Subject: [Tweeters] The annual Okanogan trek
Date: Feb 19 22:41:03 2008
From: Jim Flynn - merlinmania at comcast.net


Hi Tweets,

Between Saturday and Monday my partner Marissa Benavente and I made our annual Okanogan winter birding trip. We birded with John and Kathy Ehrenberg of Mazama on Sunday but the rest of the time by ourselves. We were surprised not to run into other birders the whole time, but there are so many great spots to check out there I guess its not too surprising. Compared to some years the weather was great and the road conditions generally excellent. The weather was still cold enough that roads were only just beginning to thaw and get muddy.

In a nutshell, the birding portions of our trip included Kittitas to Vantage, Waterville plateau, Bridgeport St. Park, Conconully, Okanogan Highlands, Cameron Lk Plateau and, again on the way home, Waterville plateau.

Highlight were:

Saturday the 16th:
WATERVILLE PLATEAU
200 Snow Buntings at Hwy 2 and St. Andrews Rd.
4 Gray Partridge at St Andrews (where the road T's, south of Stallard Lk.)
5-6 Am. Tree Sparrows at St. Andrews W Rd and (approx.) L NE
9 Bohemian Waxwings (same place as sparrows)
1 N. Shrike Hwy 172 just east of H NE, catching and eating a mouse and cacheing bits of it.
1 Porcupine (same place as the shrike)
1 Dark morph Roughie, Hwy 17 and K NE


Sunday the 17th:
CONCONULLY
19 Sharp-tailed Grouse, seen from the pullout on Conconully Rd, just past (NW) the junction
w/ Happy Hill Rd. The grouse were not there at 7 AM, but when we re-checked at 8 AM they were there.
1 Pygmy Owl (heard) on Salmon Creek Rd, near the old mining camp of Ruby
1 ad. male N. Goshawk in Conconully (FINALLY! This has been the Holy Grail of my
birding life - to see an adult, perched Gos) I was really surprised at the small size of this bird.
If it hadn't been an adult I might have doubted its ID.
1 Townsend's Solitaire - in town
12? B. Waxwings - in town
1-2 Golden Eagles - in and near town
1 Rough-legged Hawk, along Conconully Rd.

OKANOGAN HIGHLANDS
1 Pygmy Owl on Fancher Rd
2 Golden Eagles, male in display flight, then mating with the female, near Tonasket
1 Prairie Falcon on Tonasket-Havillah Rd, along the Antoine Valley stretch
50 Snow Buntings, just east of Havillah
6 possible WW Crossbills (flyover, heard, but maybe not conclusively) near Highlands Sno-Park
2 Ruffed Grouse - Mary Anne Creek Rd
1 pair Cassin's Finches near Chesaw
2 Dippers at Beaver Lk
1 Pygmy Owl, trying in vain to catch a Dipper at Beaver Lk. I was amazed how tiny the owl appeared
compared to the dipper. From across the small lake I first passed the owl off as a sparrow or something


Monday, the 18th
CAMERON LK. PLATEAU
1/2 dozen Snow Buntings
the only raptors were 2 Redtails, one near the north end of the road, and one near the south, both
lower than the plateau's full elevation

GOLF COURSE near Bridgeport SP
1 Harris' Sparrow
1 Slate-colored Junco
1 ad. Cooper's Hawk

WATERVILLE PLATEAU
1 SNOWY OWL - 1/4 mile or so north of 12 NW, along F NW. This is about 6 miles north of the
previous sightings along F NW. Perhaps the owl is starting to move north?
1-2 Rough-legged Hawks
2 Red Crossbill - in the town of Waterville
1 Northern Shrike - west of Waterville
20+ Snow Buntings - scattered here and there in the NW part of the plateau, overall Horned Lark
numbers were low both Sat. and Monday, although they were spread all over the plateau.

I'm probably forgetting some things as I've been a bad birder of late and I didn't take notes all weekend,
other than to save a few spots in my GPS for future reference. I know we saw more Bohemian
Waxwings than I've listed, small to medium flocks seem quite widespread this year.


good birding,

--
Jim Flynn
merlinmania at comcast.net
Seattle, WA