On Thursday (10/23/08), Michael Woodruff birded Stevens County. Overall, birding was slow, but there were some significant highlights.

As a sun rose in the subfreezing dawn, we tried in vain to find scoters on Deer Lake. We had to content ourselves to LESSER SCAUP, HORNED GREBE, BUFFLEHEAD, RING-NECKED DUCK, and MALLARDS.

Ironically, one of the best county birds of the day was within the city limits of Chewelah. On a athletic field amongst a flock of RING-BILLED GULLs, there was a single BONAPARTE'S GULL. This county lifer was certainly in an unexpected setting.

In Little Pend Oreille NWR, we spent most of the morning looking for White-headed Woodpecker, but we dipped on that target. We did see HAIRY WOODPECKER, all three nuthatch species, RED CROSSBILL, STELLER'S JAY, EVENING GROSBEAK, and MT. BLUEBIRD. On nearby Hatch Lake, we found a couple of PECTORAL SANDPIPERs. Near the junction of Meadow Lake and Aladdin Road, we saw a GOLDEN EAGLE. En route to Abercrombie Mountain, a RUFFED GROUSE scooted across the road.

Although we had not originally envisioned doing so, we ended it hiking all the way to the summit of Abercrombie Mountain. With an elevation of 7308', Abercrombie has a prominence of 5168'. Officially, Abercrombie is one foot shorter than Gypsy Peak, but there are cairns several feet high that you can stand on and then claim that you are on the highest point in eastern Washington. Anyway, it was quite a hike (2400 feet elevation gain and 8 mile round trip). The weather was certainly beautiful, and we reached the summit at sunset.

The trail up Abercrombie had snow on most of the shady sections, and the uuper reaches of the summit dome was covered with loose talus. By the time we summitted the mountain, my legs were certainly feeling the strain. Despite the frigid wind, tearing eyes, and less than steady legs, we managed to enjoy our victory, by snapping pictures of each other teetering on the cairns.

Of course, the view of the Kettle River Range, the Selkirks, and the Canadian Rockies was spectacular! Fully turned, yellow leaved larches, aspen, and balsam poplar appeared as veins of gold within the deep forest green of the conifers.

Birdwise, we flushed a female SPRUCE GROUSE off the trail, and we found MT. CHICKADEE, BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE, CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEE, DOWNY WOODPECKER (at high elevation), PINE GROSBEAKs (at least a dozen), and a couple of GRAY JAYs that were doing their best to imitate the calls of a Pygmy Owl.

On our descent down the mountain, we spent considerable time and energy on calling up Boreal Owls, but none responded. From far below, we heard a very distant BARRED OWL.

The only mammals that we saw on the mountain were Red-backed Vole, Deer Mouse, Montane Shrew, Red Squirrel, and Red-tailed Chipmunk.

In summary, the subalpine to alpine sections of the upper mountain appeared to be favorable habitat for ptarmigan, but we didn't know if there have been any previous records. There were some large grouse tracks in the snow near the timberline that were probably those of Dusky Grouse. There is rather extensive belt of Subalpine Fir-Englemann Spruce that should hold Boreal Owls too.

Sometimes birding can be more about the adventure rather than the birds that were actually recorded. At any rate, Michael and I thoroughly enjoyed a gorgeous autumn day on Abercrombie Mountain.

Gina Sheridan
Spokane, WA