On Tuesday (12/30/08), Terry and Joshua Little, my dad Roger, and I decided to go through with plans to bird Okanogan County, hoping we would hit it between storms and with good luck. We hit the jackpot in terms of weather -- even had a bit of sun early on, no wind whatsoever, and semi-comfortable temperatures ranging from 14 to 21 degrees.

Our focused birding began along Conconully Rd just southeast of Happy Hill Rd where we came across 2 SHARP-TAILED GROUSE at very close range. What incredible views of these beauties. Meanwhile, 2 more bombed in from a couple hundred feet over our heads heading farther west up the valley, and another flew in close. A few minutes later my dad spotted a convoy of 38 more SHARP-TAILED GROUSE heading across the ridge opposite us, coming from the west. These birds really put on a show.

After our initial target was under the belt, more and more good birds came thick and fast as we drove north towards the Highlands. We couldn't seem to cover any ground because we were stopping so much! Eventually we made it up to the Tonasket-Havillah Rd. We worked the traditional area from there up through Hungry Hollow Rd, Grange and Nealy Rds, into Chesaw and up Bolster Rd, then back across Mary Ann Creek Rd. Birding was somewhat slow at times but we kept hitting good birds throughout the afternoon.

Towards dusk we toodled around hoping for Great Gray Owl and did a quick check of the Havillah Sno-Park though we didn't have any lights. Then it was the long haul back to Spokane. Luckily the roads were in fantastic winter condition throughout the day and we didn't have any problems.

We had a large number of quality birds worth mentioning, so I've listed them below. In addition, we had three Cooper's Hawks through the day, all three nuthatches along Tonasket-Havillah Rd, two each of Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers, and loads of other common winter birds. Here we go:

NORTHERN PYGMY-OWL - Total of 5 birds, ranging from not more than 15 feet away; 1 at the Sno-Park entrance, 3 on Bolster Rd, and 1 on Mary Ann Creek Rd; stunning how shrike-like their flight is.

BALD EAGLE - Count of 20, mostly strewn along the river between Riverside and Tonasket.

GOLDEN EAGLE - An adult along Riverside Cut-off Rd, perched on the cliff.

PRAIRIE FALCON - One along Tonasket-Havillah Rd

MERLIN -One along Hwy 17 north of the river, and a 2nd bird in Okanogan

NORTHERN GOSHAWK - A stunning adult passed over us at the entrance to the Sno-Park. What a beauty.

ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK - Total of 4 birds, with 2 in the Highlands.

CHUKAR - 12 along Conconully Rd, feeding with cattle near the creek. Fun to see these birds away from their regular haunts.

SHARP-TAILED GROUSE - Total of 43 along Conconully Rd, as described above. It was incredible to study the intricate black lacing on these birds breasts at such close range.

SNOW BUNTING - Two birds with a flock of 75 Horned Lark just NE of Havillah.

NORTHERN SHRIKE - 2 at Bridgeport Hill Rd, 2 on Conconully Rd, and a 5th along Kipling Rd in the Highlands.

BELTED KINGFISHER - One in an unexpected location along Bolster Rd. There was hardly any open water left for the poor thing.

SPOTTED TOWHEE - One hanging with juncos and White-crowned Sparrows along Riverside Cut-off Rd.

GRAY-CROWNED ROSY-FINCH - A flock of 20 visiting a feeder at a homestead along Nealy Rd, I believe called "Highland Meadows". There was only one interior form - the rest were all Hepburn's.

PINE GROSBEAK - More than 80 birds seen, so very good numbers in the Highlands right now. We had one flock of 50 along Bolster Rd followed by another flock of 10, then 11 birds along Chesaw Rd and 10 more on Mary Ann Creek Rd. These last three flocks were feeding low on the ground and in patches of mullein. The bright red males were stunning against the snow.

COMMON REDPOLL - Our only flock was 30 birds underneath the Sharp-tailed Grouse on Conconully Rd.

EVENING GROSBEAK - A flock of 9 dropped in to the same tree where the redpolls were on Conconully Rd. This tree was a hot location, with the redpolls, grosbeaks, grouse, a shrike, and even a roosting Great Horned Owl.

It was truly a fantastic day with good friends and fun birds. Joshua and I both took a whole bunch of photos that we'll be posting to our flickr sites soon. The Sharp-tailed Grouse were exceptionally close and a couple Pygmy-Owls really cooperated for photos.

Now time to start that new year list. 2009!

Michael Woodruff
Spokane, WA
www.flickr.com/photos/nightjar

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