Subject: Pend Oreille/Stevens County Birding Report
Date: Jun 7 12:28:45 2004
From: gina sheridan - gsherida8502 at yahoo.com


I have been so heavily embroiled in our house sale,
move, etc. that I haven't had much time for birding.
However, Harold & Karen Cottet and I did venture up to
Pend Oreille and Stevens Counties last Wednesday (June
2nd). Conditions were cool, partly cloudy, and no
wind.

As we birded the bridge over the wetland on Westside
Calispell Road, we turned up a pair of cooperative
Red-eyed Vireos, Vaux's Swift, Hammond's Flycatcher,
Cedar Waxwing, Gadwall, Green-winged Teal, Yellow
Warbler, Warbling Vireo, Black-headed Grosbeak, and
crippling views of a male AMERICAN REDSTART.

Along Meadow Road (outside of Cusick), we observed
several BOBOLINKS playing hide and seek in the tall
grass. One male Bobolink obliged us by singing from a
power line. Eastern Kingbirds and Common Yellowthroats
added their vibrant presense to the rank meadows. A
Common Snipe stood in the middle of Hwy 20 (north of
Cusick).

We birded the full length of Tacoma Creek Road from
Pend Oreille County to the road's terminus in Stevens
County. Along this birdy route, we had Townsend's
Warbler, Orange-crowned Warbler, MacGillivray's
Warbler (killer views), Yellow-rumped Warbler, Willow
Flycatcher, Pileated Woodpecker (h), Western Tanager,
Turkey, Swainson's Thrush and NORTHERN GOSHAWK. En
route, we saw several interesting mammals such as
moose (including a cow with a very young calf),
Columbian Ground Squirrel, Snowshoe Hare, and
Red-tailed Chipmunk.

A highly cooperative NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH sang from
leafless shrub out in the boggy marsh of Olsen Creek
in Little Pend Oreille NWR. We enjoyed some great
scope views of this little striped songster.

Although we failed to find any Harlequin Ducks along
Sullivan Creek, we did see nesting Red-necked Grebes
and several Spotted Sandpipers along the south shore
of Sullivan Lake. Since the snow on the road prevented
us from reaching Mt. Salmo, we didn't see much in the
way of boreal species. However, there were quite a few
Hermit Thrushes up and singing. Unfortunately, we
dipped on our one of primary target species,
Three-toed Woodpecker.

On our return, we added Cassin's Vireo and
Pacific-slope Flycatcher at Manresa Grotto. All in
all, we had some very good success with seeing many of
our summer denizens.

Gina Sheridan
Spokane, WA




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