On Tuesday (10/18/11), Jon Isacoff and I birded Stevens County. We left late enough in the morning that the fog had lifted and we were rewarded with a beautiful fall day.

Our first stop was along Oakshot Road west of Colville. Although the Cattle Egret was not present, we encountered a large mixed flock of American Goldfinches and sparrows. White-crowned, Song, and a couple of LINCOLN'S SPARROWs were in the mix. In addition, there was a NORTHERN SHRIKE surveying the sparrow flock.?

Heading south along the Colville River Valley, we picked up NORTHERN HARRIER -2, RED-TAILED HAWK - 14, ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK - 2, and four BALD EAGLEs. We also managed to flush out our county lifer BARN OWL (code 5 for Stevens County). Unfortunately, we dipped on finding any additional sparrow flocks or any of the hoped for rare species. ?

In a recently acquired tract in the Little P.O. NWR, we visited a burn off the Old Highway. There were plenty of HAIRY WOODPECKERs, No. Flickers, EVENING GROSBEAK (flyover), BROWN CREEPER, all three nuthatches, and at least six BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKERs.?

It certainly was a wonderfully pleasant autumn day.

Birding back on the N. American continent,

Gina Sheridan
Spokane, WA