Last weekend (8/3/07-8/5/07), I birded Ferry and bit
into Okanogan Counties. Overall, the weather was quite
pleasant and birding was productive.

On Friday (8/3/05), I checked out an area in the
Albian Hill Area. While I dipped on my targeted
Lincoln's Sparrow, I did see DE JUNCOS, GRAY JAYS,
HOUSE WREN (in a sedge meadow), NASHVILLE WARBLER,
WILSON'S WARBLER, ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, CEDAR
WAXWING, and a family of SONG SPARROWs.

Of mammal interest, I saw a Gapper's (Boreal)
Red-backed Vole that ran across the road. In fact,
this vole is the primary food source for Boreal Owl,
and I strongly suspect that these owls are in this
area.

More importantly, I found a family of SPRUCE GROUSE.
Initially, I saw a hen sprucie perched on a rock
campfire ring. When I exited my rig, I saw five half
grown chicks feeding in the grouseberry ground cover.

It was great fun watching the hen take a dust bath,
and the youngsters pecking insects off foliage. While
the chicks sometimes made barely audible high pitched
call notes, the hen infrequently delivered some
contented sounding, soft clucking.

The hen was a beautiful red morph bird with striking
tiger colored barring of golden brown and black. Her
flanks were decorated with narrow white arrowhead type
markings, and I could occasionally see a little red
patch above her eye.

After spending half an hour with this docile flock of
half a dozen sprucies, a male Spruce Grouse came
downslope and joined the family. Amazingly enough, the
cock sprucie was in full display! His red eye combs
were flared, his tail was completely fanned out, the
white tipped spikey feathers both in front and in back
of the main tail fan were fully deployed, and he
briefly gave some cackling/hooting calls. When he saw
me, he seemed a bit agitated and jerked his head left
and right, before settling down. He followed the
female closely and continued to exhibit mating
behavior. Later, the entire family began to seriously
feed and ignored me.

One of the most interesting moments was when the
entire family responded to either a robin call or a
squirrel scold and they completely froze like statues.
It was weird to see the male with his neck cocked, the
hen on a log, and the youngsters in mid-pecking
position, all completely frozen for a couple of
minutes. Finally, one the youngsters began packing
again and the family resumed their feeding.

Admittedly, I was absolutely astonished to see a male
Spruce Grouse displaying in early August. Surely, they
don't have second broods, but what was going on? At
any rate, it was a most impressive event, and I spent
almost two hours with the family.

On Saturday (8/4/07), Patricia Lott, Alan Lincoln, and
I birded Togo Mountain a found NASHVILLE WARBLER,
WILSON'S WARBLER, TOWNSEND'S WARBLER, CHESTNUT-BACKED
CHICKADEE, MT. CHICKADEE, OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER,
HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER, DUSKY GROUSE - 4, THREE-TOED
WOODPECKER -3, SHARP-SHINNED HAWK, RED-TAILED HAWK,
RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET, GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET, VARIED
THRUSH, CASSIN'S VIREO, HAIRY WOODPECKER, RUFFED
GROUSE, TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE, and RED CROSSBILLS.


When I made another stop for Chestnut-backed
Chickadees (thick conifer/closed canopy on FR 450),,
we flushed another SPRUCE GROUSE off the shoulder of
the road. Unfortunately, we never saw any WW
Crossbills.

At Deer Creek Pass, we saw large numbers of PINE
SISKIN and RED CROSSBILLS. Additionally, there were
MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLER, HERMIT THRUSH, SWAINSON'S
THRUSH, WILSON'S WARBLER, YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER,
HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER, GRAY JAY, STELLER'S JAY,
CASSIN'S FINCH, and HAIRY WOODPECKER.

Checking the bottom of Keller Hill in Stevens County,
we found one BREWER'S SPARROW, but no Clay-coloreds.
In the early afternoon, there was virtually no birds
singing. The feeders in Barstow hosted BLACK-CHINNED
HUMMINGBIRDs.

Keller River Campground failed to deliver any migrant
shorebirds and the water level was high. We did see
WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH there.

On Sunday (8/5/07), we slept in a bit, but Patricia
and I did climb up Sneed Mountain (Okanogan County) to
search for Dusky Grouse. Although we didn't see any
grouse in the late morning, the habitat looked good
for them. However, we did see LEWIS'S WOODPECKER,
SWAINSON'S HAWK, RED-TAILED HAWK, SHARP-SHINNED HAWK,
RED CROSSBILL, PINE SISKIN, VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW,
WESTERN BLUEBIRD, GRAY JAY, MT. CHICKADEE,
RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH, WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH
(heard), CASSIN'S VIREO (heard), WESTERN WOOD PEWEE,
YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER, TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE, and
OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER.

On my return home, I made another stop on Albian Hill
Road (Old Stage Trailhead), and saw two immature
WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWs and a RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD. Near
the junction of Albian Hill Road and Deadman Creek
Road, there was a THREE-TOED WOODPECKER drumming, and
I had good view of a GAPPER'S RED-BACKED VOLE that
crossed the road (south of Wapaloosie CG).

It was a marvelous weekend, and I thoroughly enjoyed
seeing a Spruce Grouse display (first time that I have
personally witnessed this species perform), and
spending quality time with an entire sprucie family.
Finding my Ferry County Dusky Grouse and White-crowned
Sparrow lifers as well as my Stevens County lifer
Brewer's Sparrow were most welcomed too.

Gina Sheridan
Spokane, WA






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