On Thursday (5/31/07), Michael Woodruff and I
conducted a Big Day in Pend Oreille County. Our route
began with coverage of the southern portions of the
county, and we worked our way up river and made it to
Sullivan Lake and near Bunchgrass Meadows. Logging in
326 miles driven, 1 1/2 miles walking, and 23 hours
in the field, we tallied 133 species.

Considering the short span of dark hours available to
us at this time of the year, we commenced owling at
12:30 AM. Since we decided to follow up on a tip that
a Long-eared Owl had been found last year just north
of Camden, we began owling there first.

While pre-Blue (nearly full) Moon hung low on the
horizon, the temperature hovered in the low 40's, and
there was a very light breeze. Conditions were
virtually ideal.

On our second stop on Wilms, I mentioned to Michael
that the habitat of mixed conifers (Englemann Spruce,
Lodgepole Pine, Subalpine Fir) and the occasional
Quaking Aspen was reminiscent of the Highland Snowpark
in Okanogan County where we had Long-eared Owls last
year.

As we cycled through various owl calls for some ten
minutes, I caught the shadowy flight of an owl in the
moonlight. Catching the owl in my torchlight, we could
see a medium sized, brown colored owl. The LONG-EARED
OWL made one more pass before disappearing, but we
never heard a sound out of it.

We were ecstatic to find a code 5 county rarity as our
first bird of the day! Needless to say, it was a
county lifer for both of us.

Our second bird of the day was a Killdeer that we
flushed off the road. On Scotia Road (1/4 mile east of
the junction with Spring Valley Road), we heard a
FLAMMULATED OWL. Even though it was 1:00 AM, the
traffic from US 2 was heavy enough to make it
difficult to relocate.

Later, we tried an unmarked forest road in Deer Valley
where Matthew Moskwik and I had found Flammulated Owls
last summer. As soon as we stepped out of the rig, we
could hear a FLAMMULATED OWL delivering it's hoot,
double hoot sequence of calls. Although rather
distant, we had a brief glimpse of a MOUNTAIN LION
that dashed full speed across the road.

Although we worked known spots for both Saw-whet and
Barred Owls for hours, we never once had a response
from these species. Great Horned Owl (not common in
the county) was another miss.

As the dawn slowly broke along Sunrise Hill, we
hearing TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE, SWAINSON'S THRUSH, AME.
ROBIN, HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER, ets. Rocky Gorge was
extremely birdy and we picked up NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH,
WINTER WREN, RED-EYED VIREO, WARBLING VIREO, CASSIN'S
VIREO, DUSKY FLYCATCHER, HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER, WILLOW
FLYCATCHER, PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHER, SPOTTED TOWHEE,
BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD, BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK, BULLOCK'S
ORIOLE, MOUNTAIN CHICKADEE, RING-NECKED DUCK, WOOD
DUCK, RUDDY DUCK, BUFFLEHEAD, PIED-BILLED GREBE,
AMERICAN COOT, MALLARD, SORA, GRAY CATBIRD,
MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLER, YELLOW WARBLER, COMMON
YELLOWTHROAT, NASHVILLE WARBLER, TREE SWALLOW,
VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW, NO. ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW, BARN
SWALLOW, CHIPPING SPARROW, and HOUSE WREN.

North Jared Marsh (on 211 south of Usk) held CINNAMON
TEAL, BLUE-WINGED TEAL, YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD,
WILSON'S PHALAROPE, BLACK-NECKED STILT - 6. In Davis
Creek Wetland, there were BLACK TERNs, ORANGE-CROWNED
WARBLER, MARSH WREN, RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD, and SONG
SPARROW,

In Cusick, we found a hummingbird feeder that was
attracting all three breeding species of hummingbirds
(i.e. Rufous, Black-chinned, and Calliope). CEDAR
WAXWING, COMMON GOLDENEYE, OSPREY, and DOUBLE-CRESTED
COMORANT were some additional species found here.
Unfortunately, we did not see any Bewick's Wrens.

Along the County Line Meadows, there were VESPER
SPARROW, BOBOLINK (in both Pend Oreille and Spokane
Counties), CALIFORNIA QUAIL, RING-NECKED PHEASANT,
SAVANNAH SPARROW, WESTERN KINGBIRD, and WESTERN
BLUEBIRD.

In Spring Valley, we found MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD, but no
Lark Sparrows. Pioneer Park had cooperative
GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET and TOWNSEND'S WARBLER. At
Furport, there was a cackling COOPER'S HAWK.

As usual Calispell Lake contributed many species to
our day list such as AMERICAN AVOCET - 2, CANVASBACK,
REDHEAD, GADWALL, BALD EAGLE, PYGMY NUTHATCH, HOODED
MERGANSER, EASTERN KINGBIRD, BELTED KINGFISHER,
SPOTTED SANDPIPER, and HAIRY WOODPECKER.

On the South Calispell Creek crossing, there were
several conspicuous NORTHERN WATERTHRUSHes, a male
AMERICAN REDSTART,

Although we didn't find any Veeries, Reservation Marsh
had a NORTHERN HARRIER and VIRGINIA RAIL. Mid-
afternoon at Flying Goose Ranch didn't offer much that
was new for the day.

On Sullivan Lake, we quickly added RED-NECKED GREBE
and COMMON MERGANSER. However, my normally reliable
Harlequin Duck spot did not pan out. We settled for an
AMERICAN DIPPER.

Time-wise, we didn't have time to visit Big Meadow
Lake for Common Loon or Little Pend Oreille Highlands
for Three-toed Woodpeckers. Fortunately, we made a
highly productive run up Harvey Creek Grade and found
many of our high elevation targets. Deeper snow at the
cut-off road to Bunchgrass Meadows proper prevented us
from proceeding further.

Some of the birds that we found on the Harvey Creek
Grade included STELLER'S JAY, CLARK'S NUTCRACKER,
SWAINSON'S THRUSH, HERMIT THRUSH, VARIED THRUSH,
RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET, OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER,
LINCOLN'S SPARROW, WILSON'S WARBLER, and SHARP-SHINNED
HAWK. On our descent along Harvey Creek, we thrilled
to see a female HARLEQUIN DUCK preening on a rock.

In addition, we saw quite a few mammals on the grade.
A chestnut colored BLACK BEAR, MULE DEER, SNOWSHOE
HARE, MONTANE SHREW, RED-TAILED CHIPMUNK, and COLUMBIA
GROUND SQUIRRELs kept things exciting.

After sunset, we tried owling again between Harvey
Creek and Noisy Creek Campground. We did hear and see
an NORTHERN PYGMY OWL, but we dipped on Barred Owls.

Although our last two stops (Locke Cutoff for Barred &
Saw-whet Owl and Fitzpatrick Road for Great Horned
Owls) failed to turn any owls, we did enjoy seeing the
rising full (Blue) moon, and I saw a shooting star.

Gina Sheridan
Spokane, WA




____________________________________________________________________________________
Sick sense of humor? Visit Yahoo! TV's
Comedy with an Edge to see what's on, when.
http://tv.yahoo.com/collections/222