I spent the 3-day weekend in the north country. Friday afternoon I headed toward Spokane, stopping along Dodson Road to visit the Burrowing Owls that nest in artificial burrows built by the WDFW.

Saturday morning found me searching along Deno Road west of Spokane for Upland Sandpipers that have been seen there irregularly for the past two weeks or so. After searching unsuccessfully for three hours, I headed north on Hwy 2, stopping at numerous birdy areas. Sacheen Lake had a Red-necked Grebe with two of its chicks on its back, or rather buried under its wings. I was able to get several decent photos. A Great Blue Heron was posed nicely in the marsh at the south end of the lake.

The little town of Usk on the west side of the Pend Oreille River has an incredible population of nesting Double-crested Cormorants and many Osprey nests. One of the Osprey nests is quite close to the bridge over the river. I got photos of one of the Osprey feeding the chicks and a pair of Ospreys on a nest further north along the river.

I visited many places that Andy and I stopped at on a tour of Pend Oreille County in about 1988. I noticed in the Washington Bird Finding Guide a description of a small pond along the Tacoma Creek Road that sounded like it might add a few species to the trip list, so I headed there. Instead of birds, I found the highlight of the trip -- a cow moose standing in the center of the pond! Unfortunately, by the time I got my camera out, she had headed for the hills so the only photo I got was pretty poor.

Driving west on Highway 20 about four miles from Tiger, a black bear ran across the road in front of me. Another highlight!

I found a Northern Waterthrush along Amazon Creek near the Pend Oreille NWR, plus a Red-naped Sapsucker and a male Red Crossbill that seemed determined to hide behind the leaves of the bush it was perched in. I then headed into the refuge and camped there. Two ponds, which I can't remember the names of, had lots of birds including one Greater Yellowlegs in breeding plumage. The birds on the refuge were all over the place including Red Crossbills, Red-eyed Vireo and the closest look I have ever had of an American Dipper but it was too dark for a photo.

I headed west on Hwy 20, going over Sherman Pass for the first time. On a trail from the campground near the summit I found two American Three-toed Woodpeckers. I almost got a point-blank photo of one but it was so close I had to change the way I attach my camera to the scope and missed the photo. The look was incredible, though. In 1988, 20000 acres of forest at Sherman Pass burned in a lighting-caused forest fire and the damage is still evident.

The Okanogan Highlands in northeast Okanogan County is an incredible area of our state. The forest gives way to grass-and-wildflower covered hills that are spectacular. The population of the little town of Chesaw had swelled to over 1000 because of their 4th of July rodeo. I wanted to stop for barbecued ribs and beer but figured the stop would cost me some birds so I just kept going.

I found Mary Ann Creek Road that headed toward Molson, so I took it. There were many small ponds along the way where I found lots of birds including Sora and Blue-winged Teal. The ponds upstream from Molson had lots of ducks and fisherman. How people can spend a weekend standing beside a pond holding onto a pole is beyond me.

Lost Lake is in the forest east of Havillah which is about 18 miles northeast of Tonasket. It is a spectacularly beautiful lake with breeding Common Loons and Black Terns. I got a photo of a Black Tern sitting on its nest with one of its chick peaking out under its wing. There were three adult Common Loons but no chicks in view. This morning one of the loons decided three was a crowd and it flew away to the north.

As I was taking down my tent this morning, I heard a Pileated Woodpecker calling from the forest to the north of my campsite. I headed in the direction of the calls, finally found the woodpecker but it flew immediately. I heard it pecking on a nearby tree and found it 30 yards from my tent. If I had just waited for it . . .. Also nearby were a Williamson's Sapsucker and a Hairy Woodpecker.

I ended the weekend with 124 species. The list of photos I missed is longer than the ones I got but ten new photos are in the "New Photo" folder on my website including the Red-necked Grebe, Great Blue Heron, Blue-winged Teal, Hooded Merganser ducklings, Ospreys, a Black Tern sitting on its nest and a juvenile Burrowing Owl.

I drove 838 miles, saw some wonderful areas of our state and had a great time.

Denny



* Denny Granstrand *
* Yakima, WA *
* dgranstrand at charter.net *
digiscoped bird photos on-line at:
http://osprey.bardill.net/gallery/