----- Original Message -----
From: Wayne C. Weber <contopus at shaw.ca>
To: BCINTBIRD <bcintbird at yahoogroups.com>; BC BIRDING
<bcprovbirding at yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, July 04, 2002 1:50 PM
Subject: KAMLOOPS STILT UPDATE


> Birders,
>
> Yesterday afternoon, I visited the T'Kumlups Marsh just north of
> Kamloops again, from about 5:10 to 6:00 P.M., to check on the
progress
> of the breeding BLACK-NECKED STILTS. As I approached the SW corner
of
> the marsh (near where the nest was located), I could hear a series
of
> "vit-vit-vit!" calls even before I made visual contact with any
> stilts. The adult male stilt was present along with all 4 of the
> chicks, which were actively feeding and now are more than half the
> size of their parents. The chicks have developed an attractive
plumage
> on the back and wings-- dark gray with rufous feather edgings-- and
> they have a white spot in front of the eye, much like the adults.
They
> are definitely recognizable as Stilts now. After a few minutes, the
> female stilt, who had apparently been feeding on the edge of the
main
> pond, flew in to join the adult male and the chicks in the SW corner
> of the marsh. The behaviour of the young had changed since my last
> visit-- they were feeding out in the open and quite unconcerned
about
> my presence about 7 to 15 metres away, although the adults,
especially
> the male, kept up an almost constant chatter, and were definitely
> keeping an eye on me. Several adult and young AMERICAN COOTS were
> feeding on the mud and in the shallow water in the same area as the
> stilts.
>
> If any local observers would like to get documentary photographs of
> the chicks and/or one of the adults, it should be possible to do so
> from the dike/walkway on the west side of the marsh, if you have a
> camera with a good telephoto lens, without disturbing the birds very
> much. (Disturbance is relative, depending on the bird species-- they
> say that any noise annoys an oyster, and any observer, even at a
> considerable distance, seems to annoy a breeding stilt.)
>
> Elsewhere on the T'Kumlups Marsh, a breeding-plumaged HORNED GREBE
> seemed a bit out of the ordinary. I observed one or more broods of
> MALLARD, GADWALL, AMERICAN WIGEON, and CINNAMON TEAL (as best I
could
> tell, judging partly by the length of the bill-- but I would hate to
> stake my life on it being CINNAMON rather than BLUE-WINGED TEAL).
> There were innumerable broods of AMERICAN COOTS. However, the
biggest
> surprise was a vast decrease in YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDS. I saw only
> about 4 adult males and about 3 apparent juveniles, versus 50 or
more
> birds on most previous visits to the pond. I find it hard to believe
> that nearly all the Yellow-heads at the marsh would have fledged
their
> young and dispersed this early. I know that some were nesting
earlier,
> because I heard the distinctive calls of nestling Yellow-heads
during
> visits in June. Does anyone have any idea where the Yellow-heads
went?
>
> Also of interest was a GRAY CATBIRD singing from a large patch of
> shrubbery just south of the marsh-- the first I have recorded at
this
> locality.
>
> If any local observers have further updates on the stilts, please
pass
> them along!
>
> Wayne C. Weber
> Kamloops, BC
> contopus at shaw.ca
>
>
>
>