[Tweeters] Okanogan Highlands/Waterville Plateau Scout Trip Update from 1/23

[Shep Thorp]

Hi Tweets,

We finished up our Scout Trip yesterday, and were fogged out on the
Southeast and West Plateau.  The combination of the fog and the high snow
level, making numerous areas impassable, impeded our ability to scan and
explore.  We were unable to relocate a Snowy Owl reported previously along
1 Rd (Atkins Lake Area) and St Andrews/6 Rd (between SR 17 and L Rd/Woods
Rd/Heritage Rd).  We had numerous good looks at female, male and immature
Rough-legged Hawk along Heritage Road as well as a single Northern Shrike.
We came across 4 flocks of 50+ Horned Lark, but were not able to locate any
Gray-Crowned Rosy-finch, Snow Bunting, or Lapland Longspur.

The road to the Mansfield Cemetery is not plowed, so we couldn't explore
this hotspot for sparrows or owls.  We did check the Waterville City Park
and Cemetery for Saw-whets without success.  So our scout trip dipped on
finding any Northern Saw-whet Owls in our trip area.

The Bridgeport Bar was good for Canvasback, Western Meadowlark and a
Harlan's variety of Red-tailed Hawk near Gun Club and Grange Road.  There
were very few sparrows, so I don't think the feeder is active.  We did have
good numbers of sparrows and an active feeder on Washburn Island on Friday
1/20.

If you have been following along, and have seen my reports from Sun 1/22
and Sat 1/21, you will appreciate that we have had many very nice sightings
and a special audible, but overall the birding was slow.  There is a lot of
snow on the Waterville Plateau and Okanogan Highlands making accessibility
and searching more challenging.  The scenery is beautiful, and spending
time looking for birds is fun, rewarding and special as always.  However,
overall the birding on the scout was slower than usual and I'm interested
to see if this is the situation for our WOS Winter Trip President's Day
weekend.

We observed 81 species on the Scout.  Expected species that we dipped on
were Redhead, Northern Saw-whet Owl, Northern Pygmy-Owl, Cassin's Finch,
and Gray-crowned Rosy-finch.  Harder to find species that I hope to see but
that we dipped on were Pine Grosbeak, Common Redpoll, Snowy Owl, American
Tree Sparrow, Lapland Longspur, Short-eared Owl/Long-eared Owl, Woodpeckers
and Accipiters.  Aside from being a little slower, I suspect that this is a
slower year for Sparrows and Finches.

Perhaps in three weeks when we run the WOS Trip, there will be less snow
and less fog making it easier to scan and explore.  We shall see.

Be well, be safe, and happy birding,
Shep
-- 
Shep Thorp
Browns Point
253-370-3742
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