Gail did Upper Kootenay lake I did the marsh below (Creston) all the way to
the Washington border. Its quite active, and yes it was an exceptional day
for the area. Total for the day species wise was 57. Highlights for the
area were 3 Franklin's Gull (FRGU), 6 Sandhill Cranes (SHCR), 3
Rough-legged Hawks (RLHA)(all light phase), all three morphs of Red-tail
hawk (RTHA), and 4 Kriders Red tails. Also present was a first winter
California Gull (CAGU) amidst the Ring bill's and Herring on the Lake and 5
Bonaparte's Gulls (BOGU).

It was also nice to have the first Northern Shrike (NSHR) in the area for
the winter. Some of the summer birds are suprisingly still hanging around
such as the Marsh wrens and the Common Yellowthroats (COYE) for the area.
I believe the COYE was the latest recording ever. We have had some pretty
cool weather recently.

Duck Lake, just at the base of Kootenay Lake certainly lived up to its
name. The lake along the dikes are covered with American Widgeons (AMWI)
and American Coots (AMCO). I stopped counting after about 10,000 of each!
With them were good numbers of 12 species of ducks, of these were 2
Barrow's Goldeneyes (BAGO), 5 Common Snipes (COSN), Horned Grebes (HOGR)
and Red-necked Grebes (RNGR) also, the Greater White-fronted Geese (GWFG)
are still present, in huge numbers by the nature center (>1000). Its not
as good birding as the coast but this place has its charm.

Looks like winter is slowly coming upon us. The Kootenay pass had about a
foot of snow on it very icy in sections in the morning and most of the
birds are gone.

Libor


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" CHARMING"

pieris at netidea.com
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Libor and Dawn Michalak
Nelson, BC