Taking advantage of sunny, brisk, late autumn day, Kim
Thorburn and I birded loop through northern Whitman
County, out to Sprague Lake, and return through
Reardan. Since the bulk of fall migration is over, we
were hoping for migrant stragglers or rare winter
visitors.

After searching through thousands of Starlings and
small number of Red-winged Blackbirds in the barnyards
near Philleo Lake, we came up empty on trying to
relocate the Rusty Blackbird. On Philleo Lake itself,
there were substantial numbers of Tundra Swans.

As we drove up to the summit of Steptoe Butte, we
enjoyed leisurely views of a pair of GRAY-CROWNED ROSY
FINCHES that we were feeding along the shoulder of the
road. Apparently, the large flocks of Rosy Finches
that had been present a couple of weeks earlier have
pushed onward.

Until we were exiting the park, we didn't see much
else at Steptoe. However, we found our best species of
the day along the park entrance road. This road is
bordered by a large strip of teasel and other weeds.

When our vehicle flushed a group of six finches from
the roadside weedy ditch, I was pretty certain that
they were Redpolls. After we stopped, it took a little
while to refind the birds. Finally, I spied a couple
of COMMON REDPOLLS that were perched on the teasel
stalks. Everytime a vehicle would pass the little
flock would flush, deliver their distinctive call
notes, and drop back into the weed patch.

These delightful birds gave Kim an ABA lifer and
Whitman County lifer to me. The Redpolls certainly
brightened up our day!

Our search for Eurasian Collared Doves failed to turn
up any Whitman County records, but the little town of
Ewan seemed to hold good promise. The brushy alley in
front of grain elevators had plenty of birds. Aside
from the usual Mourning Doves, House Sparrows, and
House Finches, there were a few White-crowned and Song
Sparrows too.

On Rock Lake, we saw a HORNED GREBE but not much else.
Sheep Lake held some Tundra Swans and the usual
contingent of Canada Geese. At Lamont, there was a
nice looking ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK.

While the northern end of Sprague Lake was virtually
birdless, large numbers of Canada Geese and Common
Mergansers were present on the southern (Adams County)
side. An adult GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE was in the
midst of the Canadas. Nearby on Danekas Road, we had
terrific views of a perched PRAIRIE FALCON and a
couple of NORTHERN SHRIKES.

By the time we reached Reardan around 4:00 PM, the
light was rapidly waning. We noted a Great Horned Owl
and more Tundra Swans but nothing else that was
terribly unusual.


Gina Sheridan
Spokane, WA



____________________________________________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Everyone is raving about the all-new Yahoo! Mail beta.
http://new.mail.yahoo.com