Subject: Trip report - Prince George to Vanderhoof, BC
Date: Mar 24 00:56:38 1997
From: jcbowling at mindlink.bc.ca - jcbowling at mindlink.bc.ca


Five of us packed up and headed west toward the geographic centre of BC today
in search of sings of spring. We were not disappointed with 23 species being
tallied by the end of the day. The cool westerlies died off around 4 PM, the
clouds broke up and the sun began to shine brightly. Some highlights follow.

Cluculz Creek outlet of Cluculz Lake, about halfway to Vanderhoof from
Prince George:
- About 100 Trumpeter Swans and a few Common goldeneye. Only about five young
swans so breeding success must have been low last year.
- a fem. Pileated Woodpecker working over the base of a dying Doug-Fir.

Vanderhoof loop road around airport and back to town:
- pretty quiet until we neared "Dead Cow" (Larsen) Road. This is a farm road where
local farmers dump off dead cattle to be consumed by whatever predators are
around. An efficient mechanism for disposal. A freshly-dead heifer had
been dumped at the end of the road and there was a hungry gathering of
10 or so Bald Eagles, a few Black-billed Magpies, and a score of Com. Ravens
eagerly awaiting the bursting of the carcass. At the ambient temperature of
41 F, we judged it would take a while.
- got lucky nearing the airport when saw a flock of longspurs spook from near
the road. Turned out to be a flock of 17 Laplands with some of the males not
yet in high plumage and others already there. A bit on the early side for
longspurs.

Just east of Vanderhoof on the way to Fort Fraser:
- I had bet Mark 10 bucks that we would not see Mountain Bluebirds, knowing full
well that I would likely lose the bet. Sure 'nuff, there was a field with about
ten male Am. Robins *and* five intensely blue male Mountain Bluebirds along with
a couple of females. We marvelled at how the hue of blue changed with the
different angle of reflection from the feathers - from paler cerulean to
deep, deep cobalt.

At the Nautley River bridge:
- We had stopped in Fort Fraser to pick up some bread for our next encounter.
There are always a few Trumpeter Swans near the bridge and they get a steady
stream of locals and tourists such as us feeding them. We figured that
whole wheat bread wouldn't kill them. There were five swans there but only three
rose to the bait. They are *big* birds up close. However, while the others
were feeding the swans, I went to the other side of the bridge and glassed the
rills of the set of gentle rapids just downstream. "Hey, guys," I yelled,
"There's a Song Sparrow singing over here!" But something was wrong with this
picture. Snow still lay one to two feet deep all around and it was still a bit
early for the sparrows to be back on territory. The singing continued on and
on through numerous trills, slides and buzzes and then it hit me - Dipper!!
And sure enough, there he was holding forth from a rock just a little way
into the rapids. It had been many, many years since I had heard the full song
of a dipper and it sailed above the noisy rapids as easily as if the bird had
used a megaphone. This made my day. I made a pact then and there to save up
enough money to buy some recording equipment and tape the song of the dipper.
More people deserve to hear this dipper music.

We headed it back home after that. Managed to finally see a Northern Shrike
as the sun was setting. A great day which was topped off by the stunning
sight of Mars above an eclipsed moon and Comet Hale-Bopp over my shoulder.
Yes, spring is here.

- Jack






Jack Bowling
Prince George, BC
jcbowling at mindlink.bc.ca