First of all - thank you, Shep, for a most wonderful trip to the Okanogan
Highlands (hopefully one of many yet to come).
It was a truly amazing trip, from all perspectives. A great trip leader and
guide, wonderful company, lots of excitement (feathered and otherwise 😊),
great, great birds (6 lifers for Taghrid and myself), and last but definitely
not least a SNOWY OWL!
Here’s a link to some of the photos I took during the trip:
https://flic.kr/s/aHsm9Zfm22
All the best and good birding!
--
Nagi Aboulenein
On Feb 19, 2019, 1:34 PM -0800, Shep Thorp <shepthorp@xxxxxxxxx>, wrote:
Hi Tweets!
another adventurous winter trip for the WOS OHWP Presidents Day weekend.
Highlights included very wintry weather with lots of snow and cold
temperatures (low of 9, high of 32 degrees Fahrenheit). Beautiful sightings
including SNOWY OWL, AMERICAN TREE SPARROW, CHUKAR, GOLDEN EAGLE,
SHARP-TAILED GROUSE, ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK, NORTHERN PYGMY OWL, SNOW BUNTING,
GRAY PARTRIDGE, CANYON WREN, RUFFED GROUSE, NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL, and many
CASSIN'S FINCH and VARIED THRUSH.
On our scout day Friday 2/15, most of the group caravaned from North Bend due
to the recent storms, increased snow, and concern for hazardous conditions in
the back country. We had a very productive stop at Walla Walla Point,
Confluence Park, Wenatchee, where we documented a RED-BREASTED MERGANSER
which is considered rare by eBird. Near Douglas, east of Waterville, we
observed a GREAT HORNED OWL being mobbed by COMMON RAVEN. AMERICAN TREE
SPARROW, SONG SPARROW, and RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD showed up to investigate the
ruckus. We were able to relocate a SNOWY OWL west of Atkins Lake in the SE
corner of the plateau just near 1 Road NE and L Road NE/Woods Road
NE/Heritage Road NE. I missed the bird completely as I focused my search on
the east side of the road running north south. Thank goodness for my long
caravan and the sharp eyes of Teri taking up the rear to find the owl on the
west side of the road on a berm. This Snowy Owl is different bird than the
one I observed 4 weeks earlier during the scout trip, as it had many dark
markings on head and back, perhaps a female? The Snowy I observed with
scouters was all white and possibly a male. Driving north on Heritage Rd NE
towards 172, there is an abandoned barn with active grain containers on the
west side of the road. This spot was excellent for AMERICAN TREE SPARROW
with over 10 individuals seen providing good looks. Further north prior to
reaching 172, we found a large flock of 200 HORNED LARK with a LAPLAND
LONGSPUR in the mix.
First Trip Day Saturday 2/16, we headed to the Okanogan Highlands with our
full group. With the added snow, Fancher Road delivered with over 100 CHUKAR
down by the cattle feed station and fabulous looks at hungry GOLDEN EAGLE
hunting the butte. We had a fabulous morning on Siwash Creek Road, which
slowed my itinerary down, but the sightings were fabulous. Continued close
looks at SHARP-TAILED GROUSE. Very birdie with lots of PINE SISKIN,
BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE, MOUNTAIN CHICKADEE, RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH, WHITE
BREASTED NUTHATCH, PYGMY NUTHATCH, RED-CROSSBILL and HOUSE FINCH. We had
quick looks at GREAT HORNED OWL and NORTHERN GOSHAWK as well, but fly byes
near the front or back of the caravan only. My winter splurge into CASSIN'S
FINCH continues with probably another 100 observed along the way. Flocks of
5-30 were seen in multiple areas. We also had great looks at ROUGH-LEGGED
HAWK. The Highland Snow-Park was birdie, but with more of the same Pine
Siskin, Cassin's Finch, all three Nuthatch and Mountain Chickadee. Many
expected species at the Highland Meadows home feeder on Nealy Road and Gary
Eagle's place, the Knob Hill Forge, on Hungry-Hollow Road, more of the same
with DOWNY WOODPECKER and AMERICAN GOLDFINCH. The activity slowed down in
the afternoon with not much to see around Chesaw and Mary Ann Creek. We did
have two Great Horned Owls on Mary Ann Creek. The NORTHERN PYGMY OWL
continues on Davies Road between Fields Rd and Waterfield Lane and AGAIN we
watched this feisty species catch another late afternoon Vole for dinner.
Descending down Davies Road, south of Teal Lake, towards Chesaw Highway we
observed 6 SNOW BUNTING to round out the day.
Second Trip Day Sunday 2/17, we headed to Conconully in the morning and
Cameron Lake Road in the afternoon. Scotch Creek Wildlife Area overlook just
west of Happy Hill Road was good for 32 SHARP-TAILED GROUSE. This was great
to see! I did not observe grouse here 3 and 4 weeks previously, but we had
much less snow at that time. This is a good number of grouse to see in this
area and makes me feel the population may have grown. Conconully was good
for CASSIN'S FINCH, PINE SISKIN, and VARIED THRUSH. Not only did we see lots
of these species, but we also had good numbers of HOUSE FINCH, DARK-EYED
JUNCO and WILD TURKEY (65). We observed two PURPLE FINCH and a SLATE-COLORED
JUNCO in the mix. Many NORTHERN FLICKER and BALD EAGLE. Good numbers of RED
CROSSBILL on the hillside. We ventured on a spur trip to Hess Lake in search
of a Long-eared Owl roost, which we did not find, but did have fabulous looks
at GRAY PARTRIDGE and CHUKAR on the hillside just northeast of the lake,
beautiful spot. In Hess Lake we observed COMMON MERGANSER, RING-NECKED DUCK,
COMMON GOLDENEYE and GADWALL. On our way out of Hess Lake Road Anna spotted
a gray backed falcon that we did not relocate to identify, darn it!
