[Tweeters] Okanogan Trip Report

[Eric Crockett]

Emily Larson, John Leszczynski, and I took advantage of the long
President's Day weekend to explore Okanogan County. We drove to Omak on
Friday night, which served as our base for three days. While the birding
was pretty quiet most of the time, we ended up with many quality birds and
looks. You can find the eBird trip report at
https://ebird.org/tripreport/204539.

"North Okanogan"
We started bright and early on Saturday at McLaughlin Orchard. We were
rewarded with a flock of 400 Bohemian Waxwing calling overhead as they flew
around the orchard. It was a wonderful way to experience a life bird. Next
we went to Fancher Flats, where Alan Knue pointed out a best-look-ever
Golden Eagle being harassed by magpies. We combed the trees along Siwash
Creek Road in search of Sharp-tailed Grouse, but didn't find any.
Unfortunately, they tend to disperse after the snow melts, making them much
harder to find. On N Siwash Creek, we ran into Shep Thorp, Scott Ramos, and
the rest of the WOS field trip. This turned out to be the highlight of N
Siwash Creek, since there weren't any birds to speak of. Shortly after
getting back on Havillah Road, we found a flock of 100 Common Redpoll
giving us great looks. At the farm near Teas Road, we found a Varied Thrush
foraging underneath a cage filled with what appeared to be captive Eurasian
Collared Doves. The highlight was a flock of 40 Snow Bunting, including one
that narrowly escaped a Merlin. As we proceeded north across Chesaw Road,
we got our first and only Rough-legged Hawk of the trip on Davies Road.
Mary Ann Creek yielded four Ruffed Grouse, and another run-in with the WOS
group where we all got fantastic looks at a grouse sitting contentedly in a
tree perhaps 30 feet from us. Since Sharp-tailed Grouse was a target for
us, we headed back down to Siwash Creek for an afternoon run. We dipped on
grouse again, but crossed paths with a roving gang of Wild Turkeys instead.
Our day concluded with owling at Highlands Sno-Park. There were three other
groups owling as well (including the WOS contingency), but the owls didn't
get the memo. We dipped on our target Great Gray Owl, and ended up with a
consolation Great Horned Owl where the Sno Park road meets Havillah Rd.

"West Okanogan"
On Sunday, we started at the Scotch Creek Wildlife Area at 6:30 AM. We
heard a Great Horned Owl duet calling from the creek, and heard one call
from what may have been a Short-eared Owl. I marched the group straight up
the canyon where we spent three hours taking in the scenery and flora,
since the birds were scarce. A highlight was a 10-minute search for a bird
doing an odd song; we were all pleasantly surprised to find a Song Sparrow
practicing for spring with a whisper song. We dipped for a third time on
Sharp-tailed Grouse. On the other end of the preserve, we picked up a
Canyon Wren calling across Hess Lake. As we headed towards Twisp, we were
all befuddled by a mysterious dark hawk. After consulting with Sibley and
puzzling it out for a few minutes, we realized we were looking at a
(textbook!) Harlan's Red-tailed Hawk. We were all very pleased to have
gotten such a good look, and to have been able to get an ID on a bird none
of us had ever seen well. In Twisp, there were no Pine Grosbeaks at the
Town Park, but we did observe an American Dipper on the river. Fortunately,
up the road at Pearrygin State Park, we found a flock of cooperative Pine
Grosbeak, foraging with a lone Purple Finch. The grosbeaks seemed to be
largely adult "taiga" females (yellow head, gray body) and "russet" females
(reddish head, sometimes bordering on orange, with a gray body). We briefly
got a look at an all-red adult male. Our next stop was Sun Mountain Lodge.
We walked about 0.9 miles down the Kraule trail until we reached a stand of
recently-burned trees. We heard some gentle tapping and went to
investigate, only to find ourselves in a mixed flock of no fewer than seven
woodpeckers of three different species (Downy, Hairy, and White-headed). We
ended the day with owling on Twisp River Road. In the winter, this road is
closed shortly after it becomes NF-44. We started walking one hour before
sunset about 1.5 miles on snow, not quite reaching the War Creek
Campground. Along the way we heard singing American Dipper. On the way back
to the car, we heard Northern Pygmy Owl, Northern Saw-whet Owl, and Great
Horned Owl. John spotted the GHOW observing us from two different tree
tops as we walked back. We may have flushed a grouse of some variety, but
were too distracted by a calling Saw-whet to investigate further.

"South Okanogan"
On Sunday, we drove Cameron Lake Road, starting outside Omak and coming out
at Brewster. Early on, we heard a mystery finch(?) that we never ended up
identifying. The north end turned up the "usual suspects", but once we got
up to the top, the birding got interesting. There were many singing Horned
Larks, but we never found a Lapland Longspur. John noticed two bird-shaped
lumps in a field that turned out to be Gray Partridges. On a lark, we got
out and walked around near an abandoned barn (48.1520558, -119.4948501).
This turned out to be a great stop, yielding 15 American Tree Sparrows, a
roosting Great Horned Owl, and our only Western Meadowlark of the trip. At
the sound end of Cameron Lake Road, we scanned the Columbia River and swept
the waterfowl category; highlights included Trumpeter Swan, Canvasback,
Redhead, and Ruddy Duck. After lunch in Brewster, we had time for one last
stop before heading home. The Atkins Lake Snowy Owl was a bit too far out
of our way, so we opted to try for the Lake Chelan Yellow-billed Loon. We
stopped at the Legend Pullout, where we met a birder who got us on a
Long-tailed Duck. As we were about to leave, Andy Stepnewski pulled up with
several other birders, and suggested we backtrack a bit and try for the
loon at Lakeside Park. After striking out again, we decided to admit defeat
(appropriately, it was starting to rain). As we drove past Legend Pullout
again, the other birders were still there. In an act of desperation, we
stopped to see if they had found the loon, and...it was right at the
pullout! We got great looks at the loon, and didn't even mind the rain.

Misses for the trip were Sharp-tailed Grouse, American Goshawk, Great Gray
Owl, Gray-crowned Rosy-finch, and Lapland Longspur.

Thanks to all of the birders, including those named here, and those whose
names I forgot, who gave us tips along the way. It was lovely to see and
meet everyone. Special thanks to Emily and John, who suffered through early
mornings, long days, meals on the go, and a "brisk" walking pace. It was
all for the birds. Here's hoping for more snow next year.

Happy Birding,
Eric Crockett
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