<!doctype html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
</head>
<body>
<div class="default-style">
Hi Tweets - Tuesday, Kathleen and I headed over Stevens Pass for a gala 3 days, of birding, hoping to enjoy some winter weather that always seems to skip by us in the Edmonds bowl. The road over the pass was quite passible, and the somewhat chilly temps (low 20s) were a harbinger of the next couple of days. We didn't plan any birding until we headed out of East Wenatchee and up over Badger Mt. Temps were in the teens with a small but chilly breeze - We don't usually see a lot of birds up there in the winter but have occasionally found some goodies like Pine Grosbeaks and Red Crossbills in the middle of the road. This transit was very notably bird-free, as was (regrettably) much of the Waterville Plateau drive through Waterville and out east on Route 2 - very few of the usual Horned Lark, flying up in front of the car, but one, very gorgeous black and white Rough-legged Hawk, hovering almost motionless in the very brisk breeze. Finally, on the south end of L Rd. SE, where it meets Rt. 2, near (and in) a field of an unharvested grain (millet??), we found a very large flock of Horned Larks with a small number of associated Snow Buntings. Heading north on Heritage Rd. (aka Woods Rd. NE), we again found few (non-Ravenous) birds. Near the north end of Heritage, we spied a suspicious lump on the leeward side of one of those monster fluvial boulders that litter the landscape which, with the aid of a shivering scope, turned out to be a Prairie Falcon. Nothing much to report between there and Bridgeport State Park, where we found one, extremely cute and mostly unconcerned No. Saw-whet Owl, cuddled in the lower branches of the first, smallest fir tree in the northern part of the park campground. Then on to Omak for fine dining at the Breadline.
</div>
<div class="default-style">
</div>
<div class="default-style">
Wednesday morning was in the low teens in Omak (the car started!) and gradually cooled as we ascended from Tonasket up to Fancher Flats. Two Golden Eagles were soaring around the cliff face on Fancher Rd. and making frequent visits to what seemed like last year's nest. At the farm, Chukar and Ca. Quail were first heard up the mountain side, then seen in considerable numbers among the cattle, enjoying the smaller bits of hay. Siwash Rd, on the other hand, was very bird-free: no Sharp-tailed or Roughed Grouse, and no little birds responded to my repeated (Pygmy Owl) tooting. Clark's Nutcrackers were the ONLY birds seen all the way up to where No. Siwash Rd. heads left up to some gorgeous views out across the valley toward the Pasayton Wilderness. A formerly good birding area around the jct with Oberg Rd. has been severely degraded by thinning in the interest of fire-management. Farther north into some nice mixed ponderosa, spruce, and firs, we finally got some bird reaction to my toots, with Pygmy Nuthatch, Mt. Chickadee, and Red Crossbills getting quite excited. (I was a bit excited too because I somehow managed to NOT see a PYNU in all of 2024!?!). Not much to report along Havilla Rd. up to Nealy Rd. Along Nealy, we found a nice flock of Snow Buntings on one of the several stockpiles of hay bales and a few Mt. Chickadees (and Blackbacks) at the Nealy Rd. feeders. Then, again bird-free, except for occasional Ravens and Magpies, to and through Chesaw and out Bolster Rd. where we get the "welcome to Canada" message on the phone. Temps were in the high single digits as we went back up Chesaw Rd. to Mary Ann Creek Rd. Not very birdy (as usual) there but we did find 3 lovely Roughed Grouse in a thicket right next to the road. Just before we got to the Fields Rd. jct. we finally found one of the real trip targets - a nice little flock of Common (now Only) Redpoll, grazing in some fairly small alders. In beautiful downtown Molson, (3 degrees F.) we heeded sound advice from Darchelle W. and Brian P. and took a trip on a Life Road (Washington Ave.) to #11 where the nice people are feeding birds, including Mt. Chicks and Gray-crowned Rosy Finches. What followed was a pretty bird-free (if you want birds every couple of miles, don't repeat this trip - but the birds you see can be pretty cool) as we went east on Chesaw Rd. to the Havilla Rd. jct. and back to the Sno-Park. At dusk (single digits) the Sno-Park was very quiet (Ravens in the distance) no great views of perched up Great Grays and no owls perched on poles on the way down to Tonasket. Rancho Chico is closed indefinitely (bummer) so we settled for El Torito, right next door to the BW and the Omak Inn.
</div>
<div class="default-style">
</div>
<div class="default-style">
This morning (Thurs) we were bummed to hear that it might have snowed in lower Edmonds but happy that it was only in the high teens in Omak. Our drive home deviated over the Timentwa Plateau (Cameron Lk. Rd.) - once a beautiful, high-steppe desert with patches of ponderosa, but now mostly burned to a crisp. No Am. Tree Sparrows, just Ravens, at the usually reliable spot (they were even there last December!). On Timentwa Rd. there were the usual Gray Partridge at the first (burned up) farm where the plucky ranchers continue to raise cattle. No Horned Larks or Snow Buntings, reportedly here last week, were seen, but we did find a few SNBU and little else (Ravens) along the Cameron Lk. road south and back to Rt. 97. We lunched on the causeway to Washburn Is. and were treated to a plethora of ducks including Redhead, Canvasback, both scaup, several grebes, mergansers etc. We capped the trip off with a stop at the Fort Okanogan site just west of the Okanogan R. mouth for great scope views of the Yellow-billed Loon that's been there for a couple of weeks (saving a trip to Semi-Ah-Moo!). No probs on the trip back over the pass and back to snow-free Edmonds. Sorry for the length of all this - Happy Birding - Jon Houghton, Edmonds.
</div>
</body>
</html>