Subject: [Tweeters] Weekend birding in Okanogan and Douglas Co.
Date: Jan 20 09:10:34 2010
From: Khanh Tran - fsprucegrouse at yahoo.com


Hi Tweets!

This past weekend, I had a successful birding trip with Grant and Karen Hoyt of Carlton, Oregon and Richard and Lennie Stovel of Palo Alto, California.

We focused our short time in the Okanogan Highlands, Scotch Creek, and Waterville Plateau. I had to work to get our target species but we had quality looks of all the birds. We had a wonderful time despite very slow birding at times. We had a good meal at the Breadline Cafe in Omak.

Generally bird numbers were low with no siskins, evening grosbeaks or crossbills seen. Lot of rain up in the lower valley in the last week with some thawing of water in scattered areas.

Highlights of our great trip included excellent, prolong views of a magnificent GREAT GRAY; close-up views of a SNOWY OWL in great light and clarity, and 4 male PINE GROSBEAKS feeding about 6 feet from our car. We only saw one small flock of BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS but they fed low and close within our feet. Seeing the GRAY PATRIDGES with their heads peeping out of their snow burrows was cool.

Always a special TREAT to see these birds!!

http://www.pbase.com/spruce_grouse/okanogan_winter_&page=all

*******************SPECIES SEEN**********************

1 GYRFALCON-juvenile (Timwenta Flats-Cameron Lake Rd)
1 Prairie Falcon (Mansfield downtown)
1 Merlin (downtown Omak)
1 Golden Eagle (Mansfield)
15 Rough-legged Hawks (various morphs)
1 NORTHERN GOSHAWK (Central Ferry Rd)
1 GREAT GRAY OWL (Okanogan Highlands)
1 SNOWY OWL (Bridgeport Hill Road)
3 Great Horned Owl (Conconully, Highlands)
2 NORTHERN PYGMY OWL--Pacific and Interior forms (Okanogan Highlands)
1 NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL (Bridgeport State Park)
1 Short eared Owl (Hoctor Rd near Goldendale, WA)
25 GRAY PATRIDGE (Okanogan Highlands, Cameron Lake Rd)
10 SHARP-TAILED GROUSE (Happy Hill Rd)
12 Ruffed Grouse (Okanogan Highlands)
26 BOHEMIAN WAXWING (Okanogan Highlands)
1 AMERICAN-3-TOED WOODPECKER(Okanogan Highlands)
1 Pileated Woodpecker (Okanogan Highland)
1 WHITE HEADED WOODPECKER (Cameron Lake Rd)
15 Northern Shrike (Okanogan Highlands, Waterville Plateau)
30 GRAY-CROWNED ROSYFINCHES--both FORMS (Okanogan Highlands)
40 COMMON REDPOLLS (Okanogan Highlands)
5 PINE GROSBEAKS(Okanogan Highlands)
3 AMERICAN TREE SPARROW (Central Ferry Rd)
200 SNOW BUNTINGS (Waterville Plateau/Okanogan Highlands)

Tuckered but happy birders and the Magical Okanogan delivers again!

Good birding,

Khanh Tran
www.ktbirding.com