Subject: [Tweeters] Lincoln Co. WW Crossbill & Grant Co. Pygmy Owl
Date: Jan 26 23:53:16 2009
From: Gina Sheridan - gsherida8502 at yahoo.com


Following up on the Corders excellent WW Crossbill in Lincoln County find, I decided to trek out westward with hopes of relocating the crossbill and perhaps trying again for the Hawk Owl in Douglas County. Weatherwise, it was a brilliant mid-winter day. With dry arctic air in place, the temps ranged from -2 to +18, winds were calm, and the snow covered landscape was gorgeous.

Making a cursory search for Snowy Owl east of Davenport proved fruitless. There were no raptors to be seen and only a few Horned Larks were present.

When I arrived in the Harrington Cemetery, Jim Acton drove in behind me. We carefully scanned the spruce trees, and I felt that the central grove looked the most prime. However, for over ten minutes, we saw and heard nothing. As we advanced toward the trees on the western perimeter, I heard a crossbill calling behind us from the prime looking patch of spruces. Triangulating on the calling bird, I glimpsed a WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL near the top of cone-laden Blue Spruce. Jim caught up with me, and we enjoyed extended views of this lovely winter visitor.

Leaving the cemetery, I was committed to traveling out to Grand Coulee and back out to Foster Creek Ranch for the hawk owl. Although I took the back way in to Grand Coulee out of Bagdad Junction, the route was practically birdless.

Hoping for rare gulls Spring Canyon, I found only BUFFLEHEAD, HORNED GREBE, HOODED MERGANSER, and COMMON GOLDENEYE. There were no gulls present here or on the booms above Grand Coulee Dam.

Stopping in the Grand Coulee City Park, I noticed a large contingent of vocal House Finches in a tall deciduous tree. In addition, there were BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEEs flitting around in an agitated state. When I scanned the tree with my bins, I noticed a small brown blob of feathers with yellow eyes high up the deciduous tree. Suddenly, I realized that this was the cause of the small passerines rancor. In fact, I was ecstatic to have found my Grant County lifer NORTHERN PYGMY OWL!

Although I noted some nice looking spruce trees in and around the city park, I was unable to find any more WW Crossbills. I had to push westward to the site that had the hawk owl. Unfortunately, my hour and a half search from 3 to 4:30 PM yielded no owl. It was highly frustrating to dip on this bird a third time. However, I was more than compensated for the dip by enjoying the Pygmy Owl, the WW Crossbill, and the spectacular winter day.

Gina Sheridan
Spokane, WA