There was snow on the ground, and the mouth of the Okanogan River was
frozen nearly solid at its confluence with the Columbia River near
Brewster on Saturday, but there was no doubt that spring was in the air.
Natalie and I made a whirlwind trip to Central Washington Friday night
and Saturday, to see if we could track down a Sharp-tailed Grouse and
also catch a few winter species late in the season. After spending the
night at a hotel in Wenatchee on Friday, we drove straight up Hwy. 97 to
Omak and then into the eastern foothills of the Cascades toward
Conconully to visit the site where a few Tweeters announced that they
saw a flock of Sharp-tailed Grouse in the water birch trees in the
Scotch Creek Wildlife Area. We arrived to find sunny conditions and
rapidly melting snow on the ground, and after 90 minutes of searching we
failed to see the grouse. We did here a couple of grouse calls in the
area, so the birds are likely still there, but I didn't get to see the
sharp-tails themselves. The highlight in the area was watching a trio of
WESTERN BLUEBIRDs checking out the nesting boxes along Conconully Road.

We returned to Omak for lunch before making a loop through the Cameron
Lake area. As others have noted from birding over the weekend, the melt
has softened the roadbeds in many areas, so driving took a little more
attention than normal. Birding was slow in the higher elevations along
Cameron Lake Road, and all of the ponds remain frozen, but as we left
the high ground and headed down the gravel road closer to Dooley Lake,
we found small mixed flocks of HORNED LARKs and SNOW BUNTINGs. A cattle
feed lot along the east side of the road held a flock of more than 400
Snow Bunting - some in nearly breeding plumage. I wonder how much longer
the buntings will hang around. We saw more Western Bluebirds along
Cameron Lake Road, proving that the three we saw in the Scotch Creek
Wildlife Area were not a fluke. We also had a couple of fun mammal
sightings along the Cameron Lake loop - a Coyote that was startled when
we stopped to watch it, and a Porcupine that was less-than-pleased when
we humans noticed it as well.

Next on our whirlwind route was a trip to the Foster Creek area and then
the Waterville Plateau before sunset. Along the way we checked the
orchards along Hwy. 17 and found one BOHEMIAN WAXWING mixed in CEDAR
WAXWING and large numbers of AMERICAN ROBINs.

We were skunked again trying to find a Sharp-tailed Grouse along Foster
Creek, but once we were up on the Waterville Plateau the birding picked
up again, including a sighting of four COMMON RAVEN feeding on the
carcass of a coyote alongside the road. Unfortunately I sped right past
a group of birders who were scoping out an unseen bird just a few miles
north of Withrow. A little later I talked with Greg Toffic and found out
that the group was looking at a Snowy Owl. Dang it for being in a rush
to get back to Tacoma Saturday night.

Yesterday morning I had two birders join me for my monthly third-Sunday
nature walk at Point Defiance Park in Tacoma. Strong winds made for
pretty slow birding. Try as we might, we couldn't find the Northern
Pygmy Owl that I saw last month. But we did see a flock of 15-20 RED
CROSSBILLS roaming to various points around the park. And I had a close-
up view of a picture-perfect SHARP-SHINNED HAWK just before the other
birders joined me for the walk in the zoo parking lot.

It was a good weekend to be birding!

Rob

Rob McNair-Huff ---------- Tacoma, WA
Author of Washington Disasters (Globe Pequot, 2006), Birding Washington
(Falcon Publishing, 2004)
and Insider's Guide to the Olympic Peninsula (Globe Pequot, 2001)
Mac Net Journal ---------- http://www.macnetjournal.com

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