Since Garrett MacDonald wanted to see the Banks Lake,
Glaucous Gull for his life bird, I decided to join
him on another circuit of Grant County. My ulterior
motive in this venture was to add a few more species
to my Grant County list.

Subfreezing temperatures, snow flurries, and a cold
northerly wind quickly reminded us that it was indeed
February. Despite the lack of snow cover, we started
out working the traditional rosy finch area north of
Hartline.

Although we did not see any rosy finches up there,
there were plenty of ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS to see as well
as a PRAIRIE FALCON. As we descended the Grand Coulee
Canyon Road, we were surprised to see a male MOUNTAIN
BLUEBIRD along the curb.

In Grand Coulee, the BLUE JAY was still present just
east of the city park. While we tried unsuccessfully
for Bohemian Waxwing in the residential area, we
turned up CEDAR WAXWING, GOLDEN EAGLE, TOWNSEND'S
SOLITAIRE, and a SHARP-SHINNED HAWK.

At the Coulee Playland Marina, there were a dozen
HERRING GULLs and one 1-w GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL on the
log booms. On the north end of the Grand Coulee Dam
Airport, we found a nice HARRIS' SPARROW within a
flock of White-crowned Sparrows. The entrance to
Steamboat Rock once again hosted a LONG-EARED OWL.

On the southern end of Banks Lake, we refound the two
1-w GLAUCOUS GULLS. One bird had a lot of light-buffy
coloration and the other was ghostly white with
minimal buffy coloring.

As we dashed southward toward Potholes State Park, we
found a plethora of robins, juncos, Cedar Waxwings,
goldfinches, and House Finches. In addition, there was
a RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET, YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER, and
SPOTTED TOWHEE.

In the Potholes State Park, we refound the
CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEE, MOUNTAIN CHICKADEES- 20, RB
Nuthatches, Downy Woodpeckers, GOLDEN CROWNED &
RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS, and a VARIED THRUSH. The
Chestnut-backed Chickadee was initially seen in
sagebrush!

After making our final stab westward to Vantage, we
managed to see one highly cooperative GRAY-CROWNED
ROSY FINCH in the roadcut on Huntzinger Road. The rosy
finch was a nice finale for a good trip.

Gina Sheridan
Spokane, WA



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