----- Original Message -----
From: Wayne C. Weber <contopus at shaw.ca>
To: BCINTBIRD <bcintbird at yahoogroups.com>; BC BIRDING
<bcprovbirding at yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, April 17, 2002 6:55 PM
Subject: NICOLA VALLEY BIRDING HIGHLIGHTS, APRIL 13 & 14


> Birders,
>
> The weather on the weekend was gawdawful-- strong SW winds up to 60
> km/hour on both Saturday and Sunday, only dropping down to a breeze
> late on Sunday afternoon. Saturday was amazingly warm (high of 23
C),
> but Sunday was much cooler (high of 12 C), and I had to fight strong
> winds and drifting snow on Highway 5 between Kamloops and Merritt on
> Sunday morning. Despite this, I birded until about 3 PM on Saturday
> and most of the day on Sunday, and managed to find some good birds
> despite the weather.
>
> Weekend highlights:
>
> Saturday, April 13-- birded along Highway 5A between Kamloops and
> Merritt as far as "Pennask Bay" (near Quilchena) on Nicola Lake,
then
> east to the Douglas Lake ranch. Finally, all the lakes along Highway
> 5A had thawed (except Separation Lake, higher in altitude than the
> others, which was about 30% thawed).
>
> North end of Shumway Lake
>
> Common Merganser-- 60 in one flock (mostly males). Dave Whiting
> reported 100 at Trapp Lake on April 11; this was likely part of the
> same flock that moved farther north.
>
> Richie Lake (between Trapp and Napier Lakes)
>
> Canvasback 150
> Lesser Scaup 200
> 11 other waterfowl species
>
> "Rail pond" (between Napier Lake and Tullee Lake)
>
> Ring-necked Duck 56
> Cinnamon Teal 1 m
>
> Tullee Lake
>
> Eurasian Wigeon 1 m
> 13 other waterbird species
> Swallows (Tree Swallows??) 5 (couldn't hold the scope still in the
> wind!)
>
> Stump Lake (west side N of rest area)
>
> American Coot 1200
>
> Stump Lake (south end)
>
> Common Loon 1
> Lesser Scaup 500
> 12 other waterfowl species
> American Coot 150
> Bald Eagle 4
> Greater Yellowlegs 2
>
> An adult BALD EAGLE, after several attempts, killed a Coot and
carried
> it off to its nearby nest, and proceeded to dine. This is the second
> successful Bald Eagle attack on coots I've seen in the last 2-3
weeks.
>
> Guichon Flats
>
> Mute Swan 1 (no other swans)
> Green-winged Teal 400
> Northern Pintail 400
> Cinnamon Teal 6
> Eurasian Wigeon 1 male
> Ruddy Duck 60
> 10 other waterfowl species
> Bald Eagle 1
> Northern Harrier 2
> SANDHILL CRANE 2 (my first of the season-- standing on the dam)
> Tree Swallow 5
>
> Pennask Bay, Nicola Lake
>
> Eurasian Wigeon 1 male
>
>
> Douglas Lake road
>
> Say's Phoebe 1
> Bald Eagle 3
>
>
> North side of Douglas Lake
>
> Mountain Bluebird 10 in a flock
>
> East end of Douglas Lake
>
> Common Loon 1
> Greater Scaup 50
> Lesser Scaup 50
> Redhead 29
> 5 other duck species
>
> Sanctuary Lake (Douglas Lake P.O.)
>
> Great Blue Heron 4
> Common Merganser 11
> 7 other duck species
>
>
> Sunday, April 14-- birded at Shulus (near Lower Nicola), Canford,
> Sunshine Valley Road, Pennask Bay, the "Minnie Lake loop" (Pennask
> Lake Road to Minnie Lake, then to Douglas Lake and back to Highway
5A)
> and Guichon Flats.
>
> Shulus to Coyle (along the old Kettle Valley Railway right-of-way
near
> the Nicola River)
>
> Wood Duck 1 male
> Bald Eagle 2 imm.
