After Mark Houston informed me that he had found a
SWAMP SPARROW around the Cusick STP, Harold & Karen
Cottet and I ventured up on Sunday (10/8/06) to try
our luck. The weather started out cool and overcast,
but the cloud ceiling lowered in the afternoon and
light rain showers resulted. As the cold front pushed
through, the wind shifted to the north, and the temps
remained in the mid-forties through out the day.

Before the rain commenced, we managed to find some
very good birds for Pend Oreille County. On the
normally bird-deficient Davis Lake, we saw nine HORNED
GREBEs and one DC Cormorant. The Horned Grebe was
actually a county lifer for me, and it was a great way
to start off the day.

As we drove up the River Drive from Usk to Cusick, we
spotted a flock of thirty gulls flying up the river.
This flock of at least thirty birds were BONAPARTE'S
GULLs that moved up and down the river for about ten
minutes. Finally, this flock lifted off and headed
westward. Strangely enough, I believe that this is
only the second record of this species for P.O.
County.

When we arrived at the Cusick Wetlands Park (a great
natural area of riverfront, grassy swales, sedge
meadows, mixed fruiting trees and shrubs, and even a
few Ponderosa Pines), we encountered large flocks of
American Robins, Cedar Waxwings, and Yellow-rumped
Warblers feeding in the trees. Some of the other birds
present were Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Song & Savannah &
White-crowned Sparrows, Red-winged Blackbirds,
Ring-necked Pheasant, Pygmy Nuthatch, RB Nuthatch, BC
Chickadee, and No. Harrier. Some of the better birds
that we saw included a COMMON LOON on the river, an
adult GOLDEN EAGLE flying high over the river, and we
even manged to flush a SHORT-EARED OWL out of the tall
rank vegetation. However, we dipped on the Swamp
Sparrow.

Of interest to mammal lovers, there was mother Raccoon
and three youngsters that were frolicking in the
wetlands park. As the raccoons rolled around,
chattered contentedly, and chased each other, it was
obvious that they were not concerned about our
presence.

On the east side of the river, we came up empty at
both Flying Goose Ranch and River Bend Estates. In
fact, the river level is so high that all the
shorebird habitat has been submerged.

Calispell Lake failed to produce anything interesting
either, but we did see ten LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERs on
the McKenzie Meadows River Crossing. On our return
leg, we noticed that the Horned Grebes had completely
cleared off Davis Lake.

Although the weather deteriorated in the afternoon, we
still saw some excellent P.O. county birds (3 county
lifers for me). It seemed that the Bonaparte's Gulls
and the Horned Grebes were moving ahead of the cold
front, and that we just manged to intersect them in
time before they moved out of the area.

Gina Sheridan
Spokane, WA

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