Hello All,

Sorry for the late report. As Stefan Schlick and Michael Fleming reported,
I was present on Saturday morning along the Skyline Trail at Stevens Pass
when a beautiful male WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL posed nonchalantly in my scope
thus ending what had been a 12-year odyssey all over the state, high and
low, winter and summer, up and down and north and south. Many people in
reporting on this recent invasion have described this species as mythical
and believe you, me I would have used this same adjective; now I will only
say that White-winged Crossbills are near-mythical. They do actually exist
and I came across several small groups including singing males along with
females and young birds in varying plumages scattered along the trail.

I continued on from Stevens Pass and worked my way north into the Okanogan.
I birded near Conconully and Cameron Lake Road finding very little. After
spending the night near Chesaw, the next morning dawned overcast and the
birding continued to be extremely slow. I drove the roads north and west of
Chesaw (Mary Ann Creek, Molson Road, Nine Mile Road etc.) Towards mid-day,
the weather closed in and falling snow slowed the birding even more. I left
the area without seeing any more White-wings but RED CROSSBILLS were in good
numbers in several locations.

Birding the Conconully area continued to be slow but with a few highlights
including a GOLDEN EAGLE along Concunully Road, north of Riverside Cutoff, a
flyover flock of GRAY-CROWNED ROSY-FINCHES and a singing CANYON WREN along
Riverside Cutoff Road itself near the junction with Conconully Road. I
regularly checked the Happy Hill Road intersection in the area without
seeing Sharp-tailed Grouse.

At Bridgeport State Park, a small flock of BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS was
intermingled with AMERICAN ROBINS, EUROPEAN STARLINGS and AMERICAN
GOLDFINCHES.

I checked the Foster Creek section of Wells Wildlife Area for SHARP-TAILED
GROUSE as this has historically been a good area for the grouse. I had just
about given up when I found 13 birds feeding in a streamside thicket (not
water birch, by the way). I watched these guys feeding for 10-15 minutes
until the whole flock flew out away from the creek bottom over the wide
expanse of the steppe.

I made my way over the Waterville Plateau searching for Snow Buntings in the
fading light (I didn't find any buntings). Just east of Waterville,
however, and in almost total darkness, I was amazed to flush a flock of
birds from the roadway that turned out to be another group of SHARP-TAILED
GROUSE - 7 strong. Via flashlight, I watched them make their way somewhat
awkwardly through the deep snow. I was quite surprised at finding these
birds in this area but it was a nice capper to a wonderfully memorable
weekend.

I must extend my thanks to so many people in the Tweeters community who
patiently and unfailingly answered questions about White-winged Crossbills
and passed on a wealth of information about this enigmatic species. I must,
however, extend my thanks especially to Khanh Tran, Gina Sheridan and Marv
Breece.

Cheers and Good Birding!
Ted Kenefick
Seattle
tgkenefick at msn.com