Since the weather continues to be marvelously mild, I
decided to try to extend my birding lucky streak by
finding the rather elusive Hawk Owl. Over the course
of the last couple of weeks, this bird has been
infrequently seen on Salmo Mountain (Pend Oreille
Co.). Although several local birders had recently
dipped on the bird, it was last reported seen on
10/9/04 by Clinton Hedges. This is presumably the same
bird that was discovered Mark Houston and Tom Munson
on the last weekend of September.

Harold & Karen Cottet, and I drove up to Salmo this
morning. While the lowlands were foggy with the temp
just hovering above freezing, a little elevation gain
rewarded us with azure skies, golden leaved birches
and poplars, and lemon yellow larches set against the
deep forest greens of cedars, pines, firs, and
spruces.

Upon turning up on FR 270 at Salmo Pass, we noted
Mountain Chickadees, GC Kinglets, and a flock of Red
Crossbills. In general, birds at this elevation were
few and far between.

After hiking around the saddle to the north of the
fire tower on Salmo and scanning the numerous snags
for over an hour, we had tallied up zero species. Even
though the previous observations of the owl were from
this particular ridgeline, it seemed logical to assume
that it could easily forage beyond it.

At any rate, the sun was bright and the fall colors
were glorious. We could even see the snow covered
Canadian Rockies from this viewpoint.

Since I was convinced that the bird had to be around,
I thought that we might bird a couple of other nearby
locations and then return to Salmo lookout area again
in the hopes that the owl would come return.
As we made another scan of the lower peak to the east,
Karen spotted the bird (around 11:30 AM). The bird
that was perched on a dead whitebark pine snag was
indeed the NORTHERN HAWK OWL. Please
note this particular ridgeline is a third of a mile
below the tower summit and extends to the east from a
small but obvious parking pullout.

Even though, we were scoping the bird from almost half
a mile away, we could still see the broad, white-
spotted scapulars. After watching the bird try out
different spruce and fir tops, and various snags to
perch on, we decided to hike down the saddle for a
closer view.

After the bird appeared to drop off the far side, I
feared that we may have lost it. When we finally
reached this isolated windswept peak, Karen and I
skirted around a stand of fir trees and were stunned
to see the Hawk Owl staring down on us from a mere
fifteen yards away. Harold frantically tried to snap
some pictures as the bird casually flew a little
farther down hill. Finally, the bird flew due south
and disappeared into the next mountainside located a
couple of miles away.

When we returned to our rig, we had lunch. Within the
next half hour, the Hawk Owl returned to the same
eastern peak. Later it began hunting lower on the
slopes and was hard to see in the heavy timber. This
was a state bird for me and a lifer for the Cottets.

Meanwhile, we saw a few distant Ravens that seemed to
be following and/or harassing a Golden Eagle. With the
Hawk Owl mission accomplished, we pushed on to the
trailhead at the end of FR2220.

On this trail, we saw a couple of Gray Jays and heard
a distant drumming woodpecker. Unfortunately, we never
saw the woodpecker.

Since we had hiked all the way out the spring and had
so little to show for it, I started imitating a Pygmy
Owl (poorly) in the hopes of attracting something.
Miraculously, a pair of BOREAL CHICKADEES circled
around provided us with some decent (albeit brief)
views before they disappeared back into the dense
canopy. At least this was a state bird for the
Cottets.

On the drive back down the mountain, we saw an adult
NORTHERN GOSHAWK fly across the road. It briefly
landed in a snag to glare at us before it lifted off.

At the mouth of Harvey Creek, a DIPPER was gorging
itself on aquatic goodies. A Yellow-rumped Warbler and
a couple of juncos were chipping near the bridge.

Our total trip list was quite low, but I have to say
the quality of the list was high. A Northern Hawk Owl
can make anyone's day!

Gina Sheridan
Spokane, WA

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