This is a route that was developed by the East Cascades Audubon Society to survey winter raptors. It begins on the north end of the town of Waterville in North Central Washington. Check the map for detailed directions. The route starts at the intersection of Rd K and Rd 3 and mostly goes north and east all the way to Dyer Hill Road. Then you travel south and west paralleling the route north until you hit the starting point at Rd K/Rd 3. The final stage is then traveling north on Rd K until you reach the endpoint at Rd 8.  The route covers about 76 miles and at a survey pace takes around 4 hours to complete.

Access:

All segments of the survey route can be accessed from Waterville (please see the map).

From the West:

From SR 97 along the east side of the Columbia River travel to Orondo (about 17 miles north of downtown Wenatchee). In Orondo, turn east on US 2 and travel to Waterville. At the north end of the town go north on Rd O and East on Rd 3 to the starting point at Rd K.

From the East:

From the intersection of I-90 and US 2 (just west of downtown Spokane), drive west on US 2 until you hit Waterville. At the north end of the town go north on Rd O and East on Rd 3 to the starting point at Rd K.

Logistics:

Since this is a winter driving route, it was developed with information from the Grant County snow plow map. While these roads are open in the winter, if there is snowfall the day before, they might not be plowed or drivable. Rd F south of Sprauer Rd and Rd 3 east of Rd K are the only roads along the route not plowed so usually are not accessible in winter after any appreciable snow. Please use caution. The roads have little traffic except for your limited time on SR 17. Restroom facilities are available at the mini-mart just west of Waterville on US 2.

Major habitats:

• Agricultural fields – mainly dryland wheat

• Shrub-steppe – dominated by sagebrush and/or bitterbrush and grasses and forbs

• Wetlands

Species observed:

Mostly Rough-legged hawks with fewer numbers of Red-tailed hawk, Northern harrier, American kestrel, Golden eagle, Bald eagle, Prairie and Peregrine falcon. We had one sighting of a Merlin and Great horned owl in the town of Withrow.