Subject: Kelowna (BC) birding - Feb 27
Date: Feb 27 14:08:54 2003
From: Chris Charlesworth - c_charlesworth23 at hotmail.com


Birders,

This morning I had leisurely couple of hours birding the in-town Kelowna
hotspots. Birds were very active almost everywhere, with singing House
Finches, Song Sparrows, Robins, Goldfinches, etc. The weather was dull and
gray, but fairly mild. Highlites were Harris' Sparrow, Great-tailed Grackle,
Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Greater White-fronted Goose, Glaucous Gull, Thayer's
Gull, Trumpeter Swan.

Maude Roxby

As I pulled up to Maude Roxby I was quite interested in the flock of about
300 gulls sitting on the sandbar in Mud Bay. Just as I got out of the truck
a 4th year BALD EAGLE flew over and put the whole flock up. Only about 150
returned, but included in that number was a gorgeous ad. GLAUCOUS GULL and a
nice first year THAYER'S GULL.

Rotary Beach

Offshore was a large flock of ducks including 450 GREATER SCAUP, 2 male
LESSER SCAUP and 100 REDHEADS. Close to shore were 7 TUNDRA SWANS and an
adult TRUMPETER SWAN.

Munson's Pond

Spring has sprung at Munson's Pond! In the field to the west of the pond
there were 20 KILLDEER, 10 AMERICAN ROBINS and 50 RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS
feeding away. In with the flock of 25 WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS was the single
imm. HARRIS'S SPARROW. On the pond itself were about 20 CANADA GEESE as I
arrived. Easy to spot in that small flock was a single ad. GREATER
WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE. Within 20 minutes there were 500 CANADAS and the GWFG
was nowhere to be seen! Other things seen here were 1 SHARP-SHINNED HAWK, 1
AMERICAN KESTREL, 3 RED-TAILED HAWKS, 1 GREAT BLUE HERON, 2 HOODED
MERGANSERS for a grand total of 28 species.

Mission Ck (Gordon Rd)

The were fairly quiet along this stretch, however an AMERICAN DIPPER was
putting forth a beautiful song from his perch on top of a rock. In the
thickets beside the trail a RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET flitted along with a small
flock of BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEES.

Burger King

A strange birding location, yes. The GREAT-TAILED GRACKLE was sitting on top
of a Ford pickup truck in the parking lot. I threw him a piece of bread and
he came to within about 10 feet of me, then flew to the top of a lamp post
where he ate the food. Then he burst into song for 10 minutes! I haven't
heard him sing for over a year. I thought he gave up.

Ellison Area (Farmer's Drive, Booth Road)

Red Crossbill 15
Brown Creeper 1
Townsend's Solitaire 2
Black-capped Chickadee 20
Mountain Chickadee 5
Red-breasted Nuthatch 5
Pygmy Nuthatch 5
Dark-eyed Junco 5
Clark's Nutcracker 4
Common Raven 2

A pretty easy 56 species! That's all for now.

Chris Charlesworth
Avocet Tours
725 Richards Road
Kelowna, BC, Canada
V1X 2X5
c_charlesworth at avocettours.com

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