Since Mark Houston and Tom Munson were headed up
Central Ferry County to photograph Dusky Grouse on
Wednesday (4/11/07), I asked to tag along. The weather
was cold (mid-20s) in the morning, but it warmed up to
the mid-50's with plenty of sunshine.

On our drive up the canyon, we did not see any grouse
in the road. When we opted to check out Packwood
Cemetery, we quickly ran into several grouse. A nice
male was displaying on the ground and then flushed up
into a Ponderosa Pine tree and kept up the
performance. On this occasion, I noticed that the
yellow eye combs would fan out and show off bright red
feathers that are usually hidden

As we worked the forested sections, we found more
grouse scattered through the upper canyon. Of course,
Tom managed to take some really nice pictures of the
grouse.

Although, I sifted through plenty of RC Kinglets, Mt.
& BC Chickadees, Red Crossbills, Red-naped Sapsuckers,
Steller's Jays, Pygmy & RB Nuthatches, Spotted
Towhees, and Cassin's Finches, I failed (again) to
find my much needed Douglas County White-breasted
Nuthatch.

On the Waterville Plateau, we ecountered ROUGH-LEGGED
HAWKs, WHITE-THROATED SWIFTS, CINNAMON TEAL & GREATER
YELLOWLEGS (on W. Haynes Lake). Around Moses Coulee,
we had wonderful views of sage specialties such as
SAGE SPARROW, BREWER'S SPARROW, VESPER SPARROW, and
SAGE THRASHER. Along a narrow section of the coulee,
a highly cooperative CHUKAR conveniently perched on a
boulder.

It was lovely day and it was great to be out birding
with good friends.

Gina Sheridan
Spokane, WA

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