Following the lengthy thread (is that like a yarn?) on Rough-legged Hawks,
Paul Johansen suggested that we have a field trip to look for these elusive
buteos. 3 people responded, so today, Paul, Syd Roberts, Karen Willies and I
headed south from Kamloops to hunt raptors and anything else that might get
in the way.
For Washington birders, Kamloops is about 4 hrs drive north of the 49th
parallel, from the Okanogon border crossing, or Sumas if you are coming from
Seattle.

Conditions in the mid to upper grasslands were absolutely gorgeous, but
tricky for hawk hunting. Heavy fog/cloud engulfed everything down to about
950 metres elevation, with visibility limited to about 100 metres. But the
overnight temperatures had frozen the mist onto the trees, shrubs & grasses.
leaving the world coated in fragile white crystals that were just
spectacular. This monochrome world of gray & white was ghostly still, with
the patchy punctuation of beige grasses and black patterns on the aspen bark
absolutely awesome. So much that the first Rough-legged Hawk in the fog was
a stunning complement with its cream, white & black patterns.
Distant coyotes looked as big as wolves in the mist I swear.

But it was clearly not going to be a productive world for birding, so we
left paradise for slightly lower elevations just below the cloud layer. We
traveled south to Nicola Lake before returning home during the late
afternoon.

We tallied 6 species of raptors (20 individuals) plus sundry other species
outlined below.
In the first 40 + km to Stump Lake, we noted 7 Rough-legged Hawks, with some
interesting behavior differences. Several of them seemed quite rooted to
favorite sites, with one bird on the same pole 1/2 hour after we first
spotted it. Several gave the impression of being on winter territory.
However 2 birds were clearly on a mission to move. We followed them at
distance,(we did not herd them) for 4.5 km down the highway southwards over
a period of 20 minutes. They were moving almost non-stop through the
grasslands, occasionally perching on a tree or pole. They never appeared to
hunt. We last saw them disappearing over a knoll about 5 km from where we
first spotted them.
Of the 7 birds, 2 were dark-phase and the rest light. All of the light
birds were females or juveniles and one of the dark birds was a juvenile.

Interestingly, the lone Harrier that we saw was also moving strongly
southwards, covering about 3 km in 10 minutes, but it was hunting, as it
would occasionally flair after spotting potential prey.

The 8 Bald Eagles were either perched near waterfowl or flying both north
and south, so no discernible movement was evident. The same could be said
about the 3 Redtailed Hawks.
A single immature Golden Eagle was a real treat, but the coup for the day
did not come until fading late near 4:00 PM. Seemingly rarer across the
plateau than at Kamloops, a gray Gyrfalcon perched atop a power pole just
north of Nicola Lake allowed somewhat distant but satisfying looks before it
powered off across the grasslands as only gyrs can do.

So raptoring was productive, and the open water on larger lakes such as
Shumway, Trapp, Stump and Nicola were still holding good numbers of
waterfowl. Shrikes were scarce, with only 2 being found. Careful counts
were not made, but a few area highlights were as follows.

Shumway Lake

Common Merganser - 200 (95% males) but down from the 500 seen here about a
week ago by Andy Stepniewski
Mallard 400+

Trapp Lake

Am. Wigeon - 25
Lesser Scaup - 80
Common Mergs - 10

Stump Lake

Many waterfowl ( 1000+) scattered over this big lake including:

Common Loon - 4
Tundra Swan - 16
Canada Goose - 300+
Mallard
N. Shoveler - 50+
Gadwall
Am Wigeon
Canvasback - 6
Ring-necked Duck
Lesser Scaup - 300+
Common Goldeneye
Barrow's Goldeneye
Bufflehead
Hooded Merganser - 20
Common Merganser
Am. Coot

Nicola Lake

Again, lots of waterfowl not tallied, but including:

C. Loon
Horned Grebe
Tundra Swan
Trumpeter Swan
Canada Goose (including about 15 smaller, short-necked, small-billed race)
Mallard
Gadwall
Am Wigeon
Ring-necked Duck
Lesser Scaup
Greater Scaup
Common Goldeneye
Barrow's Goldeneye
Bufflehead
C Merganser

Beaver Ranch Flats

Little open water, but 2 Northern Pintail were nice to see.

Elsewhere, a few Blue Herons were scattered around wetlands, 11 Townsend's
Solitaires were guarding juniper patches and a smattering of RB Nuthatches,
Mountain Chickadees & Downy Woodpeckers answered Pygmy Owl calls in the few
bits of forest that we examined while giving the pines some of Starbuck's
finest dark roast.

So good company, good birds and good coffee made for a great day. The high
humidity added a snap to the temperatures which were generally decent
enough, but invasive with the mist.

So to Washington birders, hang on for the Rough-leggeds, 2 are coming your
way !!


Rick Howie
Kamloops, BC
rick.howie at shaw.ca