Hello,

This morning found me birding the Harvey Creek -; Bunchgrass Meadows area of northern Pend Oreille county. Two of the rarest things I saw all day was rain followed by clear skies. It has been a while.

Beyond the clear skies, the morning up Harvey Creek was really productive. I'll try to give a report that will make sense if others want to attempt to track down some of these birds. Starting from the intersection of Harvey Creek Rd and Sullivan Lake Rd.

Mile 6.5 I heard a female SPRUCE GROUSE calling from just off the edge of the road. I saw her briefly fly but land quickly in thicket. She continued to call nearby -; I suppose regathering her chicks.

Just past the 9mi marker, Harvey Creek takes a sharp turn to the left. This corner is the old access to bunchgrass meadows. The access in blocked by rocks and overgrown and there is a small no snowmobile sing in a tree. This is typically where I begin to see BOREAL CHICKADEES, and there was one here today. But today, there was also a flock of at least 5 WHITE WINGED CROSSBILLS here with two males breaking out in full song.

I found more BOREAL CHICKADEES AT 10 mile, 10.5 mile, and 11 mile spot -; total 11 Boreal Chickadees. There were also more WHITE WINGED CROSBILLS and 2 PINE GROSBEAKS in these areas as well. LINCOLN SPARROWS were at the camp spot overlooking Bunchgrass Meadows.

At the 10.5 mile sport, there were 2 AMERICAN THREE TOED WOODPECKERS in the dead trees on the right uphill side of the road. A pair of Red Crossbills and 3 Olive-sided Flycatchers were here as well.

Other good birds seen today: Pine Siskins were everywhere, Stellers and Gray Jays, 2 Clark's Nutcrackers (uncommon at Bunchgrass). Western Tanagers, Hermit Thrushes and Townsend's Warblers. The area between mp 9 and mp 12 along Harvey Creek seems to rival Mt Salmo for the consistency in finding the mountain specialties. There were 10 Vaux's Swifts at the bridge at the mouth of Harvey Creek.

A little disappointing, the mudflats at the Flying Goose Ranch on the Kalispell Indian Reservation seemed perfect for shorebirds, but there was only one SOLITARY SANDPIPER present.

Blessings
Terry Little
Mead, Wa

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