Tweeters,

Jamie Acker and I (George Gerdts) decided to head across the Cascade Crest with the hope of escaping the cold, wet, dreary days that have so far passed for Spring in the Puget Sound area. We left Bainbridge Island on the 12:30 PM ferry with steady rain pounding the windshield of Jamie's trusty 2003, 200,000-plus-mile Subaru Forester, and the temperature a "balmy", un-Spring-like 39 F. The promise of Spring never seemed so far away. Twelve-foot high snow drifts at Snoqualmie Pass, new snow in Cle Elum, 6 new inches of snow on Badger Mt. above Wenatchee, and winter-white conditions on the Waterville Plateau had us second and third guessing our decision to go birding on the east side for three days as March turned into April.

However, our instincts, or more likely good fortune, proved our decision to have been a good one. Though winter birds were still very much present, Spring and migration were everywhere to be found, though it took a good bit of hard looking at times. After finding 2 Long-eared Owls and flushing 10 Gray Partridge (all of them in pairs, not in one covey as they tend to be in Winter) in the lingering snow at Lamoine, we headed for Chelan. We used Campbell's Lodge in Chelan as our "headquarters" (they had a great 2-night special rate). Our plan was to try for the Greater Sage Grouse at Leahy Jct. on Sunday morning, April 1st, hoping that the Sage Grouse still had love on their minds.. We left Chelan at 05:30, driving through a snowstorm on McNeil Canyon Road en route to Mansfield (no, it wasn't April Fool's, unless we were the fools!). By the time we arrived at the Leahy Lek at 06:30, the snow had stopped, the wind was calm, and the temperature was actually breaking 40 F. We counted 18 males dancing for one lone female. Were all the other females already on eggs, with this lone female back for a second try after a failed nesting attempt? Shortly after we arrived, Mary Frances Mathis and Phyllis Moss arrived with their entourage on an extended SAS Field Trip. All of us thoroughly enjoyed the ethereal plinking sounds emitted by the displaying grouse, and we marveled at the spectacle of an ancient mating ritual unfolding once again before our telescoped eyes!

After the undeniable evidence the dancing Sage Grouse provided, we were on a mission for further signs that Spring had arrived! Bridgeport Bar provided more evidence with a huge flock of singing White-crowned Sparrows. Jamie spotted a flock of waxwings, and on close inspection, they turned out to be 15 Cedar Waxwings! Perhaps they were Spring arrivals? Central Ferry Road was still winter clad, but a chirping Townsend's Solitaire and singing Am. Robins contrasted with the Pygmy Nuthatches, Cassin's Finches, and Red Crossbills lured to Jamie's Pygmy Owl tooting. On the way back down Central Ferry, a flock of 250 Bohemian Waxwings were busy consuming the newly-opened catkins on the Cottonwood Trees. We decided to drive Cameron Lake Road and head for the Okanogan Highlands. Singing Western Meadowlarks and Vesper Sparrows were everywhere we looked. After a few miles on the dirt track, 3 birds on a wire caught our eyes. Before we could get our bins on them, they were joined by 49 more: Snow Buntings! Less than 1/2 a mile farther along, a recently plowed field was aglow with Mt. Bluebirds. We conservatively estimated 200 Mt. Bluebirds in the fields. Pulling ourselves away from the electric blue Mt. Bluebirds was hard, but within a mile we turned a corner and startled 500+ Sandhill Cranes...

To make a very long story much shorter, this combination of lingering winter visitors, early-spring nesting species, and passage migrants repeated itself everywhere we went. The Okanogan Highlands still had substantial amounts of snow, and 35 Common Redpolls along Mary Anne Creek Road, 12 Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches at the Hippie Farm on Nealy Road, 12 Rough-legged Hawks, and 10 Northern Shrikes attested to the fact that winter was not yet finished. However, Western Bluebirds were staking out territories, Say's Phoebes were courting, and Williamson's Sapsucker were tapping their rhythmic love notes and chasing each other around the snow-clad hills at Havillah. From the Wild Turkeys we saw displaying along the Teanaway River Road outside Cle Elum to the serenading songsters of the Sage-Steppe: Sage Thrasher and Brewer's and Sage Sparrows, along the Old Vantage Highway old man Winter was giving way to the promise of Spring at last!

Highlights:
March 31
Chukar 2 along Badger Mt. Road, Wenatchee
Gray Partridge 10 Lamoine
Wild Turkey 20 Teanaway River Road, Cle Elum
Long-eared Owl 2 Lamoine on Waterville Plateau

April 1
Greater Sage Grouse 19 Leahy Jct
Rough-legged Hawk 12 Okanogan Highlands
Golden Eagle 1 ad. perched along Hungry Hollow Rd, Ok Highlands
Gr. Horned Owl nesting pair in abandoned farm building along Cameron Lk. Rd
Williamson's Sapsucker 5 Havillah cross-country ski area
Say's Phoebe 16 widespread
Clark's Nutcracker 1 Havillah
Varied Thrush 1 heard, Central Ferry Road
Townsend's Solitaire 1 Central Ferry Rd
Bohemian Waxwing 250, Central Ferry Road
Cedar Waxwing 15 separate flock, Bridgeport Bar
Vesper Sparrow, 20 widespread
White-crowned Sparrow 100+ Bridgeport Bar
Snow Bunting 52 Cameron Lk. Rd./ 3 Ok. Highlands
Western Meadowlark 150, singing everywhere one looked
Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch 12 Nealy Rd, Ok Highlands
Cassin's Finch 20, Cameron Lk Rd, Central Ferry Rd
Common Redpoll 35 Mary Anne Creek Rd

April 2
Cinnamon Teal 2 drakes at Dodson Rd and Frenchman Hills Rd
Canvasback 6 at Dodson Rd and Frenchman Hills Rd
Chukar 2 flushed at close range at Frenchman Coulee
Eared Grebe, 10 some in breeding plumage, Soap Lk
Am White Pelican, 10, Rt. 28 east of Wilson Creek
Ferruginous Hawk 1 nest site at Wilson Creek
Long-billed Curlew 2, one on Stafford Rd, Wilson Cr, on on Rt. 17 south of Othello
Sandhill Crane 1200 along County Line Ponds, Rt. 26, west of Othello
Burrowing Owl 1 Othello
White-throated Swift 10 Frenchman Coulee
Loggerhead Shrike 1 Wilson Creek
Yellow-rumped Warbler 50+ along Frenchman Hills Rd and Dodson Rd.
Rock Wren 1 Wilson Creek
Canyon Wren 1 Chelan Falls
Sage Thrasher 4 Old Vantage Highway
Brewer's Sparrow 4 Old Vantage Highway
Sage Sparrow 2 Old Vantage Highway
Tri-colored Blackbird 22 Wilson's Cr.
Yellow-headed Blackbird 8 Wilson's Cr.