Yesterday, it was sunny and I was feeling pretty good, so headed out to do some Okanogan birding. My trigeminal neuralgia had made it so I could not do much for the last two weeks, so I was eager to see some good birds.

My plan was to do the Cameron Lake Rd. and then head down to Chief Joseph Dam, Brewster and Mansfield.

On Cameron Lake Rd. it was fairly birdy, but anything besides Horned Larks was rare. I had a single Mountain Chickadee and Pygmy Nuthatch on the north end. Then a single Raven and Rough-legged Hawk.

Finally, at the cliffs just before Greenway Rd. there was a flock of 6 or 8 Snow Buntings flying along the tops of the cliffs. They then flew down ahead of me and across the road. I could not relocate them.

On the south end of Cameron Lake Rd. it started getting very muddy. At one spot I got a little too far to the side trying to avoid the ruts and got a wheel caught off to the side in about 30 inches of snow and could not get out. I sat there for an hour waiting for a good Samaritan and then walked about 4 miles before I found someone with a cellphone that could call a tow truck for me.

During that walk, I thought I heard a Killdeer. On the way back to the car, I saw the Killdeer. It was about three miles from the south end of the road next to a small abandoned house.

After getting the car back on the road, I saw one more Snow Bunting just below the top of the grade and again saw the Killdeer.

At the end of that adventure it was too late to venture further.

Today there is about two inches of fresh snow on the ground and I'm wondering how that Killdeer is doing.

Good birding to all,
Ron McCluskey
Cheney, WA
rmcclsky at mindspring dot com

My photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/31035468 at N03/
My latest online project: http://birdsoftheworldonline.com/