four Corners
Roads.

On the West Reardan section of the Sunset Highway, we
flushed a Great Horned Owl. While we were scoping the
owl, a vocal PRAIRIE FALCON flew over the road and
landed on a light pole.

As we wrapped up the trip, we saw a Sharp-shinned Hawk
and an adult Northern Shrike in the trees surrounding
a farm house on the corner of Mondovi and Sunset
Highway. It was a nice way to cap off a fine winter
birding on the West Plains.

Gina Sheridan
Spokane, WA

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