Subject: [Tweeters] Summer Solstice in Pend Oreille & Stevens Counties
Date: Jun 22 17:23:31 2007
From: Gina Sheridan - gsherida8502 at yahoo.com


Following up on some leads for chat and Canyon Wren in
Pend Oreille County, Michael Woodruff and I celebrated
Summer Solitice (6/21/07) with a birding venture to
Pend Oreille and Stevens County. The weather was
mostly mild and sunny.

While our early morning attempts at refinding the
Canyon Wren and chat resulted in disappointing dips,
we did see a calling LEAST FLYCATCHER on the Trimble
Creek crossing on W. Calispell Lake Road. Farther
north, there BANK SWALLOWs flying across the highway
at Riverview as well as a WESTERN BLUEBIRD near the
river. The SAY'S PHOEBE is still present south of
Tiger on Brasaw Road.

In the Little Pend Oreille Highlands of P.O. County
off Rocky Creek Road, we saw NASHVILLE WARBLER,
CASSIN'S VIREO, TOWNSEND'S WARBLER. and a rather
skittish AMERICAN THREE-TOED WOODPECKER. At Amazon
Creek (Stevens County), we saw NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH
and COMMON YELLOWTHROAT.

On Starvation Flat, In the Little Pend Oreille NWR of
Stevens County, we observed a male BLACK-BACKED
WOODPECKER fly into a burn on the north side of the
road. The BBWO landed in a a charred and leaning
Ponderosa Pine and disappeaed into a hole that was
seven feet off the ground. When the BBWO flew off, we
examined the tree and could hear young Black-backed
Woodpeckers making raspy calls from their nest hole.

Considering the significant number of controlled burns
in the LPO NWR, there is undoubtedly a decent
population of Black-backed Woodpeckers that are
resident here. Anyway, it was exciting to find an
active nest of this elusive species.

Since we wanted to try for some higher elevation
species, we drove up Blacktail Mountain Road. In the
wetter, mixed forest of the lower sections, we saw
CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEE, NASHVILLE WARBLER, CASSIN'S
VIREO, and TOWNSEND'S WARBLER.

While we did see OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER and WILSON'S
WARBLER, much of the upper slopes, have been recently
logged. I felt a sense of consternation and dismay to
see such extensive logging within a national wildlife
refuge boundaries, and I wondered what policies are in
place that would allow this activity.

Fortunately, there is some great high elevation forest
habitat that is still intact on the summit of
Blacktail Mountain. In this lovely forest of Englemann
Spruce-Subalpine Fir, Sitka Alder, and a rich
understory, we saw HERMIT THRUSH, VARIED THRUSH,
SWAINSON'S THRUSH, CLARK'S NUTCRACKER (feeding a
youngster), TREE SWALLOW, AMERICAN KESTREL,
GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET, RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET,
DARK-EYED JUNCO, TURKEY VULTURE, and a couple of FOX
SPARROWs. In particular, I was most pleased to find
breeding Fox Sparrows in Stevens County.

Exiting the refuge by taking the rough Cliff Ridge
Road, we saw WILD TURKEY, but no grouse. In fact, it
seems to me that Ruffed Grouse numbers are low this
year.

Our last good bird of the day was a LARK SPARROW that
was in a meadow along Major Road (north of Chewelah).
It was a nice way to close out the first day of
summer.

As a brief addendum, I should mention that on a solo
trip to southern Stevens County that I made on
6/12/07, I saw WHITE-THROATED SWIFTs and TURKEY
VULTUREs at the Long Lake Dam Overlook. The WT Swifts
are rather tricky to find in Stevens County.

Gina Sheridan
Spokane, WA



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