Hello Tweets and Inland Birders,

I do apologize for the tardiness of this report but I came home to find my
modem had fried. Anyway...

I made my annual pilgrimage last weekend to Pend Oreille County to once
again search high and low (but mostly high) for White-winged Crossbills.
Yet one more time my nemesis has eluded me but it was still an amazing
weekend.

I arrived at Salmo Pass about 11:30 a.m. on Friday, 26 August and birded the
area the rest of the day encountering many of the usual mountain species.
The highlight was the 4 BOREAL CHICKADEES mixed in with MOUNTAIN CHICKADEES
near the pass itself. Otherwise, as can often be the case when one looks
for birds above 5,000 feet, it was somewhat slow for most of the day.

In the evening, things really picked up as I came across a swarming,
"dripping from the trees" warbler flock near Salmo Pass which included
numerous NASHVILLES, ORANGE-CROWNS, YELLOW-RUMPS and MACGILLIVRAY'S with a
TOWNSEND'S thrown in for good measure here and there. It seemed like a
migrant flock fueling up for the southbound journey, but I suppose they
could have been local nesters with migratory restlessness. It seemed a
little odd to encounter a migrating group of warblers at 5,000 feet
elevation.

Early Saturday morning I made my way back up to the top of Salmo and
encountered one of the major highlights of the trip as a BLACK BEAR
leisurely crossed the road. It has been quite some time since I came across
a bear so I was thrilled to see this magnificent animal.

At the parking lot at the top, I watched a group of some 20-25 RED
CROSSBILLS as they took turns picking the seeds from the horse poop on the
ground in the parking lot. I was hoping a White-winged would fly in and
join them at the "feeder" but, no such luck. It is always nice to be able
to watch crossbills without straining to see them at the very tip-top of a
spruce.

After birding into the afternoon, and no signs of additional crossbills, I
made my way down the mountain to Calispell Lake to check on the shorebirds
reported recently by Gina Sheridan and Matt Bartels. I was not disappointed
here as there were nice flocks of LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS, GREATER and LESSER
YELLOWLEGS, BLACK TERNS and 2 WOOD DUCKS as well. Most surprising, though
were 2 BONAPARTE'S GULLS on the lake. I checked Ken Knittle and Matt
Bartell's county lists and don't see Bonaparte's listed on the Pend Oreille
list. Ken, and Matt, is this the first county record for Pend Oreille?

I birded along Tacoma Creek Road back into Stevens County. At the bog at
the junction of the Tacoma Creek Road and Highway 20 was a GRAY CATBIRD. At
Sullivan Lake at the mouth of Noisy Creek was a SOLITARY SANDPIPER.

On Sunday, I headed south and west to Washtucna where there were a few
warblers including YELLOW, MACGILLIVRAY'S's, WILSON'S and TOWNSEND's along
with WARBLING VIREO, several WESTERN WOOD-PEWEE, a ROCK WREN and a few
"western-type" flycatchers. I was mostly after the EURASIAN
COLLARED-DOVE(S) which showed up a few months ago. After some time working
the park, I heard the dove call from somewhere north of the park. I walked
up there and another birder whose name I didn't get joined me and spotted
the dove perched on a rooftop of a house on D Street between Cooper and
Spring Streets.

Near Hooper was a beautiful, dark-morph SWAINSON's HAWK flying low and
calling.

Moving west along Highway 26, I was prepared to dedicate the rest of the
afternoon to finding shorebirds. At Hatton Coulee Rest Area, only a small
puddle of water remained but that was enough for 17 WESTERN SANDPIPERS, a
few KILLDEER and 4 BAIRD'S SANDPIPERS. At Para Ponds were LEAST SANDPIPERS,
BLACK-NECKED STILT, a few LESSER YELLOWLEGS and a "textbook" SEMIPALMATED
SANDPIPER. Then the fun really began. I stopped by Lind Coulee hoping to
see Stilt Sandpipers. As I drove across the bridge towards the coulee,
several flocks of peeps flew over and then several more flocks and then more
and then more. Arriving at the lookout point over the coulee, immediately I
realized this was going to be a very special afternoon. The place was
literally swarming with shorebirds. I conservatively estimated about 900
peeps alone. I soon spotted a STILT SANDPIPER which made my day. I then
spotted another and another and another and soon had 14 birds at this
location. There were good numbers of LESSER YELLOWLEGS as well. RED-NECKED
PHALAROPES and LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS joined a little later. A young,
female PEREGRINE FALCON made many passes at the shorebirds stirring them up.

I finished the day at Perch Point which was phenomenal. At this rather
small, condensed area there were more of the same species that were at Lind
Coulee. There were only 41 STILT SANDPIPERS at this spot - unbelievable.
They were everywhere!! I have seen this species in the state twice for a
grand total of 2 birds. At two stops, I increased the total to 57 birds.

I finished up the day by driving the Lower Crab Creek Road from Corfu to
Beverly less for the birds (it was fairly slow) but more for the spectacular
scenery as day light faded.

It was quite an adventure and it was great to meet up with fellow Tweeters
Brian Bell, Bart Whelton, Carol Schulz, Rachel Lawson, Denny Granstrand and
Diann McRae.

Cheers and Good Birding!

Ted Kenefick
Seattle, WA
tgkenefick at msn.com