Subject: Okanogan Bird Report (from visiting birder)
Date: Jul 16 21:30:27 2004
From: Kallaire at cs.com - Kallaire at cs.com


Tweeters;
Greetings fellow birders! Please forgive the lateness of this report-
I couldn't post until my return home. You may remember me as an occasional
visiting birder from New York City- I was back in lovely Washington again these
last two weeks to help a friend move. I unexpectedly was given a couple of
days off for a nature getaway, so I quickly reserved a room in Winthrop to
serve as a base camp for a couple of days of intense birding. My first full day
was this Wednesday (the 14th), when I visited Roger Lake and hiked up Tiffany
Mt.. Unfortunately, I struck out on my main target, Spruce Grouse- I have also
chased this bird in vain in my home state, but my timing has never been good.
Nonetheless, I found some fine birds- Roger Lake offered a Gray Jay and a
Spotted Sandpiper (a delightful alpine shorebird!), and a male Three-toed
Woodpecker feeding an immature (which I was lucky to capture on video!). Tiffany Mt.
gave me American Pipit and Mountain Chickadee, and a pair of Horned Larks
with a pair of juvenilles, who could only walk away from me (more great video). A
non-birding delight was the abundance of butterflies in the alpine meadows,
some of which I was able to film and later i.d.. I also shared the summit with
a Columbian Ground Squirrel and a Pika. I plan to create a webpage tomorrow
with some still images from this hike- I have some as-yet-unidentified
butterflies on film, and would be grateful for advice from any generalists in the
audience (I will announce the posting of the page here).
On Thursday I started the day at Sullivan Pond- what a wonderful site!
I flushed a Yellow-headed Blackbird- are they still on the nest this time of
year? Blue-winged Teal were on the pond with young, and there was
as-yet-unidentified duck-like bird- a group of up to a dozen were walking the mudflats
like rails, but swimmiing occasionally- they had stubby dark bills, white
bellies and front of neck, with a dark head and grayish back with black wings. I
was cursing myself for not bringing my scope on the trip- my video is from too
far away and muddy to offer a conclusive i.d.. Any thoughts from folks
familiar with local breeders? The highlight of the morning, though, was a Common
Nighthawk chasing insects over the pond, occasionally dipping into the water, and
soaring right over my head for several minutes- it was nine in the morning,
and the best, most unexpected sighting of this species I've ever had!
The brief expedition was a huge success, yielding a dozen state birds
for me (which I think puts me over the ABA reporting threshold)- I love every
moment I spend in your fine state, and I look forward to my next visit. I
will alert you as to the posting of my webpage devoted to WA wildlife, as I would
like to share some of this magic with you all. Happy birding!
Peace,
Ken Allaire
NYCbirder
kallaire at cs.com
www.kenallaire.com