On Mon, 24 Mar 1997 jcbowling at mindlink.bc.ca wrote:

> Five of us packed up and headed west toward the geographic centre of BC today
> in search of sings of spring.
^^^^^^

Jack--

nice post, thanks... and clever *typo* on signs.. :)

We've got a dipper..and maybe a pair that work the Deschutes
River falls in Tumwater,although I've never heard them
singing.. I'll have to try more often.

Tom



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
>