Hello Tweeters,

Sorry, this is a tad late:

NORTHEAST WASHINGTON
13-16 JULY 2007

Lori and Stan Isley (with their puppy Spaniel "Ms. Sally"), Ellen and myself
blasted off from
Yakima on a hot Friday night headed towards northeastern Washington. It was
forecast to be hot all weekend. This, plus the lateness of the breeding
season would make finding "eastern " birds challenging. With effort we found
most of our target birds.

Heading north, we made a route through Wilson Creek. The springtime wetlands
were just about dry, concentrating five Great Egrets and one Black-crowned
Night-Heron. Northwards across wheat country, we spied several Loggerhead
Shrikes, then a youngish Gray Partridge crawling about a barren field, then
a We car camped at Friedlander Meadows, reached by going east 14 miles on
Silver Creek Road from Keller. Along Silver Creek Road in Ponderosa Pine
forest, we made several stops trying especially for Flammulated Owl. Lori
heard one in the distance. We delighted, too, in admiring two Coyote pups by
the roadside, clambering about a steep cut bank, cute as puppies always are.
Mid-July is not the best season for owling so during the night we heard only
Barred and Great Horned Owls, as good one can expect.

Saturday morning, we slowly worked our way north on Ninemile Creek, five
miles east on Silver Creek Road past the turnoff to Friedlander Meadows. Our
first major stop at the bridge here yielded many songbirds typical of
riparian habitat, including Veery, Gray Catbird, and Red-eyed Vireo. We
briefly noted a a possible Bobcat as it sliped off into the woods. A
Pileated Woodpecker called from the taller woods nearby. Ninemile Road
proved a very good route and, in my opinion, deserves a place on the
"birding trail." An excellent gravel road parallels the creek for nearly 15
miles to its junction with the Twin Lakes Road. Lush alders line the creek
nearly the entire distance, interrupted only at Frosty Meadows. The
Ponderosa Pine and Douglas-fir forest flanking the hillsides along the route
has been lightly logged in the past until one reaches the meadows. Opened by
logging, a lush deciduous layer of Douglas Maple and shrubs now fills these
openings, very attractive forest, full of birds. From Frosty Meadows north
to Twin Lakes Road, logging has been much less. There is lots of impressive
forest, some of it appears never to have been logged.

Our first excitement came with a Wild Turkey and half-grown brood. In an
area of lush mixed forest, we heard and very briefly saw an American
Redstart. Yellow Warblers were everywhere. We also noted MacGillivray's and
Orange-crowned Warblers, and lots of Common Yellowthroats. Warbling Vireos
were everywhere while Red-eyed and Cassin's Vireos were less so. Willow
Flycatchers were common in the rankest shrubbery, Western Wood-Pewees,
Cassin's Vireos, and Western Tanagers in drier forest situations, while
Hammond's Flycatchers sang and called from the thicker growth. We had a
close and surprising observation of Red Crossbills perched atop a small
snag. This species was everywhere this weekend. A male American Redstart in
willows at the south end of Frosty Meadow posed nicely. At the north end of
the meadow we heard a Northern Waterthrush. Despite effort we could not see
it.

We descended into the lush riparian habitats of the Sanpoil River Valley by
late morning. It was getting very warm but Red-eyed Vireos were, as usual,
still singing their song, as if drunk. Along the highway, heading north
towards Republic, we stopped a number of times at swampy sites, trying to
get Northern Waterthrush to show. Again, the waterthrush eluded us. Birding
for some passerines in mid-July can be a challenge! Belted Kingfisher proved
an exception; they seemed everywhere along the river. I'm quite certain I've
never encountered so many of these fine birds in the breeding season before.
A Wood Duck hen with brood at the Republic sewage ponds was another species
worthy of note. A Ruffed Grouse hen with young was another.

One of the highlights of our drive along the Sanpoil was a Black Bear
ambling across the road. White-tailed and Mule Deer were along here, too.

Mid-day heat had us heading up Scatter Creek, where we swam and loafed in
Swan and Long Lakes. Ms. Sally bounded time after time for sticks heaved
into the lake, great conditioning for her spaniel "paddles." Resting by
these quiet lakes was a great break and a chance to cool off!

Five years ago motorboats were allowed on these lakes and though signs
cautioned boaters not to disturb Common Loons, we saw no evidence loons were
nesting. Boats with motors are now banned on all these lakes. We saw Common
Loon pairs with half-grown young on both Swan and Ferry Lakes. One for the
Loons! The Forest Service and Chamber of Commerce folks need to be
congratulated for their (controversial) efforts in getting internal
combustion engines banned from these lakes. We also saw Hooded Merganser
hens and broods on Fish and Long Lakes and a Barrow's Goldeneye brood on the
latter.

Albion Hill Road (FR-2030) a short ways east of Sherman Pass, has a
reputation for Spruce Grouse so we checked this area. Much of the three-mile
stretch to Deadman Creek Road (FR-9565) was through forest of even-aged
Lodgepole Pine with an under story of Grouseberry and taller huckleberries,
prime for Spruce Grouse. Today wasn't our lucky day for this grouse,
unfortunately. We detoured a ? mile east on FR-9565 and found a sketchy
track through the pines to a substantial alder-rimmed sedge marsh. Lincoln's
Sparrow seemed the common breeding bird there.

We spent Saturday night at Sherman Pass Campground set in mature
mixed-conifer forest of Western Larch, Engelmann Spruce, Subalpine Fir, and
Lodgepole Pine. The morning chorus on Sunday began at 4:30 am with lots of
beautiful song from Hermit, Swainson's, and Varied Thrushes, and American
Robins. By 5:30, the thrushes had mostly stopped and replaced by a
half-hearted effort from Townsend's and Yellow-rumped Warblers, Winter Wren,
and Brown Creeper. We heard and saw Red Crossbills everywhere overhead. But,
where were the jays? As throughout the weekend jays such as Gray and
Steller's,
and Clark's Nutcracker, remained elusive.

