Hello Tweeters,

Twenty of us enjoyed a wonderful three day Presidents Day weekend of
birding with temperatures in the mid 30's degrees Fahrenheit, mostly cloudy
skies with intermittent snow and some sun breaks. We saw 82 species during
our trip and highlights included Sharp-tailed Grouse, Snow Bunting,
Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch, Common Redpoll, Hoary Redpoll, Northern Goshawk,
Gyrfalcon, Long-tailed Duck, Bohemian Waxwing, Northern Saw-whet Owl,
American Tree Sparrow, western Arctic variety of Horned Lark and
Yellow-billed Loon.

Saturday the 18th, we had fabulous observation of 12 Sharp-tailed Grouse
flying into the Scotch Creek Wildlife Area and eating catkins from the tops
of Water Birch Trees at 7am where Happy Hill Road intersects with
Conconully Road. The birding was slow in Conconully, but we had many nice
looks at Golden Eagle, Bald Eagle and Northern Shrike along the way. On
Havillah Road between the Highlands Cross Country Ski SnoPark and Nealy
Road, we watched a flock of 1,500 Snow Bunting flying around the
agricultural fields. Not unlike shorebirds, the flock was flighty, up and
down, and moved like a large school of fish when in the air. While on the
ground we had reasonable views in the scopes 100-200 yards away. We also
picked up Gray Jay on our way. At the Nealy Road feeders we observed a
flock of 100 Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch. Most were Coastal (gray-cheeked or
Hepburn's), but in the group we saw an occasional Interior (gray-crowned
or 'brown cheeked') variety. We felt fortunate to have very close
observation of Common Redpoll at the Nealy Road feeders and the many
feeders in Chesaw. This year we gave a bag of seed to the Grange Road
feeder home and the Nealy Road feeder home. The folks on Nealy Road
allowed us on the property for closer looks. Four of our birders observed
a large frosty white Redpoll in Chesaw in a flock of 100 plus birds, we
unfortunately did not obtain photographs. By the time I was able to scope
the bird from behind I could appreciate a white rump with a patch of rose
blush, prominent white wing bars with significant white margins on the
tertial and scapular feathers, and a lightly streaked mantle. As a group
we discussed our observations, many of us had recently read the
photographic essay on redpolls in the ABA magazine, and felt confident we
had seen a Hoary Redpoll Southern Race (exilipes). We got to Mary Ann
Creek Road very late, so it was slow, but got lucky and had a very nice fly
over of a Northern Goshawk during sunset.

Sunday the 19th, we tried unsuccessfully for Bohemian Waxwing at McLaughlin
Canyon/South Janis Road orchards, but again got lucky and had a nice fly
over of Gyrfalcon heading north northeast toward the canyon rim. Cameron
Lake Road provided nice opportunities to enjoy Pygmy Nuthatch,
White-breasted Nuthatch, Mountain Chickadee, Red Crossbill, Horned Lark,
Northern Shrike and a few Snow Bunting. Meredith Spencer suggested we
check out Washburn Island at the northeast corner of Lake Pateros, which
turned out to be a wonderful tip. We had terrific views of two Long-tailed
Ducks and other waterfowl including Canvasbacks, Ring-necked Ducks, Lesser
and Greater Scaup, and Common Goldeneye. On the northwestern edge of
Washburn Island is a row of trees, two game bird feeders, and many rose
bushes with rose hips and bramble. We observed 50+ Bohemian Waxwings and
150+ Cedar Waxwings eating rose hips just about eye level within 20-30
feet. A Merlin flew through flushing the flock, but it soon returned. At
the Bridgeport State Park we had great looks at a Northern Saw-whet Owl
thanks to tips from Khanh Tran, Jud Scovill and David Bauer, we also had
great looks at two Great Horned Owls, Varied Thrush and Brown Creeper.
Again, we were late to Bridgeport Bar at Moe and Grange Roads, so the sun
was setting, but we enjoyed many White-crowned Sparrows (gambelii), a
Golden-crowned Sparrow and additional waterfowl.

Monday the 20th, a quick stop at Brewster Marina gave us an opportunity to
scope more waterfowl up-close including nice looks at Horned Grebe, Common
Loon, Greater and Lesser Scaup. At the entrance to Central Ferry Canyon we
observed 600+ Bohemian Waxwings flying high from orchard to orchard on our
way in, on our way out we had great looks at Merlin and Coopers Hawk. At
the top of Central Ferry Canyon we added Townsend's Solitaire and Clark
Nutcracker to our list, and had additional observation of Pygmy Nuthatch,
White-breasted Nuthatch, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Steller's Jay, Downy
Woodpecker and Red Crossbill. On the Waterville Plateau, we continued to
add to our high count of Rough-legged Hawks, 30+, with the occasional dark
morph and notable sexual dimorphism. Other raptors seen included many
American Kestrel, Northern Harrier and occasional Northern Shrike.
Unfortunately we missed seeing the Long-eared Owl at the abandoned farm
thicket on Heritage Road. The owls were there last Friday 2/17 on our
scout day, but perhaps they were disturbed? Fortunately good numbers of
American Tree Sparrow provided nice looks for our group. Another Great
Horned Owl was seen at Mansfield Cemetery, as well as a wing from a dead
Great Horned Owl and a leg from a dead Rough-legged Hawk. We speculated
that perhaps a Great Horned Owl or Gyrfalcon was predating on these other
birds. Again, on the suggestion of Meredith Spencer, a flock of 20+
Greater Sage Grouse had been seen Sunday evening 2/19 in the canola field
south of 172 just 0.25 miles west of the Division Road intersection west of
Mansfield. By Monday afternoon, we could not find the birds while
scanning, but enjoyed seeing their foot prints in the snow and all the
activity that must have occurred between the rock piles and flocking while
they were there. During our scanning, several of our group observed 3 or 4
light faced Horned Lark with no yellow. We concluded we were seeing a few
arctic variety of Horned Lark in the very large numbers of Horned Lark that
are abundant over the plateau. We ended our weekend at Confluence Park and
Walla Walla Point Park in Wenatchee with sightings and the Yellow-billed
Loon and close up views of a male and female pair of Eurasian Wigeon in a
large flock of American Wigeon.

We had a wonderful WOS Field Trip, and greatly appreciate all the birders
who attended. Our group had great spotters, very nice discussions on
species field marks, behaviors, habitat, status/distribution, and were very
respectful of each other and the residents of this wonderful region.

Until next time, good birding!

Shep Thorp and Ruth Sullivan.
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