Tweeters;

Highlights of a birding trip with Guy McWethy to Okanogan, Douglas and
Chelan
counties over the holiday weekend of January 19-21, 2008. The weather was
overcast and cold on the 19th, clear and VERY cold on the 20th and 21st.

We started off from Maple Valley early on the morning of January 19 and
headed
over Snoqualmie, Swauk and Blewett passes headed for Wenatchee. Along the
way we
stopped in the Liberty area off Hwy. 97 and among the usual Sparrows,
Nuthatches
and Finches, we got MOUNTAIN CHICKADEE, SLATE-COLORED DARK-EYED JUNCO, and a

fly-in of two squadrons (24) of WILD TURKEY.

At Wenatchee Confluence State Park, we found small flocks of the
standard mix of Geese, Ducks, and Grebes, etc. The highlight of this stop
was
finding, after we had "owled" our way through the passes, a GREAT HORNED OWL
on
the corner of a deck on one of the commercial office buildings that border
the
park.

We birded our way up the Columbia from Wenatchee, again finding the usual
suspects on the river, with the addition of good numbers of Redhead, Ruddy
Ducks, and Canvasbacks. Across the river above Rocky Reach Dam we had a pair
of
PACIFIC LOON.

A quick run up the Entiat valley to Ardenvoir yielded Bald Eagle, American
Kestrel, more
Wild Turkey, a single Ruby-crowned Kinglet, and an unusual number of
American
Dippers in the river.

The rest of the trip up 97 to Omak continued to yield the standard mix of
Ducks,
Grebes and Geese, etc..

January 20th we headed north out of Omak on Hwy. 97/20 towards Tonasket and
the
Okanogan. Along Hwy. 97, we had good views of a Rough-legged Hawk. Just
over
the bridge at Janis, we got a large flock of BOHEMIAN WAXWING, and
simultaneously met Ken Brown's Tahoma Audubon Intermediate Birding class
field
trip. They were headed for same territory as we were, so we "audited" the
class for the rest of the day (see Ken's post of 01/22 for a description of
their trip). Thanks to Ken and all of the group, who made us feel welcome
and
helped us find some good birds.

At a rest stop in Tonasket, we had a great look at a soaring immature GOLDEN

EAGLE. Heading up the Tonasket-Havillah Rd. we had a Northern Shrike, and
south
of the intersection of Oberg Rd. we had several SHARP-TAILED GROUSE. At the
intersection with Fancher Dam Rd., we found a couple of GRAY PARTRIDGE.

At the beginning of Nealy Rd. we had a flock of a couple of hundred SNOW
BUNTING, accompanied by temperatures in the low teens, and winds of 30-35
mph.
Working our way along Nealy Rd. we had more mixed flocks of Chickadee
(Black-capped and Mountain), Nuthatches and Finches.

On Mary Ann Creek Rd. at Davies Rd. we had a nice flock of RED CROSSBILL,
and at
China Poland we had a flock of COMMON REDPOLL.

Back on Havillah Rd. south of Davies Rd. we had another Rough-legged Hawk.
On
Bolster Rd. NE of Chesaw we had more GRAY PARTRIDGE and good views of a
NORTHERN
GOSHAWK. This was a good find on a trip that produced fewer raptors than we
expected for this area and season.

A second pass over Mary Ann Creek Rd. got us another flock of Common
Redpoll.

On January 21 we made our way back south towards Bridgeport and the
Waterville
Plateau. On Hwy. 97 and 17 we noted a few common Sparrows, a couple of
Red-tailed Hawk, and a couple of American Kestrel. At Chief Joseph Dam, we
had
Common Merganser, another Kestrel and our second Northern Shrike.

At the Bridgeport Golf Course we rejoined the Tahoma Audubon Group and
crossed
the 10th fairway to the feeder behind the green where we found the HARRIS'S
SPARROW mixed in with Oregon Junco, Song and White-crowned Sparrow. Driving
away from
the golf course, we had a Sharp-shinned Hawk.

Guy and I split from the group and headed for the Casimir Bar. Here we saw
our
best concentration of raptors, with multiple sightings of American Kestrel
and
Merlin.

Stops in Brewster and along Hwy. 173 across the river produced large mixed
flocks of the usual waterfowl, with the most notable feature being the Bald
Eagle perched on a navigation marker in the midst of a flock of several
hundred
Mallards, looking like he was trying to make a choice from the "menu".

At the Bridgeport Bar, following Ken Brown's directions, we stopped at the
corner of Grange and Moe Streets, and with a bit of looking we found the
AMERICAN TREE SPARROW mixed in with White-crowned and Song Sparrows and
Dark-eyed Juncos.

At the boat launch above Chief Joseph Dam, we again encountered a mixed
flock of
the usual waterfowl, a single Ring-billed Gull, and a Great Blue Heron. The
drive up Bridgeport Hill Rd. yielded a Bald Eagle, and brought us to the
frigid, windblown tundra of the Waterville Plateau. We drove to Rd. 6 NW
east of
F NW, and again joined the Tahoma Audubon Group. Together we were successful
in
findng the SNOWY OWL about a quarter mile out into the field to the SE. The
bird
did a very convincing imitation of an elongated, upright lump of snow until
we
saw it turn its head, scanning for prey.

We finished our brief survey of the plateau driving west on Rd. 6 NW. At the

wooden silo at the intersection with Rd.I NW we found a mixed flock of SNOW
BUNTING and Horned Lark, shuttling back and forth between a stubble field
and
the gravel pile beside the silo.

Our final raptor of the trip, encountered between Douglas and Waterville on
HWY.2 gave hope of being a Gyrfalcon, but given our brief, fly-by view we
had to
conclude that it was a probable male Northern Harrier.

Our tally for the weekend: 73 Species seen (not bad for winter).

Guy got:

one new State Bird (ST Grouse),
41 new species for Chelan County,
17 new species for Okanagan County,
4 new species for Douglas County.

I got 11 life birds -- since I have only been birding for four years, it is
still possible to get this many lifers in a three-day in-state weekend!


Bob Stallcop
Renton (Maple Valley Heights), Washington
bstallcop at seanet.com
(425)922-2300