Subject: South Okanagan birding - June 8
Date: Jun 9 09:48:32 2003
From: Chris Charlesworth - c_charlesworth23 at hotmail.com


Birders,

Yesterday a small group, consisting of Ryan Tomlinson, Richard Mooney, Don
Wilson, myself (all from Kelowna) and Chris Siddle (from Vernon) went to the
South Okanagan. It was a bittersweet trip for me. On one hand I got to see
some nice Okanagan birds, but on the other I had I helped the "competition"
edge closer to me by showing them where a number of year birds were. All in
good fun though.

We left Kelowna at about 5:30 AM and made our first stop at White Lake. We
hiked around through the sagebrush looking for Grasshopper Sparrow and Sage
Thrashers, but had no luck. We did have a few BREWER'S SPARROWS and a bird
we believed was a CLAY-COLORED X BREWER'S SPARROW hybrid. The bird fit the
visual description for CCSP, but sang a perfect BRSP song. I think it may
have actually been singing a CCSP when we arrived. I played CCSP tape and
this bird came right in. We all said there's the CCSP, until it sang a BRSP
song. Very strange. We also had many WESTERN and MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS, WESTERN
MEADOWLARKS, an AMERICAN KESTREL and both WESTERN and EASTERN KINGBIRDS at
White Lake. A short drive down the Twin Lakes Road produced the two resident
LEAST FLYCATCHERS singing in a small aspen grove. In the distance we could
hear VEERY, WILLOW FLYCATCHER, WILSON'S SNIPE and CASSIN'S VIREOS singing in
a riparian gully. COMMON NIGHTHAWKS were everywhere today.

We then ventured to Irrigation Ck Road. This rough little road ascends the
Ponderosa Pine covered mountains E. of Vaseux Lake. By this time it was
already nearing 30 degrees in the valley bottom. We planned to gain some
elevation around lunch time and hopefully encounter cooler temperatures, but
it was still piping hot up there. Along Irrigation Ck Road we first
encounted 2 singing CANYON WRENS and about 12 WHITE-THROATED SWIFTS on a
steep cliff near Hwy 97. Further up the road we got a ROCK WREN and a LEWIS'
WOODPECKER. As we climbed higher more woodland species appeared, such as
SWAINSON'S THRUSH, CALLIOPE and RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRDS, NASHVILLE WARBLER,
CASSIN'S FINCH, DUSKY FLYCATCHER, PYGMY NUTHATCH. Near the top of the road
we walked through the woods, documenting WESTERN BLUEBIRD and PYGMY NUTHATCH
nests. We found a singing GRAY FLYCATCHER that produced wonderful views.

Next we birded along Venner Meadows Road. The higher elevation forest was as
hot as it gets, both temperature wise, and birding wise. Our first stop was
for Barred Owl at km 15. We called and called, but no response. However, the
NORTHERN GOSHAWK that I had there a week or more ago, came screaming in
again and gave us an awesome visual and audio show! Richard spotted his
lifer male WILLIAMSON'S SAPSUCKER hitching up a tree just feet above us. At
km 15.2 we again saw the male BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER near his nest. Other
typical larch forest birds like TOWNSEND'S WARBLER, BROWN CREEPER were also
seen. On the way down Shuttleworth Rd, Richard was thrilled to see his first
LARK SPARROW on the ground right in front of the car.

River Road produced many birds, as usual. We had at least 3 YELLOW-BREASTED
CHATS, a singing RED-EYED VIREO, BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAKS, and 5 GRAY
CATBIRDS. Road 22, another great birding spot was good, considering it must
have been nearly 35 degrees there. We had 6 BOBOLINKS, 3 VEERIES, a male
WOOD DUCK, 3 NORTHERN WATERTHRUSHES, 10 OSPREY, a male NORTHERN HARRIER and
many other birds.

Ryan and I continued to the Similkameen Valley, while the others returned
home. The late afternoon and early evening were gorgeous for birding one of
my favorite valleys. I wanted to show Ryan the Chopaka Road, which heads
through many different habitats, starting in riparian, then going through
open fields, sage brush, towering cliffs, and ending in Ponderosa Pine
forest. We had 55 species along the road and were once again stunned by the
diversity. In the riparian we encountered WESTERN WOOD-PEWEES, WILLOW
FLYCATCHERS, YELLOW WARBLERS, BULLOCK'S ORIOLES, GRAY CATBIRDS, BLACK-HEADED
GROSBEAKS, CEDAR WAXWINGS, a BLACK-CHINNED HUMMINGBIRD, HOUSE WREN and other
species. We entered the sage brush and found 15 LAZULI BUNTINGS, numerous
LARK SPARROWS, WESTERN and EASTERN KINGBIRDS, and overhead a VAUX'S SWIFT.
As I showed Ryan a huge eagle nest high on a cliff, the GOLDEN EAGLE
suddenly appreared and soared overhead. A CANYON WREN sang, followed by a
ROCK WREN. As we drove further, a CHUKAR crossed the road right in front of
us...then 11 tiny chicks followed. Wetlands below the road produced CINNAMON
and BLUE-WINGED TEAL, HOODED MERGANSER, MALLARD, AMERICAN WIGEON and
WILSON'S SNIPE. Extensive fields had many BOBOLINKS, we estimated well over
20 males, but certainly many more because of the abundance of habitat for
them. The road crosses one more creek where we had a RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER and
a RED-EYED VIREO. What an amazing road.

Sincerely,

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

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