I ventured into Lincoln and Stevens Counties today for some birding (10/20/07). It was pretty cold throughout much of the day, but the weather was excellent as the wind held off completely and the rain didn't even put in an appearance until late afternoon.

I started at Reardan Ponds, where there was 1 PECTORAL SANDPIPER and 1 LESSER YELLOWLEGS, and plenty of expected waterfowl. In Davenport, I came across 2 EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVES along 7th street by the grain elevators. The Davenport Cemetery was pretty quiet aside from one good flock of RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS, RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHES, and DARK-EYED JUNCOS. I also pulled out a couple BROWN CREEPERS, and interestingly, there were also a few MOUNTAIN CHICKADEES. Have they been seen deeper in the Columbia Basin at all this fall?

Along Cottonwood Creek Rd, I had my first NORTHERN SHRIKE and ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS of the year. I pulled a late LINCOLN'S SPARROW out of 25 SONG SPARROWS along the creek.

Hawk Creek Canyon was very birdy. I called in a NORTHERN PYGMY-OWL, while other highlights included several CLARK'S NUTCRACKERS and more than one group of STELLER'S JAYS. At the campground, I scoped a RED-NECKED GREBE, HORNED GREBE, WESTERN GREBE, a couple LESSER SCAUP, and a few other waterfowl species. A late OSPREY was perched on a snag on my way out.

Along Hwy 25 in Stevens County, I had 2 large flocks of AMERICAN PIPITS, one of which numbered at least 80 birds. A couple more NORTHERN SHRIKES chased each other. WESTERN BLUEBIRDS were spread out in small numbers all over the area through the day.

FDR Lake had some decent birds in a couple of places, including 1 COMMON LOON, 30 HORNED GREBES, another RED-NECKED GREBE, and more WESTERN GREBES. In the Gifford Campground, I had DOWNY and HAIRY WOODPECKER, as well as some CLARK'S NUTCRACKERS.

The Colville Flats had a whole bunch of AMERICAN HERRING GULLS, a few RING-BILLED GULLS, and 1 CALIFORNIA GULL. At Myers Falls I failed to turn up any dippers, but there were HOODED and COMMON MERGANSERS as well as AMERICAN WIGEONS instead. Another ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK was circling high over Kettle Falls.

I came across a couple late CHIPPING SPARROWS near Colville along Valley-Westside Rd. WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW numbers were pretty good for the day with a large flock way back near Fort Spokane, and more scattered through the day. The Colville STP didn't have anything of interest, aside from a couple getting-late SAVANNAH SPARROWS.

I decided to head up into the Little Pend Oreille Highlands to try my luck with Spruce Grouse. No luck this time. White Mud Lake had large numbers of RING-NECKED DUCKS as well as a late BLUE-WINGED TEAL and a couple BARROW'S GOLDENEYES. I tried FR 350 near the Pend Oreille County line, but things were mostly dead aside from a HERMIT THRUSH and a good flock of CHESNUT-BACKED CHICKADEES and GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS.

My last good bird of the day was a BEWICK'S WREN in Chewelah along Chewelah-Creek Rd. It was great to explore some new areas in Stevens County, and I had a fantastic day.

Michael Woodruff
Spokane, WA


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