Hi Tweeters,

An out-of-state birder and I ventured into these counties to look for winter specialities. Overall, the birding was extremely slow with very low numbers of wintering passerines. However, we managed to find most of our target species, with great numbers of gallineous birds.

Rough legged hawks, Northern shrikes, and Cooper's hawks were seen in many locations. A lot of patience was needed as the birds tend to move around. Huge numbers of redpolls and waxwings that were seen several weeks ago were noticeably absent this weekend.

Some of the highlights included a flock of 40 SHARP TAILED GROUSE, a flock of 12 RUFFED GROUSE , one SNOWY OWL, a BLACK HEADED GULL in Electric City, and a small flock of WHITE WINGED CROSSBILLS.

Here is the breakdown of our sightings:

CONCONULLY:

40 SHARP TAILED GROUSE (along Conconully Rd and Happy Hill)
20 Chukars (Riverside Cut-off Road)
40 American Goldfinches
75 BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS (along Hwy 97 east towards Tonasket)

It was very fun to see the several flocks of sharp tails in several trees, gathering and feeding along the road. We were able to hear them vocalize, see them clamber along the birch trees, and fly into the distance. Your best chances of seeing these grouse is one hour prior to sunrise and sunset.

OKANOGAN HIGHLANDS (Havillah/Chesaw)

25 Chukar (Fancher Rd)
12 Ruffed grouse (along Mary Ann Creek Rd)
1 Great Horned Owl (Havillah Rd)
1 Golden Eagle (Mary Ann Creek Rd)
1 Merlin (Nealy Rd)
2 NORTHERN PYGMY OWLS (Mary Ann Creek and Hungry Hollow Rd)
20 COMMON REDPOLLS (Mary Ann Creek Rd)
small flock of WHITE WINGED CROSSBILLS (Beaver Lake)
5 TREE SPARROWS (Davies Rd)
3 Virginia Rail (Beaver Lake)
1 Dipper (Beaver Lake)

It was amusing to see the dipper and Virginia rails swim and look for food in 16 degree F. Thanks to Lee Johnson and Tom Munson for the tip. The Mullein stalks had several downy and hairy woodpeckers, and chickadees feeding on them. Redpolls and Rosy finches love to feed on these as well.

Seeing two very cooperative Northern Pygmy owls in the open was cool as well.

CAMERON LAKE ROAD: (This 28 mile or so road along Hwy 97 was surprisingly quiet)

20 GRAY PATRIDGES

I was surprised to find no snow buntings or any raptors at all!

WATERVILLE PLATEAU (Douglas and Manfield)

1 SNOWY OWL (along F street and 6 NW)
2 Great Horned Owls
25 GRAY PATRIDGES (several locations)
40 SNOW BUNTINGS (F NW and H St in Mansfield)
20 EURASIAN COLLARED DOVES (Mansfield)

The town of Mansfield was extremely birdy with a huge flock of Eurasian C. Doves. Otherwise, the birding was quite dismal.

BRIDGEPORT STATE PARK AND CENTRAL FERRY ROAD:

4 BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS
25 Cedar Waxwings
1 Townsend's Solitaire

Extremely slow in both areas except for Northern Shrikes.

Seeing the BLACK HEADED GULL and SNOWY OWL was a great way to end the trip. The gull was especially beautiful with its bright red legs and bill. Thanks to Jackie and Larry Goodhue for graciously sharing their viewing scope.

Overall, we had a good time and I managed to get some decent shots of these interesting birds in a beautiful wintery setting. Some are distant shots serving more for documentation.

You can see my photos at:

http://www.pbase.com/spruce_grouse/recent_photos&page=all

Good birding,

Khanh Tran (Portland, Oregon)