On this chilly overcast day (10/27/06), Michael
Woodruff and I ventured up to Pend Oreille County. We
had an excellent day, and we managed to add a new
species to the P.O. County list.

Just west of Dalkena, we enjoyed watching a RUFFED
GROUSE gorging itself with hawthorn berries. At point
blank range, Michael snapped pictures of the
unconcerned, hungry grouse. Anyway, it was a great
way to start out our morning.

Our second good find of the morning was in an
unassuming barn in Dalkena. Although we weren't
expecting much in this dilapidated structure, we
simply couldn't resist poking our heads into the hay
loft. Imagine our surprise when we beheld an adult
female BARN OWL sleeping in the rafters! This Barn Owl
is the first P.O. County record.

A couple of miles north of Dalkena, we saw a hovering
ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK. This is the first Roughie that I
have seen this fall.

In the extreme northern end of the Cusick Wetlands
Park, we noted Goldfinches, Spotted Towhee, Pygmy
Nuthatches, Green-winged Teal, Gadwall, and a single
AMERICAN TREE SPARROW. The Tree Sparow was another
county lifer for us.

Although we tried calling Barred Owls in the excellent
habitat along Browns Creek, we could not coax any in
to us. However, we did hear a PINE GROSBEAK, and
several flyover COMMON REDPOLLs.

On Browns Lake, we saw plenty of Common Goldeneye,
Common Merganser, and a female BARROW'S GOLDENEYE. The
Barrow's Goldeneye is a challenging bird to find in
the county.

On the Flying Goose Ranch, we saw a flock of 60
BOHEMIAN WAXWINGs, a few Cedar Waxwings, BC
Chickadees, and Robins. Another six Bohemian Waxwings
were in the West Sullivan Lake Campground.

At River Bend Estates, we saw three LONG-BILLED
DOWITCHERs. On Sullivan Lake, we noted Canada Geese,
C. Mergansers, Mallard, Pied-billed Grebe, Red-necked
Grebe, Bald Eagle, DIPPER (on the shoreline) and a
COMMON LOON

As we were leaving Sullivan Lake, we ran across Terry
Little. After comparing notes, Terry informed us that
he had seen a Snow Bunting on the shoreline of Nile
Lake.

After conversing with Terry, we quickly made a beeline
for Nile Lake. As we drove down to the shore, I saw
plump bird running along the track in front of us.
Sure enough, it was the SNOW BUNTING. We had crippling
views of this very tame bird. In fact, the bunting
allowed Michael to photograph it from mere 2 meters
away.

As the light waned, we managed to see a WESTERN GREBE
on Calispell Lake. While the grebe was the 11th P.O.
County lifer of the day for Michael, I ended the day
with five new P.O. County lifers. It was truly a great
day of birding in this far northeastern of the state.

Gina Sheridan
Spokane, WA



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