Birders,

On a hunch, I figured that the birding would be good this morning, after
last night's thundershowers. I slept in slightly, and didn't get on the road
until after 7 AM. I headed N. to Beaver Lake Road, checking the S. end of
Duck Lake along the way. I then drove the 16 km up to Beaver Lake and turned
north, following the Dee Lake Road to Lavington, approx. 35 km away. A brief
stop in at Rawlings Lake was worthwhile, then I headed back to Vernon and
checked the Commonage. After the commonage, I went to the Chichester Bird
Sanctuary in Kelowna. The weather was overall pleasant, with clouds and
sunny periods. Birding was fantastic!!

Duck Lake

The mudflats at the S. end of Duck Lake, which lies a few km N. of Kelowna
Airport, continue to have some shorebirds, although not many. A brief stop
there this morning produced 15 KILLDEER, a SEMI-
PALMATED PLOVER, 2 LESSER YELLOWLEGS, 18 LEAST SANDPIPERS, 2 GREAT BLUE
HERONS and an assortment of swallows.

Beaver Lake Road

One of my favorite birding roads anywhere, Beaver Lake Road, which heads
into the mountains, E. of Winfield, was very active this morning. The
grasslands which dominate for the first 6 km produced SAY'S PHOEBE,
CALIFORNIA QUAIL, EASTERN KINGBIRD, WESTERN KINGBIRD, VESPER SPARROW,
WESTERN BLUEBIRD, WESTERN MEADOWLARK, LAZULI BUNTING, CHIPPING SPARROW,
WILLOW FLYCATCHER, HOUSE WREN and SPOTTED TOWHEE.

At km 6.5, I was happy to find a female BLACK-CHINNED HUMMINGBIRD. In
probably a hundred trips along the road over the past 13 years I've never
had a Black-chinned along Beaver Lake Road...obviously a migrant. Also at km
6.5 was a male TOWNSEND'S WARBLER, a female RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD, 3 CASSIN'S
VIREOS, 2 WARBLING VIREOS, and the ever present MOUNTAIN and BLACK-CAPPED
CHICKADEES, RED-BREATED NUTHATCHES, GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS and RED
CROSSBILLS.

Km 8 was also good. The main surprise was a BLUE GROUSE stalking through the
grass. Another obvious migrant was a VEERY which was calling from the
coniferous forest.

Continuing up the road I began encountering higher elevation species at
around km 15.4. I had a HERMIT THRUSH, a WILSON'S WARBLER, 2 GRAY JAYS, and
another RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD.

Dee Lake Road

This road, which connects Beaver Lake Road to the town of Lavington, near
Vernon, runs through fairly monotonous spruce / pine / fir forest. The high
elevation birding was great along this road, where I found numerous BOREAL
CHICKADEES, WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS, THREE-TOED WOODPECKERS, a NORTHERN
PYGMY-OWL, PINE GROSBEAKS, a PILEATED WOODPECKER, COMMON LOONS, a HAIRY and
some DOWNY WOODPECKERS, LINCOLN'S and WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS, a
SHARP-SHINNED HAWK and MACGILLIVRAY'S, ORANGE-CROWNED and NASHVILLE
WARBLERS. The best bird was a female RUSTY BLACKBIRD at Doreen Lake. This
location has been consistent for Rustys in recent years. The bird was
quietly foraging along the muddy shores of the lake.

Rawlings Lake

The big surprise at Rawlings Lake was finding 2 adult SANDHILL CRANES with 2
large chicks! They were feeding in the field on the S. side of the lake near
a home. It would be very interesting to know if these birds bred in the
area, or are already migrating. The chicks look like they may be able to fly
already, with most of their flight feathers developed. Shorebirds at the
lake included 2 BAIRD'S SANDPIPERS, 20 SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS, 50 LEAST
SANDPIPERS, a GREATER YELLOWLEGS, 5 LESSER YELLOWLEGS, 50 KILLDEER and 5
SPOTTED SANDPIPERS. I added WESTERN TANAGER, YELLOW WARBLER and COMMON
YELLOWTHROAT to my days list here as well as many ducks (NORTHERN PINTAIL,
RING-NECKED DUCK, EARED GREBE, RUDDY DUCK, GREEN-WINGED TEAL, BLUE-WINGED
TEAL, NORTHERN SHOVELER, AMERICAN WIGEON, GADWALL)

Vernon Commonage

My first stop was at the intersection of Bench Row and Commonage Road. I was
saddened to see that the traditional Clay-colored Sparrow habitat has been
cleared and is being developed. Nevertheless, I did get three CLAY-COLORED
SPARROWS in a small patch of remaining snowberry.

Rose's Pond was dead, however I added my only LESSER SCAUP and REDHEAD for
the day there.

I hiked in to Mackay's Reservoir and was impressed with the diversity of
shorebirds there...PECTORAL, BAIRD'S, LEAST, SEMIPALMATED, SPOTTED, SOLITARY
SANDPIPERS, GREATER and LESSER YELLOWLEGS, WILSON'S SNIPE, WILSON'S
PHALAROPE, KILLDEER. Overhead were 2 SWAINSON'S HAWKS.

Chichester Bird Sanctuary

One of my favorite birding spots in the valley, Chichester is getting choked
out by encroaching housing developments. The birds are still coming in
however and today I was pleased to get 2 NORTHERN WATERTHRUSHES, a WILSON'S
WARBLER, 2 YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS, 10 YELLOW WARBLERS, 2 SOLITARY
SANDPIPERS, a BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD, YELLOW-HEADED and RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS,
a STELLER'S JAY and about 20 other species.


Here's my day list:

Common Loon
Red-necked Grebe
Great Blue Heron
Turkey Vulture
Canada Goose
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Mallard
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Redhead
Ring-necked Duck
Lesser Scaup
Bufflehead
Barrow's Goldeneye
Osprey
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Swainson's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
*Blue Grouse
California Quail
American Coot
*Sandhill Crane
Semipalmated Plover
Killdeer
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Solitary Sandpiper
Spotted Sandpiper
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Baird's Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
Wilson's Snipe
Wilson's Phalarope
Ring-billed Gull
Rock Dove
Mourning Dove
*Northern Pygmy-Owl
Common Nighthawk
*Black-chinned Hummingbird
Rufous Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Red-naped Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
*Three-toed Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
Western Wood-Pewee
Willow Flycatcher
Dusky Flycatcher
Say's Phoebe
Eastern Kingbird
Western Kingbird
Cassin's Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Gray Jay
Steller's Jay
Black-billed Magpie
American Crow
Common Raven
Tree Swallow
Violet-green Swallow
N. Rough-winged Swallow
Bank Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Mountain Chickadee
*Boreal Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Pygmy Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
House Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Western Bluebird
Veery
Swainson's Thrush
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Orange-crowned Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Townsend's Warbler
Northern Waterthrush
MacGillivray's Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Wilson's Warbler
Western Tanager
Spotted Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
*Clay-colored Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Lazuli Bunting
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Yellow-headed Blackbird
*Rusty Blackbird
Brewer's Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
*Pine Grosbeak
House Finch
Red Crossbill
*White-winged Crossbill
Pine Siskin
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow

TOTAL 122 species



Sincerely,

Chris Charlesworth
Avocet Tours
725 Richards Road
Kelowna, BC
www.avocettours.com

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