On Thursday (1/22/09), Jon & Ben Isacoff, and myself spent a few hours birding the Waverly and Tekoa area. It was a cold, calm, and overcast day.

In search for the Barred Owl, the three of us diligently picked our way through the riparian thicket in Waverly. Although we worked this patch over quite thoroughly, we failed to find our quarry. On the adjacent cemetery road, we noted quite a few feathers that could have been from a Barred Owl. Hopefully, the owl is simply roosting in an alternative site and is still alive and kicking.

On the north side of Tekoa (Whitman County), we saw a NORTHERN SHRIKE and an adult BALD EAGLE. Around the school where Michael Woodruff had previously found Pine Grosbeaks, we saw a flock of eight PINE GROSBEAKs. Within the small city park on the far eastern side side of town, we found another dozen Pine Grosbeaks feeding in spruce trees. Peering up into a tall spruce upslope from the park, we saw an adult male WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL. When the WW Crossbill flew out, there were three other probable crossbills with it, but we could never relocate these birds.

As Michael previously reported, we had a highly successful trip on Friday. Since we had enjoyed crippling views of WW Crossbills in Bridgeport State Park that day, I was highly motivated to seek out this specie in the lower Columbian Basin.

On Saturday (1/24/09, Kim Thorburn and I decided to run a circuit from Washtucna, down through Lyon's Ferry, across to Pomeroy, and then back up through Wawawai Canyon in Whitman County. Almost the entire focus on this trip was to target WW Crossbills in previously reported sites where they had been found.

South of Ralston (Adams County) and just north of the intersection of Hwy 261 and Presnell Road, we sorted through a flock of HORNED LARKs and we were pleased to find one SNOW BUNTING. By the time we reached Washtucna, the light snowfall had accumulated to over an inch on the ground.

Our arrival in Washtucna was initially uneventful. We cruised the entire town and surveyed every spruce tree, but we only detected AMERICAN ROBINs, MOURNING DOVE, RED-TAILED HAWK, HOUSE FINCH, AME. GOLDFINCH, HOUSE SPARROW, STARLING, EURASIAN COLLARED DOVEs, NO. FLICKER, and a couple of VARIED THRUSHes.

On D-Street, a MERLIN with a full crop, flew over. While staring at spruces on C Street, I heard the two note flight call of a WW Crossbill. We then heard a few more calls that were emanating from a block over on D-Street. Arriving back on D-Street, we saw three WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLs fly by, and we thought that they were landing. However, we never saw or heard these birds again. Our subsequent searching for these birds proved futile.

In Franklin County on Lyons Ferry Road, we saw a ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK and a NORTHERN SHRIKE. In Lyons Ferry State Park, we enjoyed fabulous views of a single WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL that was calling from the top of a spruce tree. This bird was located a north of the restrooms from the parking lot. Finally, this bird flew off toward the southwest and was joined in flight by two other WW Crossbills. Other birds on the Franklin County side included HERRING GULL, BUFFLEHEAD, BALD EAGLE, CALIFORNIA GULL, AMERICAN ROBIN, and TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE.

In Starbuck (Columbia County), we tallied up WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW, BREWER'S BLACKBIRD, EURO STARLING, MOURNING DOVE, RED-TAILED HAWK, AMERICAN KESTREL. One other notable bird in Columbia County was a NORTHERN SHRIKE at Delaney.

Unfortunately, we dipped on the Pomeroy Cemetery WW Crossbills. A cursory check around town didn't produce much more than Starlings, Robins, House Finches, and Rock Pigeons.

Up on the Alopwa Plateau in Garfield County, we encountered HORNED LARKs, ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK, and an AMERICAN KESTREL. Along this plateau route on Kirbly-Mayfield Road, we felt ourselves thrust into a surreal, frozen landscape of ice fog, dense hoar frost, and snow. Several power company repair vehicles were repairing frost laden powerlines. Meanwhile, the temperature up there plunged back down to 23 degrees.

Ending the birding day in Wawawai Canyon in Whitman County, we saw a Townsend's Solitaire. At the homestead on the plateau where Michael Woodruff had reported WW Crossbill, we saw several robins and two probable WW Crossbills. However, the snow was falling and the all the birds simply disappeared into the increasingly darkening dusk.

Our WW Crossbill scorecard for the day was 2 searches out of 4 sites were successful, one possible, and one dip. More importantly, Kim had her A+ view of her lifer WW Crossbill.

Gina Sheridan
Spokane, WA