Hi Tweets - For day 2 of this fine winter venture, we headed for the Okanagan Highlands this morning. First stop, with overcast skies and about 26 degrees was Fancher Rd., just a few miles up from Tonasket. This has become a go to place for Golden Eagle with two quite prominent on the cliffs to the west, and Chukar (Hungarian Cowbirds?): A couple of dozen we're hanging out with and under the cattle and Quail where the road ends up in a farm yard. We then headed up Siwash Cr. Rd for a beautiful drive but missing many hoped for birds seen here recently by others. Hopefully, Shep's WOS group will find them all tomorrow! At the top of Siwash, we drove into a fog that persisted through Havillah and up Havillah Rd. and the beginning of Nealey Rd. The only birds to be found in the fog were a fine group of Rock Pigeons and a flock of House Sparrows (woo-hoo!!). By the Nealey Feeders, the air had cleared and a light snow was falling. The feeders hosted a crowd of Am. Goldfinch and a number of Wild Turkeys - not the favorites of the lady who fills the feeders (bring a seed or $$ contribution if you visit!). In a Willow near the road, we found a pair of Roughed Grouse, all bundled up against the weather. From there on, I'd have to say, we didn't see anything too special of an avian sort. We ended the afternoon with a couple miles of Ski-birding at the Havillah SnoPark, now snowing but no longer foggy! The skiing was much better than the birding I'm afraid with a couple of Clark's Nutcrackers the only notables. No great owls on the way back to Tonasket. We end the day swapping tales with Shep and the WOS group over too much (but good) Mexican food and wishing them better visibility and more birds than we saw, as they head up there tomorrow. So it goes... Jon Houghton, Edmonds

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