Hi Tweeters and INNW birders!

The prime habitat and chances for seeing boreal birds in the Okanogan has
somewhat diminished from the recent heavy fire of 2006 and closed roads to
Hart's Pass. As an alternative, I decided to explore and bird the remote
Northeast corner of Washington. I did not expect much because of the time
of year and boreal birding is usually slow and requires much effort.
However, I was pleasantly surprised to find a few great birds and mammals at
various locations in three counties. It was a good scouting trip,
nevertheless.

I started out GREAT the first day, but the birding activity significantly
dwindled for the next several days. The most productive site was Bunchgrass
Meadows. One of the highlight of the trip was getting all four species of
chickadee in one day: Black capped at Noisy Creek Campground (2200
ft);chestnut backed (3400ft); and boreal chickadee with mountain chickadee
at Bunchgrass Meadows (4800 ft)!

I think it will be a decent year for white winged crossbills as I had
several spotted in two different locations on this trip. Earlier from my BC
trip, I saw several large flocks at multiple locations. I predict some will
trickle down to Washington and Oregon. One bird was seen in Oregon near
Santiam Pass this month. Paul Sieracki also had some recently near the
Idaho/WA border.

Here is a list of my findings. Please note MP are approxiate but I did have
an altimeter to measure the elevation.

BUNCHGRASS MEADOWS (Most productive at MP 8 to MP 12)

White winged crossbills: (1 male seen, three small group clearly heard) MP8
to MP12/4700-5100 ft
Pine grosbeaks: (1 male well seen, along with two fly bys) Near closed gated
road MP 8/4700 ft
Red crossbills (Up to a hundred or so) 3800 ft to 5100 ft
Spruce grouse (1 male; I miracously found in a tree in a dark area) MP5 to
MP6/ Elevation 3800 ft
Boreal chickadee (2 birds with some mountain chickadees) MP9/ Elevation 4800
ft

Please note the white winged crossbills move around. I saw one male the
first day and only heard the other flocks once out of the six times I
visited the area during my entire stay. It's a pretty big area and plenty
of cones on tree tops.

Other birds in the area included: Fox and Lincoln sparrows, evening
grosbeaks, olive slided flycatcher, hermit and varied thrushes,
MacGillivray's warbler,

Mammals seen included: pine marten, moose with calf, black bear, maybe a
grizzy based on the large pile of "dung" with lots of fur (relieved that I
didn't see this one)

SALMO MT (Surprisingly very quiet. I walked almost 2.5 miles in from lthe
lower parking lot)

8 Boreal chickadees (the beginning of Shedroof trail 535 after the gravel
road ends at one mile)
2 Belted Kingfisher (Elevation 4000 ft)
Smaller number of crossbills than Bunchgrass Meadows

Mammal seen: Caribou

SULLIVAN LAKE AREA/CAMPGROUND

Great gray owl (North end of Sullivan Lake Rd entering north from Metaline
Falls)
Ruffed grouse (2 subadult)
American Redstart (1 female at Mill Pond)
Northern Waterthrush, Red eyed and Warbling Vireo, Gray Catbird, Veery
(Noisy Creek CG)

TOGO MOUNTAINS

Spruce grouse (female at MP 9 on FR 9576, northward road)
Northern Goshawk (adult, near the top badly rutted road)
White winged crossbills (near MP 8 on FR 9576, northward road)
Red naped Sapsucker (nest with loud begging chicks)
Townsend's solitarie

SHERMAN PASS/ALBIAN HILL RD (Very quiet)

Nashville warblers (3 birds)
American Three Toe Woodpecker
Red crossbills (large flocks)

Trail 96 of the Sherman Pass CG has alot of fallen trees so I gave up after
a half mile or so. The trail is very overgrown; too bad, it is excellent
spruce grouse habitat. As an alternative, try Walapoosie CG which is about
4 miles up the Albian Hill Rd. Walk the nice trail for about a mile or so.
There is a creek that flows right through the nice, lush ground cover with
fallen trees that sprucies love.

There is also a dirt road that forks to the right about 1.5 mile pass this
CG that is also great for spruce grouse. I suggest you walk this one,
especially in the fall and before hunting season.

Another interesting tidbit about spruce grouse:

They are not found only in subalpine habitat with Engelmann spruces and
lodgepole pine. From my Bunchgrass Meadow sighting, the bird was at a cedar
hemlock zone with fallen logs, mossy and green ground brusy cover along a
drainage. The elevation was 3800 ft. The other male sprucie I saw eariler
this year at Salmon Meadows (near Conconully) was at an elevation of 3700 ft
with little subalpine habitat.

Recently, Paul Sieracki spotted one at 3200 ft near the same habitat near
Little Lake on the WA side. In the past, Tom Munson has also seen them
around 3800 ft near Calispel Peak in similar habitat.

All in all, I was very pleased with the trip. I ended my trip with a
pleasant visit and chat with the talented and nice, Tom Munson and his wife.
He is a inspiration to me! His passion and love for birding and
photography is infectious!

I also enjoyed staying at the rustic and historic, Washington Motel in
Metaline Falls. It was very inexpensive, clean, and cozy.

Please let me know if you have any questions. Will submit a few photos
later.

Good birding to you,

Khanh Tran (Portland, Oregon)