Subject: [Tweeters] Another Okanogan Co. trip
Date: Jul 21 23:37:52 2005
From: Stefan Schlick - greenfant at hotmail.com


Here some notes from another Okanogan I took Tuesday through Thursday.

I started on Tuesday morning at Washington Pass. The gravel pullouts just
below the pass (eastern side) had a mob of winter finches (Evening
Grosbeaks, Cassin's Finches and Pine Siskins). When I went back over the
pass early this afternoon, they were still there. At the overlook, I found a
Three-toed Woodpecker about 100yds straight north of the restrooms in the
woods. I could not relocate the Pine Grosbeak that I had found about 2 weeks
ago at the marshy area at the turnoff to the viewpoint.

I then headed up FR37 & FR39 from Winthrop camping overnight (Wednesday) at
Thirtymile Meadows. The night was crisp at 29F, so much so that I had to
scrape the ice off the windows of my car at 6:45am. I also had the pleasure
of being woken up by a Black Bear huffing around my tent at about 1am. The
highlight at Long Swamp was an adult female Moose with 2 calves. FR32 and
FR050 in the Okanogan Highlands were packed with Snowshoe Hares. Finally, I
heared a cougar roar at Beaver Lake CG when it just had gotten dark on
Wednesday night. Flammulated Owls were no longer calling there.

Interesting bird sighting include:

Spruce Grouse (1 female with no chicks at south end of Thunder Mtn burn -
about MP15.5 on FR39)
Three-toed Woodpecker (FR39: 1 at Freezeout Pass, 2 at south end of Thunder
Mtn burn, 1 right at MP9, 1 about 1mi north of Roger Lake at the edge of a
clearing on left hand side; 1 at Highland Sno-Park 0.2mi north of FR3230 &
FR260 - Okanogan Highlands)
Boreal Chickadee (4 on Tiffany Mountain trail, about 0.4mi in from Freezeout
Pass off FR39)
Wilson's Phalarope (1 at Deadhorse Lake NW of Twisp)
Northern Harrier (1 actively hunting at summit of Tiffany Mountain)
Barn Owl (1 at Beaver Lake - Okanogan Highlands)
Red Crossbill (1 at Lost Lake - Okanogan Highlands; ~10 at Beaver Lake; 2 at
Loup Loup CG)
Lewis's Woodpecker (2 coming into Loomis on FR39)
Eared & Red-necked Grebes (at Muskrat Lake - Okanogan Highlands, still in
breeding plumage)
Williamson's Sapsucker (1 at Highland Sno-Park close to FR3230 & FR260 -
Okanogan Highlands)

Bird activity overall has slowed down quite a bit from my last trip over
July 4th, especially in low and mid elevations. They just aren't singing
much any more! Also, morning hours were best as most birds seeked shelter
from the heat during the day.

On a side note, I ran into Lee Johnson in the Highland Sno-Park area where
we were both unsuccessfully looking for Great Gray Owls. He reports that the
nest site that folks were seeing the owl during the 2005 Kettle Falls
Birding Festival end of May failed. On the upside, he very recently had
GGOWs on his property.

Stefan Schlick
Bellevue, WA