I didn't wake up as early as I wanted to but I wanted to re-acquaint myself with the Leahy sage grouse lek site today in Douglas county. I was most interested in the road conditions and didn't plan on seeing any grouse. First off, the road to the lek site is passable. There is snow on the road, but it is about 3 inches deep and has ruts down to the gravel in most spots. The only bird I saw here was several Horned Larks.

I then made my way to Bridgeport to check behind Chief Joseph Dam for the Yellow-billed Loon. Today, there were no loons present from either of the fishing areas. Most notable here were several Violet-green Swallows flying around and a good amount of ducks. Four Herring Gulls were hanging out on the booms as well.

Bridgeport Bar had a good number of ducks and water birds. Two Common Loons here and an ugly looking Canvasback. Several Horned Grebes and a few Pied-billed Grebes as well. A Belted Kingfisher put on a great show for me with a fantastic hover then a dive into the water.

I drove up Central Ferry Canyon in heavy snow and didn't find anything interesting. I made my way via the canyon back up towards Mansfield and got on Highway 172 headed towards Withrow. A few miles southwest on Highway 172, I was totally surprised by three GREATER SAGE-GROUSE standing in the open next to the highway. They were only about 25 yards away and I got great views before they flew off.

Next stop was Moses Coulee, which was my first visit to this amazing place. I will be going back for sure! I drove Jameson Lake Road to the lake and back. Along this road I found singing SAGE SPARROW, four MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS, CANYON WREN, and PRAIRIE FALCON. A shrike of unknown species quickly flitted to road in front of me and then disappeared. Several Common Ravens were calling from above and Red-tailed Hawks were present as well. Jameson Lake is still frozen over.

Good birding!

Tim O'Brien
Cheney, WA
mailto: kertim7179 at yahoo dot com