Although I had a late start today (1/26/06), I still
managed to have a very productive ninety minutes of
birding on the West Plains of Spokane County. Under
overcast skies with temps in the mid-thirties, I found
a number of target birds that were of interest.

On Ladd Road (on the north side of Hwy 2), I
encountered GRAY PARTIDGE-8, AMERICAN KESTREL, NO.
HARRIER, and a lonely AMERICAN ROBIN. However, I did
not see any Snowy Owls in this section.

South of Hwy. 2 on MacFarlane Road, I saw a few HORNED
LARKs, NORTHERN HARRIERS, RED-TAILED HAWK, and
ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK, but I had no luck with Tree
Sparrows. Later, on a fencepost along Carstens Road,
there was a nice adult SNOWY OWL (this is one of the
birds that Ron Dexter had reported).

As I scanned the ridgelines from Stroup Road, I
detected a large raptor powering across the open
country between Stroup and Carstens. As I held my
breath, I could see that it was a falcon with a steel
gray back. In fact, it was a nice a adult GYRFALCON
and a Spokane County lifer for me.

Since dusk was closing in, I decided to work the
Stroup and Coulee-Hite road circuit for Short-eared
Owls. When I was scanning the rolling meadows, a local
pulled up and asked if I had seen his adult male
Peregrine Falcon. The gentleman was a falconer, and
was trying to retrieve his bird before dark.

Even though I never did see the Peregrine, I did see
three SHORT-EARED OWLS working the meadows west of
Coulee-Hite. As an additional treat, one SE Owl
performed a brief a display wing clap and dive. As I
watched the Short-eared Owls in the waning light, a
GREAT HORNED OWL began hooting from one of the
woodlots to the south.

Within the limited time frame (3:30-5PM), I was
grateful that I took the chance and did some birding.
You never know what might turn up.

Gina Sheridan
Spokane, WA

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com