We next targeted Kelly Hill north of Kettle Falls for Clay-colored Sparrow.
Unfortunately, the usual pretty views here were muted with smoke from fires
burning here and there in eastern Washington. We arrived at brushy patches
at the corner of McNitt and Beardslee Roads, played the ipod a bit and were
rewarded with two singing Clay-coloreds! A Brewer's and Vesper Sparrow sang
nearby, too. We noted lots of other interesting birds near this spot: Dusky
Flycatcher, Gray Catbird, Veery, Yellow-breasted Chat, Lazuli Bunting, and
Bullock's Orioles.

Here we noted a tire going flat and employed a can of "Fix-a Flat." This
seemed to get us going but as I was driving I was alert to it going soft
again. Very slowly it became more squishy. So, we elected to change it with
the spare but the wrench would not loosen one of the lugs, despite a
Herculean effort by Stan. The wrench and lug had both become rounded. The
tire still had air and we could hear no air hissing so we cautiously drove
to Northport where we enlisted a local with a cross wrench. This is the tool
to use! We changed the tire, now hissing and we were soon off though without
a spare. Sunday is a poor day to try to fix a flat in Northport. Northport
is, however, a great place to study hummingbirds, especially at The Matteson
House B & B in the middle of town on Center Avenue. Four feeders were
buzzing with activity by Black-chinned (most numerous and males), Calliope
(females or young only), and Rufous (females or young only) Hummers.

With four solid tires (but no spare) we were emboldened and set off north to
the border to loop back south past Deep Lake. Though too hot to do any
serious birding, I wanted to show Stan and Lori this beautiful part of
northeastern Washington. On the border I related how Ken Knittle had birded
the mixedwood forest along the roadside and had found at least 10 redstarts
on one visit. We stopped occasionally to call for Least Flycatcher. We had
no response; not unexpected given the heat and season. We chanced on a group
of three adult and 22 half-grown Wild Turkeys showing these birds are doing
well here. We passed the expansive wet grass and sedge fields north of Deep
Lake, a spot where a LeConte's Sparrow sang for a week or so one June back
in June 1993.

Farther south in the valley, we veered east to Big Meadow Lake, one of my
favorite birding sites in northeast Washington. At the end of the casuseway,
we stopped by the first campsite on the east side of the road and soon
brought into view a Northern Waterthrush. This territory always seems to be
a sure bet for this handsome species. Out on the lake we scoped Common Loon
and Ring-necked Duck. Because of the time of day and heat we elected not to
walk the trail around the south side of the lake, a wonderful bird trail in
June, especially early in the morning.

Heading homeward, we toured south along the Pend Oreille River Valley,
cruising by Cusick known for its numbers of Bobolinks. Many fields appeared
mowed so we were not able to stumble on any of these birds.

Scoping the many pilings at Usk revealed only eight Osprey nests, quite in
contrast to the 22-24 I counted 15 years ago. Then there were no
Double-crested Cormorants. Now, cormorants are many and both adults and
young battling the heat by fluttering their bright orange gular pouch.

We took the hot midday period as a signal to take another swim at Usk. A
beach access just north of the big bridge provided a shady place to park for
our dunk and also a vantage to view the myriad (I judged more than a 1000)
Cliff Swallow nests under the bridge.

Ms. Sally very quickly won friendship of kids along the beach and soon was
racing them for the now customary "fetch the stick" game. Boy, Ms. Sally
sure has learned to love water quickly. Only a week ago she showed
reluctance to take the plunge!

Westside Road around Calispell Lake proved a great vantage to view
waterbirds including 15 Long-billed Dowitchers and 50 or so American White
Pelicans in the shallows plus Cinnamon Teal and Redhead. I related to Stan
the value of this large shallow lake and marsh and that it deserved formal
protection. At present it is privately owned with cows wallowing in the
shallow water. From here, we did an about face and birded the dry forest to
the west of the road, at the point the road is nearest the lake. We were
rewarded with all three nuthatches and a family of Hairy Woodpeckers, the
fledged young working fallen logs.

Stan hollered "Black Tern!" as we cruised by wet grassland and sloughs near
Davis Lake. We stopped to admire these sleek beauties, always a treat. I
pointed out one adult plunge for fish or dragonfly and carry it off to its
nest a few hundred yards south.

Seriously homeward now, I declared my loathing for Spokane traffic,
especially after two days in wild lands, and so we detoured six or so miles
or so (west past Deer Park, now being engulfed by expansion of Spokane fully
20 miles south, then west from Loon Lake to Springdale), thence south. We
stopped briefly at Audubon Reardan Ponds picking up, for the trip list:
Eared Grebe, Marsh Wren, and our first really good looks of Yellow-headed
Blackbird, and Ruddy Duck. American Coots, hundreds of them with many young
birds, were the most common bird here.

South from Odessa, a roadside dark morph Swainson's Hawk was a treat.
Lastly, stopping on I-90 at Moses Lake yielded six or so very close Clar0k's
Grebe, one Western, and both Forster's and Caspian Terns.

Our total: 135 species of birds plus great views of other wildlife. It
amazes me how difficult many species become as soon as they cease singing.
Take Savannah Sparrow as just one example, a common species of fields in
northeast Washington. None were singing on this trip so we had to work for
this one. A similar two-day effort a month earlier would total 155-160.
Nonetheless, a great weekend!

Andy Stepniewski
Wapato WA
steppie at nwinfo.net