Riverside Cut-off was very good for GRAY PARTRIDGE, NORTHERN HARRIER and
RED-TAILED HAWK. We relocated a CANYON WREN along the butte, but not the
Rock Wren that we documented 3 weeks earlier with Clearwater Audubon group.
The north end of Cameron Lake Road was great for RED CROSSBILL, CASSIN'S
FINCH, PYGMY NUTHATCH, MOUNTAIN CHICKADEE, CLARK'S NUTCRACKER, STELLER'S JAY,
NORTHERN FLICKER and DOWNY WOODPECKER. Thanks to Anna we had fabulous looks
at three RUFFED GROUSE near the American Flag spot, but we dipped on
White-headed Woodpecker. With the wintry weather, we had lots of drifting
snow on the plateau and Timentwa Flats. At the cattle farm we picked up GRAY
PARTRIDGE and HORNED LARK, but NO Snow Bunting. I was driven to go south,
scouting for owl and falcon, with plans to visit Bridgeport State Park and
Washburn Island, but my ambition got the best of me. West of Greenway, I
lead my caravan of eager birders down the road with progressively deeper snow
drifts. We had Porcupine, which was great. However, at one point the drifts
were too deep and I backed myself out of a deep drift and right off the road
into a ditch! Stuck in the snow, our day came to a screeching halt. After
10 minutes of a little of this and that, and getting stuck deeper into the
snowy ditch, my wiser intrepid bird watchers called a Tow Truck from Tonasket
as it was 3:30pm and daylight was limited. I've got a new 2019 Forrester and
put into extreme mode deep snow and mud driving with Paula's help of driving
manual review. Ken pulled around his new 2019 Forrester, we screwed in our
special tow eye-ring bolts, and hooked up the tow line. Teamwork, trial and
error, thoughtful consideration and lots of NORTHERN SHOVELERS, my car was
heroically pulled form the ditch and back onto the road!!! Thanks WOS member
intrepid birders for saving me on another adventurous winter trip. Several
small flocks of HORNED LARK with SNOW BUNTING teased me during the whole
ordeal. We met the Tow Truck driver on our way back north and checked in.
We had already cancelled the request as we no longer needed his help. He had
a pleasant smile on his face as he exclaimed that he was now out for a nice
drive, his trusty dog wagging its tail in the passenger seat of his rig.
Third Trip Day Monday 2/18, we headed to Bridgeport State Park, to pick up
where we left off from the previous afternoon calamity. We observed three
NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWLS in the park, two in one tree which was new for me! We
also had nice sightings of CALIFORNIA QUAIL, DARK-EYED JUNCO, RING-NECKED
PHEASANT, MERLIN, and AMERICAN KESTREL. GADWALL, LESSER SCAUP, COMMON
GOLDENEYE, GREAT BLUE HERON and BELTED KINGFISHER were seen at the hatchery.
In the Columbia River by the bridge we observed COMMON MERGANSER,
RED-BREASTED MERGANSER, GREATER SCAUP, PIED-BILLED GREBE and BUFFLEHEAD.
Getting up onto the Waterville Plateau, we located a nice BPI manure pile and
field scraping, along B Road NE, that hosted several hundred HORNED LARK,
with some decent looks at SNOW BUNTING and LAPLAND LONGSPUR. On H Road NE of
Mansfield, we found a PRAIRIE FALCON and many more Horned Lark with
sprinkling of Snow Bunting, but could not relocate the Snowy Owl previously
reported. We met Gina and Julie from Spokane, who were also looking for the
Snowy, so we invited them to follow us to the southeast corner of the plateau
to help us spot this target species. Approaching K Road heading east on 172,
a mixed flock of GRAY PARTRIDGE and GREATER SAGE GROUSE flew across the road
and startled us. We were not able to relocate the Sage Grouse, but this is
an area that they have been frequently seen in the past, as it is a nice
north south stretch of Big Sagebrush. Heading south on Heritage Road, we
were able to relocate the AMERICAN TREE SPARROW at an abandoned farm with
active grain containers on the west side of the road. NORTHERN SHRIKE was
also seen. We finished up the day with fabulous satisfying looks of the
relocated SNOWY OWL just east of the intersection between L Rd NE/1 Rd
NE/Woods Rd NE-Heritage Rd NE west of Atkins Lake. A Life Bird and Nemesis
Bird for several on the trip! I hope it continues to stick around for others
to see and enjoy.
All in all, another great winter trip. Over 80 species seen with many
specialty targets accomplished. Misses included Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch,
Common Redpoll, Great Gray Owl, and woodpeckers (Black-backed, White-headed,
American Three-toed). But that is winter birding! We dropped off seed at
Nealy Road, Hungry Hollow, and North Fork Salmon Creek Road feeders. As
well, made a seed dump at the abandoned farm on Heritage Road. Thanks to all
my wonderful trip attendees for making this a super fun time to remember!
Happy Birding,
Shep
--
Shep Thorp
Browns Point
253-370-3742
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