> >destination, Cerise Creek (30km E of Pemberton, 50km SW of Lilloet,
> >altitude 1200 to 1900m). Spring tempereatures meant spring skiing/
> >snowshoeing and singing (or calling) birds.
Jack Bowling wrote:
...
> Lucky you!! A minor quibble: your location is nowhere near central B.C.
> geographically a la your renaming of the thread. However, you will and did
> encounter many species more typical of farther north and east in B.C.
I agree, my central B.C. was off centre and chosen for lack of a better
description (the Eastside of the Coast Mtns?). The problem is that for most
people in Vancouver, everything beyond Whistler is 'Northern B.C.' :)

> Townsend's Solitaire's are one bird with which most people only have a
> passing acquaintance. More is the pity since they are an extremely cool bird.
> I bet you all the tea in China that there was a juniper patch somehwere near
> to where you heard that bird singing (and what a song!!). I have seen
> solitaires try to keep chipmunks from raiding berries from "their" juniper
> bushes on Black Knight Mt. near Kelowna. And more than one birder has been
The Solitaires were singing from the top of fir trees, and I didn't see
any Junipers, but there are rocks nearby, and I wasn't searching for them.
...
> This species list is interesting in that it would be typical of a moister
> environment in the dry southern interior of the province. This fits with the
> Pemberton area as being a transition to the drier interior. I must say,
> though, that the given elevation range seems a tad high for you to be
> encountering W. Screech-Owl which is usually a valley-bottom bird. Not to
> question your abilities, Reto, but is there any possibility that it was a
> Boreal Owl, a species for which there is a general lack of useful information
> in the province?

Thanks for your comments about the habitat! I myself am not familiar with
either of these owls, and my friends are more familiar with the Eastern
Screech Owls The call was close to the one on Peterson's Western birds
CD but I will compare with the Boreal Owl call. As I didn't *expect* one...

Reto Riesen
Dept. Chem., UBC
Vancouver, B.C.
riesenr at chem.ubc.ca