Hello Birders,

Yesterday(December 19th)we spent all day birding in the Grand Coulee area of northern Grant Co. The weather was very cold and crisp,but good in the sense that there was no snow,wind,etc. to hamper any birding. We did encounter some morning fog. It was a very enjoyable time all day with many highlights within the 68 species we encountered. We began the day by owling up Northrup Canyon,which began our day well with a total of 5 species of owls. The trail beyond the main gate near the parking area was covered by thick ice along most of the open areas,but underneath the trees the trail was ice free. Here,the main owl highlight was a cooperative BARRED OWL perched very close to the trail in a tall Ponderosa Pine tree at the first forested area along the trail north of the main gate. The Barred Owl was a somewhat unexpected species for this location,although it would be considered to be encountered here at some point! The bird never called and just perched about 10 feet up in the tree,as a Northern Saw-whet Owl and Long-eared Owl called nearby. A list of our entire owl list for Northrup Canyon follows below:

1 Barn Owl
2 Great Horned Owls
1 BARRED OWL
2 Long-eared Owl
3 Northern Saw-whet Owls

Back in Grand Coulee and after a nice,hot breakfast we assembled back out into the field with our first stop of the day being at the lower part of the Grand Coulee Dam. Here,we located 2 AM.DIPPERS along the south shore of nearest the dam,as we stood within safe areas due to high security. As we watched the Am.Dippers 2 THAYER'S GULLS flew in from an unknown location,then 3 Herring Gulls joined them from above the dam. We then proceeded on and scoured the housing area near Grand Coulee Dam,then we continued onto south from the dam to north portion of Grand Coulee. The first hour of our day was very slow and quite unproductive,as far as finding most songbirds and passerines due to rather dark conditions. Conditions greatly improved once we arrived to Electric City,then as we arrived to the Sunbanks Resort a large flock of 600 BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS filled the tops of several trees within the park area. The birds called loudly and allowed good scope views for several minutes before flying off to the main portion of Electric City. It was quite a sight to see since it was a species we had anticipated seeing on this trip! While walking the grounds of the Sunbank's Resort we located our first of two immature NORTHERN GOSHAWKS of the day,then a brief encounter with a SWAMP SPARROW along the marshy edges of the lake. The Swamp Sparrow offered great,but too brief of views but nonetheless was a great bird to see at this location! A single pure "Yellow-shafted"Northern Flicker was also observed at the Sunbank's Resort,as well as 15 "Red-shafted"Northern Flickers.

By 8:30am the sun began to really shine trough the clouds and birding really picked up. After birding the Sunbank's Resort thoroughly we headed south along S.R.155 across Osborn Bay. We then birded the north side of the Grand Coulee Golf Course,including the thick,brushy area north and west of the golf course. Here,we located several more highlights to add to our day's list including our second NORTHERN GOSHAWK of the day,then a LONG-EARED OWL, 9 COMMON REDPOLLS, 2 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, a single GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW,and a single BEWICK'S WREN!

After trekking allover the brushy area north of the Grand Coulee Golf Course we continued south and scoped the portion of Banks Lake visible from outside the Grand Coulee Airport. Here,we located our first Common Loon of the day,as well as hundreds and Am.Coots that dotted the lakeshore. Good numbers of Horned Grebes were also encountered at this location,but very few waterfowl species. Our main highlights from this location however were a single PACIFIC LOON and a single female RED-BREASTED MERGANSER(amongst good numbers of Common Mergansers). We proceeded onwards and before heading back further south in our area we drove to the end of the road that continues south from the golf course. Here,we located 14 AM.TREE SPARROWS in the brushy area at the end of the road near the edge of the frozen lakeshore. It was great sighting and a species we really didn't expect so that added to the excitement! These birds were very bright and distinctive and offered great,close scope views,as they moved from bush to bush.

We continued south and made a quick visit to the location where we had a Hoary Redpoll several years ago. Although we didn't see any redpolls of any kind we were happy to see 10 GRAY PARTRIDGES along the edge of the road! The remainder of our day was somewhat slow,but after making a quick stop at the extreme south end of area then working our way back north we added 3 more species at one location! These species began with an adult Northern Shrike followed by a HAIRY WOODPECKER,then a flyover Rough-legged Hawk all along S.R.155 north of Eagle Rock. We ended the day back in the Grand Coulee Dam area,where a single adult GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL was located above Grand Coulee Dam resting with a good number of Herring Gulls. 2 Common Loons were also noted at this location from an overlook above the dam. Our last species of the day was a Merlin perched atop a poplar tree in Grand Coulee south of S.R.155.



Today(December 20th)we birded 2 hours in the Grand Coulee area before heading home. We started by checking the upper portion of town near S.R.174 with very slow conditions. We drove many of the side streets,where we have had good results in past years and had good sightings only along Garner Ave. We drove a short portion of this primitive road,then walked a better portion downhill since the road was quite icy,but still drivable. Near the bottom of the road were a gathering of 18 WILD TURKEYS with a few of the birds calling,as they worked in and amongst the understory of tall evergreen trees near the road. As we worked our way back uphill an immature NORTHERN GOSHAWK hunted areas along the ridge below several homes,which was our third NORTHERN GOSHAWK for the trip. The bird soon disappeared then after 5 minutes reappeared and landed for a few seconds atop a large evergreen tree along the road before flying westward. A flock of 13 PINE SISKINS and a BEWICK'S WREN were also noted at this location.

Back in downtown Grand Coulee we ran into Michael Woodruff and his birding friend from Spokane(and Montana),where we exchanged sightings and enjoyed some nice conversation for a few minutes. Michael alerted us to the presence of a Mew Gull at the Coulee Playland Park area near Electric City. We parted ways and went straight there and easily located the adult MEW GULL as it associated with several slightly larger Ring-billed Gulls. It was a great bird to see at this location and thanks to Michael again for letting us know about it!

We worked our way home and the further south we went the fogger it became. A single RICHARDSON'S CANADA GOOSE was located amongst a flock of Lesser Canada Geese along S.R.155 in Banks Lake just south of Steamboat Rock State Park. Next, 15 Cedar Waxwings were noted amongst a large flock of Starlings and a Am.Robins near Oasis Park at Ephrata along S.R.17. Our last two species of our trip were a single female LONG-TAILED DUCK at Vantage followed by a ROCK WREN perched on a fence post along Huntzinger Rd. south of Wanapum State Park. The Long-tailed Duck was observed from the boat launch area amongst a flock of Greater Scaup just north of the I-90 bridge.



Good birding,

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
Fircrest,WA
godwit513 at msn.com