Harold & Karen Cottet, and I ventured out to the
Waterville Plateau today (Thur., 1/15/04) with desire
to see the B & W Warbler and other winter birds. As we
loaded up the rig in our driveway, a Great Horned Owl
put on a little early morning show for uw.

A Bald Eagle was flying down Latah Creek as we
approached the I-90 interchange. We made a quick
detour on Detour Road (east of Davenport) to see if we
could find the Snowy Owl that Jim Acton found last
week. Although we didn't see any owls, we did see a
Northern Shrike, Rough-legged hawk, some Horned Larks,
and quite few Gray Partridges. Glaze ice on the roads
made climbing one of the hills impossible.

West of Reardon, we observed several Ring-necked
Pheasants and a Coyote. On US 2 at MP 198, we
encountered a flock of over two hundred Horned Larks
south of the highway. As I stepped out of the rig, I
could hear Lapland Longspurs calling amidst the
tinkling Horned Larks.

After scanning through dozens of Horned Larks, I
finally got the Questar on a LAPLAND LONGSPUR. There
were at least a couple of longspurs out there, but
they were hard to pick up through the foggy
conditions. I didn't not the exact position on the De
Lorme at the time, but I believe it was near Hartline
(DL 85, C6); at MP 198 on US 2. Another flock of larks
a couple of miles east of this position contained one
Snow Bunting.

As the fog made it difficult to find raptors, we had
to make due with roadside birds. At the Heritage
Thicket (just south of SR 172, DL P.85, B4.5) we
observed one handsome AMERICAN TREE SPARROW and couple
of Mt. Cottontails. Another flock of larks with a
lone SNOW BUNTING was on Heritage Road. Farther west
on 172, we ran into another flock of mixes Horned
Larks, one LAPLAND LONGSPUR, and eight SNOW BUNTINGS.

As we passed through copses of Water Birch along
Bridgeport-Hill Road, we saw a flock of twenty COMMON
REDPOLLS, a Cooper's Hawk, and several Mule Deer.
Although we didn't see any Sharp-tailed Grouse, we did
find an adult THAYER'S GULL on the rocky islands of
the east side of the Chief Joseph Dam overlook bridge
that was sharing the island with a Great Blue Heron
and an adult Bald Eagle.

In Bridgeport, we found a flock of 120 BOHEMIAN
WAXWINGS and some White-crowned Sparrows. The brushy
thickets on Bridgport Bar harbored large numbers of
sparrows (White-crowned, Tree, Song, & Juncos),
Red-wing Blackbirds, Bald Eagles, Robins, and Ame.
Goldfinches. As we scanned the river we saw Gadwall,
Bufflehead, C. & Barrow's Goldeneye, a WHITE PELICAN,
Horned Grebe, Mallard, and a female LONG-TAILED DUCK.

Although we dipped on the B&W Warbler in Dagora State
Park, we did see large number of Juncos, and ample
supply of Golden-Crowned Kinglets, a couple of
Yellow-rumped Warblers, a Spotted Towhee, a pair of
Sharp-shinned Hawks, a Merlin, and more Bald Eagles.

Despite the icy roads and foggy conditions, we still
managed to find quite few good winter visitors and
ended the day with a total of 55 species. Temperatures
on the Waterville Plateau never rose above 27 degrees,
but we had above freezing temps (mid 30's) in the
river valleys. All in all, it was good winter fun.

Gina Sheridan
Spokane, WA




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