Davenport 2026

Submitted by Ted Smith, Coeur d’Alene Audubon Chapter President

Four eager birders met at 7 am to journey to Davenport for our annual mid-winter trip to that area. Thirty-three degree temperatures greeted Chris, Debra, Mark and Ted Smith when they jumped in one car and headed west. Our first stop, (we did track birds seen along the way) was at Audubon Lake in Reardan. This is usually a very reliable site this time of year for a wide variety of waterfowl. Not so much today. We saw no ducks or geese from the dike that crosses the lake and were fearful we might draw a blank. We parked at the WDFW parking lot and hiked out to the blind to check out the lake. We were greeted at the blind by a small flock of American tree sparrows and a lone Townsend’s solitaire. That cheered us up. With scopes trained on the lake we found mallards, northern pintails, common goldeneyes and Canada geese. We also saw several northern harriers coursing over the cattails and fields.

From the lake we drove back roads to Davenport. This turned up more northern harriers, a red-tailed hawk, and numerous horned larks. We spent the rest of the morning birding back roads around Davenport and hunting for saw-whet owls in the cemetery. The owls had been there as evidenced by numerous pellets but try as we might we couldn’t pick one out in the thick spruces they favor. Two “valleys” we passed through lived up to their previous reputation by providing good sightings of raptors and ducks.  The drive along Old Kuch Road turned up two rough-legged hawks, a red-tailed hawk and an adult bald eagle.

We finished our efforts with a late lunch at the Mexican restaurant in Davenport (great food).

Species list:  Canada goose, European starling, American crow, Eurasian collared dove, mallard, ring-necked pheasant, American tree sparrow, Townsend’s solitaire, song sparrow, common goldeneye, northern pintail, northern harrier, black-billed magpie, red-winged blackbird, horned lark, red-tailed hawk, common raven, rough-legged hawk, house finch, robin, bald eagle, American kestrel