On Sunday (3/26/06), Michael Woodruff, Garrett
MacDonald, and I birded the valleys of Pend Oreille
County. The weather was cool, breezy, and with the
occasional snow flurry.

On Calispell Lake, we were greeted with the spectacle
of 1500 Tundra Swans dotting the lake. In between the
beautiful swans, were NORTHERN PINTAIL, GADWALL,
NORTHERN SHOVELER-1, EURASIAN WIGEON-2 (county lifer
for us), AMERICAN WIGEON, CANADA GEESE, SNOW GOOSE-1
(county lifer for us), AMERICAN COOTs, COMMON
GOLDENEYE, BUFFLEHEAD, GREEN-WINGED TEAL, BALD EAGLE
-8, NORTHERN HARRIER, WOOD DUCK -2, PIED-BILLED GREBE,
and HOODED MERGANSER. Along the lake road loop, we
noted TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE, RB & PYGMY NUTHATCH,
PILEATED WOODPECKER, MT. & BC CHICKADEE,
GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET, TURKEY VULTURE, and RED-TAILED
HAWK.

On the river road between Cusick and Usk, we saw
RING-BILLED GULL, HERRING GULL (county lifer for us),
C. GOLDENEYE, DC CORMORANT, and another EURASIAN
WIGEON (several miles south of Usk). We had yet
another EURASIAN WIGEON on Kirchan Road (north of
Cusick) too.

Along the Elmer Loop, in the extreme southeastern
corner of the county, we found both MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD
& WESTERN BLUEBIRD. Owling around Lake of the Woods
was somewhat disappointing. Although we could not coax
any screech or Barred Owls out, we did briefly hear a
couple of NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWLs and one laconic GREAT
HORNED OWL.

Even though we didn't see everything on our wish list
(Snowy Owl, Tree Sparrow, several of the owls, or Snow
Buntings), we did enjoy good success with some of our
other targets (Snow Goose, Eurasian Wigeon, Herring
Gull, and at least hearing Saw-whet Owl).

All of us are looking forward to another visit to this
beautiful county.

Gina Sheridan
Spokane, WA

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