Dear Tweeters:

I spent last weekend leading a birding tour in the south Okanagan (the
Canadian Okanagan, that is, north of the American Okanogan). The prime
focus of the tour was Boreal Owls, but we did a lot of other birding
trying to get people lifers. There were six people on the trip, from WA,
CA, MD, ON and Belgium. Here are some highlights:

Thursday, Oct. 22, evening owling
Tried at Ellis Dam on the Carmi Road east of Penticton for Boreal Owl with
no success, so went to km 25.5 of R#201, where a pair of BOREAL OWLS
taunted us for quite a while. Finally gave up and went to Rabbit Lake,
east of Okanagan Falls, where a pair of GREAT HORNED OWLS plus one of their
young were very vocal. We walked to the far end of the dam and played the
Boreal tape and immediately got two BOREAL OWLS replying with skiews. We
saw one at close range for extended views--truly "crippling" as the Brits
would say. Dipped out on the Barred Owl and Great Gray along the Venner
Meadows Road, though. Had several SAW-WHETS down along Irrigation Creek,
but no screech.

Friday 23 October
Okanagan Falls: AM. DIPPER 1 singing

Vaseux Lake: EURASIAN WIGEON, 1 male
CHUKAR, 40 at sheep feeding station
CANYON WREN, 3
RUDDY DUCK, 1 female
BONAPARTE'S GULL, 1 immature

Irrigation Creek
N. PYGMY-OWL, 1 at first switchback

Black Sage Road, Oliver
AM. TREE SPARROW, 2 in antelope-brush
ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK, 1
Mt. Kobau
N. PYGMY-OWL, 1 half-way up
GOLDEN EAGLE, 1
VARIED THRUSH, 1
SHARP-SHINNED HAWK, 1

Road 22, north end of Osoyoos Lake, NW dyke after dark: *BARN OWL
foraging over field by haystack; seen well in spotlight, calling
constantly. We checked the barn there that afternoon but hadn't seen any owl.

Saturday, October 24

White Lake
W. MEADOWLARK, 3
GRAY PARTRIDGE, 1
GOLDEN EAGLE, 1

Shuttleworth Creek Road
N. SHRIKE, 1 (on larch at km 9!)
PINE GROSBEAK, 1

Clark Lake (on trail to E at km 22.5 of R#201)
SPRUCE GROUSE, 2
RUFFED GROUSE, 1
BOREAL CHICKADEE, 5

Venner Meadows Road, km 13
BOREAL CHICKADEE 1
km 17: female moose

McLean Creek after dark
W. SCREECH-OWL, 2 giving strange calls, one a "ke-wick, ke-wick, ..."
series, the other a "kew kew kew kew kew" series very similar to some
Boreal Owl calls

Cattleguard north of WIllowbrook on WHite Lake road
W. SCREECH-OWL giving calls similar to the McLean Creek birds, then gave a
couple of typical screech-owl trills.

Sunday, Oct. 25
Summerland, Canyonview Road
MERLIN, 1
COOPER'S HAWK, 1
BOHEMIAN WAXWING, 2 (first of year here)
CEDAR WAXWING, 20

Penticton Yacht Club
WHITE-THROATED SPARROW, 1
GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL, 2 subadults, 1 adult

Okanagan River
GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL, 1 first year imm.

Cheers,
Dick Cannings


cannings at vip.net
(250) 496-4019
1330 Debeck Road
S11, C96, RR1
Naramata, BC V0H 1N0