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Hi Tweets - This week we made our traditional December trip through the Waterville Plateau to Omak, and the Okanogan Highlands in a final effort to boost my meager Washington list for the year. There was some good news and some less good news. Stevens Pass was bare and wet so driving was easy and scenery was nice with pretty complete, though thin snow cover all the way to Omak. We started with a brief stop at Debbie S's feeders in Cashmere where I hoped to catch a glimpse of the Evening Grosbeak she'd reported. No luck. Heading up Badger Mt., we saw just two Horned Larks, and going over the mountain and down the Waterville side - pretty much nothing. The house with many feeders on Route 2 in Waterville seems to have changed hands with a new fenced yard and no feeders. East of town along Rt. 2 there were the usual flocks of larks but none the birds we could get in the bins were anything different. We went into Moses Coulee about a mile and played a lot of Canyon Wren calls near good looking rock scree slopes w/o response. We turned north on H Rd up to 1st and turned east through areas where past winters have had Gray Partridge and Snowy Owls. None of them, but we did find a nicely perched up Prairie Falcon. Nothing much around Atkins Lake. Heritage/Woods Rd north was untracked so we went east on Rt. 2 to 17 north to Simms Corner and then west on 172 towards Mansfield. Ravens, magpies, an occasional Rough-legged Hawk and lots of larks were there. Approaching Mansfield, a large lark flock stayed on the road in front of us long enough to pick out one lone Snow Bunting; finally, a FOY! The trip down Bridgeport Hill Rd was, as expected, bleak and mostly bird free since the big fire took our all the good grouse habitat. We skipped Bridgeport SP owling since I had just seen a Saw-whet in the Everett CBC. There were NO birds in the orchard at the jct of Rt 17 and 97 where Bohemian Waxwings have been seen in previous years. That ended Day 1. Side note: Rancho Chico in Omak is closed indefinitely for a reported health violation. We (and the WOS trips) always enjoyed our meals there so hope they'll be back in biz soon!
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The next day we headed north to Tonasket and up Havilla Rd. to Fancher Rd. A Golden Eagle was perched in the usual place on the cliff side. There were no Chukar down at the farm but they were heard on the hillside above. We then circled back down past the stock yards (many Mallards) to Siwash Cr. Rd. The hills around Siwash canyon had minimal snow with bare spots under most of the sage so we had little hope for Sharp-tailed Grouse and there were none to be seen in the creek-side shrubs all the way up. Chickadees (2 spp.) and Red-breasted Nuthatches responded to most of my Pygmy Owl tooting, along with one flock of Red Crossbills. That was pretty much the case all the way up and over No, Siwash to Havilla Rd. At one area of large ponderosa with some good snags, Merlin picked up all three spp. of nuthatches but we still only saw Red-breasted. At that place we had a great scene of a Pileated WP and a White-headed WP in the same tree. We had a very unbirdy trip up Havilla Rd. to Nealy Rd. (one RLHA - better than last January!) and along (foggy, 28 degree) Nealy to the feeders which were bird free as far as we could tell from the road. Few birds (ravens, magpies) from there to Chesaw for hot lunch at the Chesaw Tav. (rumor is it may be sold!). Not many birds around Chesaw, out Bolster Rd., or up to the Chesaw Cemetery. A couple of flocks of Pine Siskins did not seem to include any redpolls. After lunch, in cold (28 degree) light rain, we headed up Mary Ann Creek Rd. where we found a No. Shrike and No. Pygmy Owl, each on the top of a tall tree, higher than we've ever seen either species (!?). Nothing new or very exciting to be seen in Molson although we didn't go all the way to the lake. We then went back east on Chesaw Rd to Havilla Rd., and back to the Sno Park without any new birds (4 Rough-legs in the Highlands for the day - much better than last January). We hit the Sno Park at early dusk, perfect time for Great Grays to be out and about - alas, no repeat of our great encounters there in past years. Also, we saw no owls on poles or rock piles all the way back to Tonasket. - No FOYs for the day (even a Pygmy Nuthatch would have been a FOY!).
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Day 3 dawned foggy and cool (28 degrees) in Omak with ice on the car and pavement in the parking lot. We skipped our usual trip up to Conconully, and went straight to Cameron Lake Rd. We ascended up out of the fog but into light, cold (30 degree) rain on the Cameron Lake Loop Rd. Again, no Pygmy Nuthatch (or any other birds) could be found in the few ponderosa that escaped the inferno of 2 years ago. No birds were seen in the 4-5 miles to the place, about 1/2 mi. north of Timentwa Rd., where the only reliable flowing water crosses the road. Wetlands up and downstream of the road were almost totally burned in the fire but their skeletons, and cattails continue to provide wintering habitat for a few Song Sparrows and American Tree Sparrows. On Timentwa Road, at the first farm (house burned, family now in a trailer), we hit the jackpot with several flocks of Gray Partridge (FOY!) at various locations among the cattle, taking advantage of the forage provided for and by the cattle. Very large flocks of larks were also present but, again, none of the hundreds of Snow Buntings we used to see here. That's about it...many more larks along the rest of Cameron Lk Rd. but the only unusual bird was a lone Bald Eagle, a long way from the river.
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Anyway, sorry about the length above, but hope this may aid in your decisions about heading up there. The scenery is always worth the trip for this snow-starved West-Sider but I think some more winter-like weather with some greater snow cover is needed to make for a more memorable birding trip, especially to get those chickens down where we can see them! Happy Birding AND Happy Holidays and New Year. - Jon Houghton, Edmonds
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