Hi folks,

I had an opportunity to visit Chilko Lake, B.C. earlier this week. The =
object of my trip was to see the spawning escapement of sockeye salmon =
as part of the evaluation of the fish run and of their management, so I =
did not have a lot of time to go birding - but I did get out for a few =
strolls at the lower end (North end) of the lake and along the river.

Here's a very short list from September 24-25:

Common Loon - one in basic plumage, one molting into basic
Red--necked Grebe - 3 or 4 on lower lake
Great Blue Heron - 2 along river
Canada Geese - one flock of 75 flying high toward SE, looked/sounded =
like medium-sized birds (Lessers/Taverners subspecies?)
Common Merganser - about 35 along lower lake, maybe another 12 along the =
river
Mallard - saw maybe 15
(?) Scaup - one female out in the lake
Osprey - one bird caught a fish (whitefish?, trout?) along lower lake
Bald Eagle - only saw a few along the river or lake feeding on =
fish/carcasses - most were flying past, catching the thermals and =
heading north (down-river) or south (toward the coast mountains?)
Red-tailed Hawk - one at ranch 1 mile down river
Blue Grouse - one seen in stand of Douglas fir/spruce
California Gull - about 50 in area, maybe 1/2 adults
Herring Gull - 2 adults in flocks, feeding on fish carcasses
Screech Owl - one heard at Chilko Lodge
Belted Kingfisher - 2 seen at lower lake
N. Flicker - saw and heard 2, but not well enough to tell if red-shafted =
or yellow-shafted...
Three-toed Woodpecker - 1 in spruce/lodgepole/aspens
Raven - maybe a dozen in the area, don't know if they were moving past =
or resident
"Common" (can it be an "American" crow in Canada?) Crow - abundant, =
feeding on salmon carcasses on the river's banks.
Gray Jay - several small flocks
Mountain Chickadee - saw a few birds in pines/brush
Black-capped Chickadee - saw a few along river riparian area, near lodge =
buildings
Red-breasted Nuthatch - common in pines/firs/spruce
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - several mixed in flocks of =
warblers/nuthatches/chickadees
Robin - not too many, mostly in aspen/cottonwoods along lakeshore, river
Cedar Waxwing - several flocks of about 15-20, mostly juveniles
Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warbler - saw 2 in flocks of 'Audubon's' warblers
Yellow-rumped (Audubon's) Warbler - abundant, flocks feeding and moving =
constantly through riparian areas - willows, cottonwoods/aspen, conifers =
- along the lake and river shore.
Brewer's Blackbird - a flock of about 25 at Chilko Lodge, another flock =
of ~10 at ranch to north
Starling - about 6 in blackbird flock at lodge
Red-winged Blackbird - 2 in willows along river
Oregon Junco - common=20
White-crowned Sparrow - common in brush (buffaloberry/serviceberry/rose) =
thickets
White-throated Sparrow - 2 juveniles in white-crown flocks
Song Sparrows - relatively common along 'riparian' areas, especially in =
brush along river
Lincoln's Sparrow - 1 in brush along river
Chipping Sparrow - 1 in lodgepoles in flock of juncos/warblers (isn't it =
kind of late for them?)
Red Crossbills - several small groups flying over the canopy

Also, a brief glimpse of a sparrow that I can only guess from my first =
impression might have been a clay-colored. It had a distinct =
buffy-white central crown stripe, and an 'ear patch'. Unfortunately, it =
disappeared into the brush before I could get a better look. Is =
Clay-colored Sparrow likely in the Chilcotin?

I've probably left out a species or two, as I was scribbling notes on =
back of fish reports... Wish I'd had a lot more time to bird the area.

The amazing spectacle was the tens of, hundreds of thousands of spawning =
sockeye salmon. The lower mile of the lake and the upper 3 miles of =
river were absolutely Red with fish! This group of fish spawn below the =
lake; when the fry hatch out next spring, they swim *upstream* into the =
lake (how did *that* behaviour evolve?) to rear for a year, before they =
'smolt' and go down the Chilko and Chilkotin to the Fraser and spend =
most of the rest of their life in the ocean. They return as 4 or 5 year =
olds to the Fraser and make the journey back to the gravel of their =
youth, to spawn and die (lots of carcasses on the beaches - thank =
goodness the weather wasn't too warm). And the circle is completed. =
What a success story!

Downstream a couple miles from the sockeye spawning area was a half-mile =
stretch of river where they counted about 10-12,000 chinook spawning =
earlier this season. The gravel in the river had a 'scalloped' =
appearance from the action of all those big fish moving the gravel =
around.

I can only imagine that the Columbia River would have similar =
spectacles, had we not destroyed the ecology of the river with the dams. =
Lewis and Clark saw Condors feeding on salmon carcasses along the lower =
Columbia almost 200 years ago - what else have we lost?

It was interesting that there were relatively few eagles taking =
advantage of the bounty - kind of like expecting to see wall-to-wall =
eagles on the Skagit when the fish are spawning, then seeing more at the =
landfill when you return home from your birding trip than you did in the =
'eagle sanctuary'.... Bears were not uncommon - I only saw tracks and =
sign of black bears, but a few other people saw the animals themselves =
and one pair of canoeists saw what they thought was a yearling grizzly =
(their description was good, but we're waiting for their film to be =
developed..). =20

One final note: Just when I think that logging practices here in =
Washington stink, I see what is going on with the forests of B.C. =
Flying north past Howe Inlet and Sechelt, I was amazed to see the =
logging that has taken place on slopes of more than 70%!! How do the =
choker-setters keep from falling off the mountain?!?? Clear up to =
timberline! The mass-wasting and land-slides from the huge clearcuts =
and off the logging roads are terribly apparent from the air. Are the =
huge rafts of logs down in the salt chuck (destined for the orient? or =
for the pulp mill in Powell River?) worth the loss of bird and salmon =
habitat? Isn't there a better way to log? If there isn't, should this =
kind of 'forest practice' be continued? =20

Jon. - I'm done ranting now - Anderson
Olympia, Washington
festuca at olywa.net