> Northern Harrier 1
> Osprey 3-- 1 on each of 3 nest platforms
> GOLDEN EAGLE 1 subadult-- came out of nowhere, took a swipe at 4
> Canada Geese in a slough (with much loud honking!), then decided to
> vamoose after scaring the heck out of me and the geese!
> Violet-green Swallow 10
> Tree Swallow 20
> N. ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW 4-- my first of the year
> Ruby-crowned Kinglet 3
> Yellow-rumped (Audubon's) Warbler 6
> 21 other species
>
> Nicola R. bridge, Canford (on Sunshine Valley Road)
>
> Say's Phoebe 1 (singing near the bridge-- where was it last week?)
> Violet-green Swallow 10
> Tree Swallow 5
>
> Sunshine Valley Road along Waterfall Creek
>
> WILLIAMSON'S SAPSUCKER-- 1 male seen briefly but well. Same
location where seen in previous years, but could not find this species
there in
> 2000 or 2001.
> Red-naped Sapsucker 2
> White-breasted Nuthatch 2
> Ruby-crowned Kinglet 4
> Golden-crowned Kinglet 2
> Varied Thrush 1 male
> Yellow-rumped Warbler 2
> Cassin's Finch 3, singing loudly
>
> The birding here was accomplished despite intermittent squalls with
> strong winds and snow pellets, which made birding very uncomfortable
> for 15-20 minutes at a time!
>
> Pennask Bay (Highway 5A, 2 km E of Quilchena)
>
> Eurasian Wigeon 2 m (with 150 American Wigeon)
> Cinnamon Teal 1 m
> Mountain Bluebird flock of 30 on the sage-covered hillside to the
east
> Yellow-rumped Warbler 1
>
>
> Pennask Lake Road, Highway 5A to Km 20
>
> Bald Eagle 1 imm.
> Red-tailed Hawk 2 ad.
> Rough-legged Hawk 2 (getting late)
> American Kestrel 5
>
> "Gadwall Lake" (Km 20, Pennask Lake road)
>
> Cinnamon Teal 2 (pair)
> 12 other waterfowl species
>
> Pennask Lake Road E of Minnie Lake
>
> TURKEY VULTURE 1 (my first-ever spring record for the valley)--
> having a tough time making headway against the wind.
>
> White Lake & vicinity (on Minnie Lake road)
>
> SANDHILL CRANE 3 on the ground
> EURASIAN GREEN-WINGED TEAL 1 well-marked male, with Green-wings, N.
Pintails, and Am. Wigeon at the N end of White Lake. I believe this is
my first for the valley.
>
> West end of Douglas Lake
>
> Common Loon 4, all in breeding plumage
> Tundra Swan 8
> Bald Eagle 1 ad. on nest in cottonwood at Spahomin Creek mouth
> 5 other waterfowl species
>
> Douglas :Lake Road
>
> SHARP-SHINNED HAWK 1 ad., my first of the spring
> Bald Eagle 3 imm.
> Red-tailed Hawk 1 dark-phase
> Mountain Bluebird 2 (pair)
> American Kestrel 2
>
> Guichon Flats
>
> Killdeer 3
> Greater Yellowlegs 1
> DUNLIN 2 in breeding plumage (my earliest spring record for the
> valley by 6 days)
> Marsh Wren 3 heard singing
> Yellow-headed Blackbird 2 heard singing
> 11 species of waterfowl
>
>
> Mammals observed on the 14th included a BEAVER carrying a willow
> branch as it swam down the Nicola River at Shulus; 4 YELLOW-BELLIED
> MARMOTS in the rocks at the Canford bridge; a RED SQUIRREL heard
> calling in Sunshine Valley; and 2 MUSKRATS seen at Guichon Flats.
>
> Another highlight was an impressive display of Sagebrush Buttercups
in
> Sunshine Valley, despite the chilly blasts that threatened to dump
> snow on top of them!
>
> Another good weekend of birding, and I'm looking forward to even
> better birding when the weather improves a bit more!
>
> Wayne C. Weber
> Kamloops, BC
> contopus at shaw.ca