I was able to spend about 4 hours in the Okanogan Highlands yesterday.

Just north of Omak I had 2 adult Bald Eagles fly over the road in front of me. That always makes me think I have good karma going for the day. I stopped at the road kill dump north of Riverside and had an immature and one adult Bald Eagle.

The Snow Park was quiet.

Grange Rd. was pretty sloppy with mud. The western end had many Red-winged Blackbirds staking out territory. There were two nice Red-tailed Hawks near the house there.

Just north of Grange Rd. on Nealy Rd. I had a bit of a surprise finding a male Mountain Bluebird first seen on a wire from a telephone pole and then flying down to check out a nesting box.

The usual Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch spot on Nealy was very birdy. The Rosy-Finchs were still in force with a few inland forms seen. There were 3 peacocks there when I pulled up. Also seen at that spot were a Steller's Jay, Downy Woodpecker, a few Red-winged Blackbirds, Mountain Chickadees, a Black-capped Chickadee and a few American Goldfinches.

Bolster Rd. finally gave up 4 Common Redpolls, the first of the year for me.

Mary Ann Creek Rd. had a Northern Pygmy Owl on the western end that sat tight no matter where I moved for photos or what calls I played. At the western end of China-Poland Rd. there were 10 or 12 Pine Grosbeaks. I've seen them at the same spot at least 3 times in the last 3 months. There must have been a good crop of cones there this year.

Moving east, where the road goes through the first pasture, there were 4 adult and 2 immature Bald Eagles. There must have been some carrion there but I could not spot it. Several Magpies were also in evidence. One adult Eagle sat tight near the road for photos.

Back at the nesting box where I saw the Bluebird, there were two birds sitting on the fence about fourty feet from the box when I pulled up. I thought there was going to be a pair of bluebirds in the binoculars, but it was a pair of Gray-crowned Rosy-finches! I did not see them checking out the nesting box, but I'll be back watching that one for sure.

A few Rough-legged Hawks were seen here and there.

The final spring bird of the day was seen while driving through the large pasture at the bottom of the hill before near the large split rock - a Western Meadowlark.

All in all, a beautiful day with great lighting and some great birds. I took almost 1200 photos and have them all sorted, but just a few up on flickr so far.

Good birding all!
Ron McCluskey
Cheney, WA
rmcclsky at mindspring dot com
http://birdsoftheworldonline.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/31035468 at N03/