Birders,

I spent the day birding with Heather Bryan and Chris Siddle in the Southern
Okanagan Valley. The day started off clear and sunny with warm temps, but as
a breeze picked up and some clouds formed, the temps fell slightly. Although
we missed a few birds on our target list (harris' sparrow, western bluebird)
we were pretty successful in finding good year birds!

Vaseux Lake Area

*Short-eared Owl - 2 in fields N. of Vaseux on W. side of river.
Trumpeter Swan - 8 at N. end of lake.
Tundra Swan - 6 at S. end of lake.
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 1 at banding station site.
Virginia Rail - 1 heard at banding station site.
*SWAMP SPARROW - 2 seen and heard at banding station site.
Winter Wren - 2 at banding station site.
Marsh Wren - 2 at banding station site.
Northern Shrike - 1 ad. at banding station site.
Northern Harrier - 1 juv. at banding station site.
Canyon Wren - 5 on cliffs singing in sunshine.
Golden Eagle - 1 over cliffs.
Varied Thrush - 1 heard in woods along Irrigation Ck Rd.

Osoyoos Sewage Ponds

Northern Shoveler - 20
Common Goldeneye - 20
Greater Scaup - 3
Lesser Scaup - 80
Gadwall - 10
Green-winged Teal - 2
Canvasback - 2 males.
Bufflehead - 10
Mallard - 25

Osoyoos Lake N. of Haynes Point

*Red-breasted Merganser - 1 female.
*LONG-TAILED DUCK - 1 winter ad. female.
Bald Eagle - 1 ad.
Fox Squirrel - 1

Road 22

*SWAMP SPARROW - 1 heard in marsh on E. dyke, S. of Rd 22.
Rough-legged Hawk - 1
American Kestrel - 1 ad.
Cooper's Hawk - 1 ad.
Red-winged Blackbird - 30
Brewer's Blackbird - 40
Northern Harrier - 2

*Prairie Falcon - 1 seen at close range on telephone pole along Black Sage
Road, near 306th Ave.

All in all an excellent day! Total species # 72!

Chris Charlesworth
Kelowna, BC






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