After several days in the Leavenworth area, my husband Jim and I decided to
take a detour on the way back to Seattle to see if winter species had
arrived on the Waterville Plateau. En route, we stopped for lunch at a
fairly new place that I think birders may want to know about. It's called
the Coyote Pass Cafe, on the main street of "downtown" Waterville. It's
open every day except Tuesday from 8 AM to 2 PM. Very friendly owners and
tasty food. I think breakfast is available all the hours they are open. We
then headed south of town, hoping to make our way to Moses Coulee from the
north. At first, the "primitive" roads were fine but eventually the puddles
-- probably from all the recent rain -- got bigger and deeper than our
passenger vehicle could handle. Eventually we gave up and returned to Route
2. While we were wandering around, we came across three Northern Shrikes,
two rough-legged Hawks (on H/Stotts Rd), and a number of Northern Harriers.
When we finally got back to Route 2 and headed west, we spotted a Barred Owl
in some tall trees on the south side of the road, just before MP 152.

Vicki King, Seattle
vicki at kingdesign dot net