Hi Tweets,

Five of us just returned from a great winter birding trip to Eastern Washington from Jan 27 to 30, 2012. At times, we birded with 3 other groups who were there at the same time and shared sightings whenever we saw each other or when our cell phones allowed. We birded in 4 counties (Chelan, Douglas, Okanogan and Grant) and covered the hot spots near Omak more thoroughly than other areas.

Some of our "best" birds were: Snowy Owl (spotted by Mark on Jan 29 when we were at the south end of Cameron Lake Road in Okanogan County), Yellow-billed Loon, Northern Hawk Owl, Clark's Nutcracker, Pygmy Nuthatch, American Three-toed Woodpecker, Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch, Red Crossbill , Common Redpoll, Snow Bunting, Golden Eagle, Bohemian Waxwing, Cedar Waxwing, Red-breasted Merganser, Redhead, Chukar, Gray Partridge, Sharp-tailed Grouse, Greater Sage Grouse, Gyrfalcon, & Prairie Falcon.

We missed seeing Pine Grosbeak (Chelan County) & Northern Goshawk (Molson in Okanogan County) which were seen by some of the other birding groups.

Mark's Ebird reports follow, with the more uncommon birds in bold:

Walla Walla Point Park, Chelan, US-WA
Jan 27, 2012 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
Protocol: Stationary
13 species

Canada Goose 30
American Wigeon 60
Mallard 6
Lesser Scaup 14
Common Goldeneye 30
Hooded Merganser 2
Yellow-billed Loon 1
Bald Eagle 1
Ring-billed Gull 2
Northern Flicker 1
American Crow 6
European Starling 8
American Goldfinch 8


WA, Chelan, Union Valley Rd, Chelan, US-WA
Jan 27, 2012 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Protocol: Traveling
5.0 mile(s)
20 species

California Quail 40
Red-tailed Hawk 2
American Kestrel 1
Northern Hawk Owl 1
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 3
Northern Shrike 2
Steller's Jay 2
Black-billed Magpie 4
Clark's Nutcracker 12
Mountain Chickadee 6
Red-breasted Nuthatch 4
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
Pygmy Nuthatch 3
White-crowned Sparrow 5
Dark-eyed Junco 28
Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch 400
House Finch 6
Red Crossbill 2
House Sparrow 8

Mansfield, Douglas, US-WA
Jan 27, 2012 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Protocol: Traveling
20.0 mile(s)
18 species

California Quail 40
Ring-necked Pheasant 3
Bald Eagle 2
Northern Harrier 2
Red-tailed Hawk 4
Rough-legged Hawk 6
Rock Pigeon 8
Eurasian Collared-Dove 7
Northern Flicker 2
Northern Shrike 2
Black-billed Magpie 3
Common Raven 4
Horned Lark 100
American Robin 3
Red-winged Blackbird 4
House Finch 28
American Goldfinch 12
House Sparrow 14


Okanogan Highlands-Havillah Sno Park, Okanogan, US-WA
Jan 28, 2012 7:30 AM - 9:00 AM
Protocol: Traveling
3.0 mile(s)
5 species

Rough-legged Hawk 3
American Three-toed Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 1
Common Raven 6
Common Redpoll 28



WA, Okanogan, Havillah Rd, Okanogan, US-WA
Jan 28, 2012 9:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Protocol: Traveling
20.0 mile(s)
18 species

Northern Harrier 1
Red-tailed Hawk 2
Rough-legged Hawk 10
Golden Eagle 2
American Kestrel 1
Rock Pigeon 6
Mourning Dove 34
Northern Shrike 3
Black-billed Magpie 6
Common Raven 8
Black-capped Chickadee 2
Mountain Chickadee 6
Golden-crowned Kinglet 6
European Starling 10
Snow Bunting 1600
Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch 120
Common Redpoll 60
House Sparrow 20




WA, OKanogan, McLaughlin Cyn Rd, Okanogan, US-WA
Jan 28, 2012 3:00 PM
Protocol: Incidental
6 species

California Quail 12
Chukar 16
Bohemian Waxwing 80
Cedar Waxwing X
Song Sparrow 1
White-crowned Sparrow 18
Golden-crowned Sparrow 2



WA, Okanogan, Omak Lk Rd, Okanogan, US-WA
Jan 28, 2012 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM
Protocol: Traveling
5.0 mile(s)
11 species

Canada Goose 15
Gadwall 2
Ring-necked Duck 2
Lesser Scaup 60
Bufflehead 28
Common Goldeneye 40
Red-breasted Merganser 2
Chukar 40
Gray Partridge 18
Horned Grebe 8
Golden Eagle 1


Scotch Creek Wildlife Area, Okanogan, US-WA
Jan 29, 2012 7:00 AM - 8:00 AM
Protocol: Traveling
4.0 mile(s)
8 species

Gray Partridge 24
Sharp-tailed Grouse 8
Bald Eagle 2
Golden Eagle 1
American Kestrel 3
Northern Shrike 2
Black-billed Magpie 6
Common Raven 4


Conconully State Park, Okanogan, US-WA
Jan 29, 2012 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Protocol: Traveling
2.0 mile(s)
7 species

Great Horned Owl 1
Belted Kingfisher 1
Northern Flicker 4
Steller's Jay 1
Clark's Nutcracker 2
Red-breasted Nuthatch 2
House Sparrow 14

Cameron Lake Road, Okanogan, US-WA
Jan 29, 2012 1:00 PM - 4:30 PM
Protocol: Traveling
20.0 mile(s)
23 species

Canada Goose 24
Cooper's Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Rough-legged Hawk 2
Golden Eagle 2
American Kestrel 3
Gyrfalcon 1
Prairie Falcon 1
Ring-billed Gull 1
Rock Pigeon 8
Great Horned Owl 1
Snowy Owl 1
Northern Flicker 2
Northern Shrike 4
Black-billed Magpie 6
Common Raven 4
Horned Lark 240
Mountain Chickadee 6
Red-breasted Nuthatch 2
Bohemian Waxwing 12
Snow Bunting 28
Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch 14
Red Crossbill 10


WA, Douglas, Leahy Cutoff Rd, Douglas, US-WA
Jan 30, 2012 7:30 AM
Protocol: Incidental
1 species

Greater Sage-Grouse 2


Dry Falls Interpretive Center, Grant, US-WA
Jan 30, 2012 9:00 AM
Protocol: Incidental
1 species

Cedar Waxwing 12


Blue Lake, Grant, US-WA
Jan 30, 2012 9:30 AM
Protocol: Incidental
2 species

Common Merganser 2
Golden Eagle 1


Lenore Lake, Grant, US-WA
Jan 30, 2012 10:30 AM - 11:15 AM
Protocol: Stationary
20 species (+2 other taxa)

Cackling Goose 25
Canada Goose 200
American Wigeon 2
Mallard 4
Northern Shoveler 8
Green-winged Teal 6
Canvasback 2
Redhead 6
Ring-necked Duck 2
Greater Scaup 8
Lesser Scaup 6
Greater/Lesser Scaup 200
Bufflehead 1
Common Goldeneye X
Barrow's Goldeneye 4
Ruddy Duck 2
Great Blue Heron 1
Bald Eagle 1
American Kestrel 2
American Coot 150
gull sp. 1
Common Raven 6

Sharon Aagaard (Bellevue WA)
Mark & Lee Crawford (Kirkland WA)
Liz Cormier (Seattle WA)
Joanne Cormier (Onalaska WA)