Birders,

Today after work, I checked the T'Kumlups Marsh just outside Kamloops
to see if I could find the BLACK-NECKED STILT chicks. Both adults were
present-- the first time I have seen both together! I also saw at
least 3 chicks, although they were in an area of dense cat-tails just
back from the edge of the south side of the pond and were hard to see,
so there could have been 4.

The chicks and the female stilt remained in this area-- about halfway
along the south side of the pond between the trailer park and Highway
5-- for the entire time I was there (about 5:30 to 6:30 PM). They were
best viewed from the road along the west side of the pond. At one
point, the female appeared to be brooding the chicks for about 5
minutes (although why they needed brooding at close to 30 degrees C, I
don't know). The male stilt was foraging nearby, in the small pond at
the south end of the marsh where the nest had been.

An unexpected surprise was a drake LONG-TAILED DUCK in the middle of
the pond! This bird was in an odd plumage, partway between breeding
and winter plumage, but closer to winter plumage. It was dozing in the
middle of the pond (only about 30 metres from shore) most of the time
I was there, then finally woke up and began preening. I suspect this
is the first June record for the Kamloops area. With luck, maybe it
will stay a couple of days for other birders to see.

Wayne C. Weber
Kamloops and Delta, BC
contopus at shaw.ca