Little Pend Oreille NWR Field Trip
Leaders: Bea and Jim Harrison
Written By Bea and Jim Harrison

Evening Grosbeak (Photo by Bea Harrison)

Bea and Jim Harrison along with Jenny Michaels and Sharon Lindsay traveled north for a bird excursion to the Little Pend Oreille National Wildlife Refuge. For many years this was an annual SAS trip. The refuge is famous for its habitat and bird diversity. Base camp was at the McDowell Lake campground. The weather was nice except for some showers overnight.

Jenny immediately recognized the call of Evening Grosbeaks in the campground, and we located them in the top of the tallest trees! Sharon is an avid photographer, and she enjoyed shooting while we birded. We slowly walked the trail to McDowell Lake, which includes a boardwalk over a wetland, where we saw and heard Red-winged Blackbirds, Common Yellowthroats, Song Sparrows, Yellow Warblers, Warbling Vireos, etc. An Osprey was sailing over the lake under billowy white clouds.

Next, everyone piled into Jenny’s Cherokee and we birded our way around the driving loop down Rookery Road, stopping at the beaver pond. Next stop was Bailey Lake. There was a variety of ducks there and a few coots. Heading back north we found bluebirds, a meadowlark, and a mystery bird that we photographed at Berg lane and finally identified as a female Western Bluebird. We also stopped at Bear Creek campground and Cottonwood campground. Yellow warblers were singing everywhere. After stopping at the trail by the headquarters we drove our weary bodies back to camp. After dinner we had a nice evening swapping lies and solving world problems.

Sunday morning brought another walk to the lake, where we glimpsed a calling MacGillivray’s Warbler and saw Spotted Sandpipers and heard a Sora calling. Then again, we piled in Jenny’s car and headed north up Blacktail Road into a higher elevation area that was new territory to us all. Sharon was hoping to find her first dipper to photograph, and sure enough, at the bridge over the Little Pend Oreille River, we found it. There was an adult with a hungry youngster interacting right below us in the river. This was the highlight of the trip for all of us.

After driving into the refuge interior, we headed back. It was a great overnight trip with good weather and fantastic company. Our final total was 50 species. As an added treat, butterflies were abundant, especially in the upper elevations and near the lakes.

Hopefully, we can make this trip an annual Audubon event again. Little Pend Oreille NWR is a special treasure in our backyard and we need to utilize it when we can.