Subject: South Okanagan Birding - May 5
Date: May 5 20:56:52 2003
From: Chris Charlesworth - c_charlesworth23 at hotmail.com


Birders,

On a whim this morning, I decided to head to the South Okanagan for some
birding. The birding has been excellent for the past couple of days in the
valley after the passage of a cold front. Warblers and other neotropical
migrants are flitting in every grove of valley bottom trees it seems. I
started from Kelowna at 6:15 AM and stopped first at Ok Falls Campground,
after Tim Hortons coffee of course. From there I continued along the river
channel S of the campground for a couple of km, and then retraced my route
to OK Falls and then S. to Road 22 area, via River Rd and Inkameep Rd. After
birding the Road 22 area I headed home via White Lake Road.

Migrant numbers were very good today. Below I will list some of the most
common migrants and their numbers at each stop.

Orange-crowned Warbler

5 at Ok Falls Campground
43 along River Channel S. of OK Falls Campground
8 at River Rd
4 on Inkameep Rd
26 at Rd 22
6 on White Lk Road -- total of 92 for day! wow.

Nashville Warbler

2 at Ok Falls Campground
20 along river channel
5 on River Road
4 on Inkameep Rd
1 on Road 22 -- total of 32

Hammond's Flycatcher

2 at Ok Falls Campground
8 along river channel
25 on River Rd
3 on Inkameep Rd
12 on Rd 22
1 on White Lk Rd
4 along Inkameep Road -- total of 55

White-crowned Sparrow

8 at Ok Falls Campground
11 on river channel
18 on River Rd
75 on Inkameep Rd
75 on Rd 22
1030 on White Lake Road -- total of 1217! Read on for details!

Starting off at Ok Falls Campground the birding was great in the morning.
Orange-crowned, Nashville, Yellow-rumped and Wilson's warblers were in the
park. Other migrants included White-crowned and Lincoln's Sparrow and
Hammond's Flycatcher. Other interesting non-migrants included White-throated
Swifts, Rufous and Calliope hummingbirds, House Wren, Barrow's Goldeneye and
Belted Kingfisher.

The walk along the river channel S. from the campground for about two km
produced 54 species! The best bird was a FOX SPARROW. Other interesting
birds included 39 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, 5 Wilson's Warblers, a Say's
Phoebe, 30 American Pipits, 2 Virginia Rails, 3 Soras, a Wilson's Snipe,
Chipping Sparrow, Golden Eagle, 2 Lincoln's Sparrows, Am. Kestrel, Bald
Eagle, Vaux's Swift. Very nice walk.

Recent rains have flooded fields along River Rd and Road 22 making for great
birding. Of interest were 25 Hammond's Flycatchers, all calling and actively
feeding in the trees, on fencelines and even on the ground. 4 Soras and 2
Virginia Rails called in the marshes and a Sora was even seen swimming.

Inkameep Road runs through nice dry, Ponderosa Pine and sagebrush habitat E.
of Oliver. Along the road I had a nice mix of migrants and typical Okanagan
species. Of note were Pygmy, White-breasted and Red-breasted nuthatches,
Western Meadowlarks, Cassin's Finches, Western Kingbirds, Townsend's
Solitaires, Clark's Nutcrackers, a singing LAZULI BUNTING, 3 Canyon Wrens,
Western Bluebirds, 2 LONG-BILLED CURLEWS, White-throated Swifts.

Road 22 was very productive. Large numbers of ducks, including Blue-winged,
Cinnamon and Green-winged teal, Northern Shoveler, Redhead, Wood Duck,
Mallard, Gadwall and Lesser Scaup were in the flooded fields along the W.
dyke S. of the bridge. Also in the fields were 4 Greater Yellowlegs and a
Solitary Sandpiper. In a small woodlot along the W. dyke S. of Road 22 I had
a GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW foraging on the ground. Above in the trees was a
male WESTERN TANAGER and a calling WESTERN WOOD-PEWEE. Along the W. dyke
about .5 km N. of the bridge a pair of SANDHILL CRANES fed in a grassy
field. One bird had a bad foot and was hopping on one leg.

I returned home via White Lake Road. Of note were the sparrows. A singing
Brewer's Sparrow near the lake was of note. As I scanned the sage flats for
a Brewer's, suddenly the bushes became alive with White-crowned Sparrows.
Every bush, in every direction had 5 or 6 White-crowneds in it. All of a
sudden they started taking off and by scanning the grasslands I could see
there were WCSPs flying as far as the eye could see. I ended up estimating
that there were 1000 WCSPs at White Lake. A huge number. A nice ending to a
great day of birding.

Five year birds today, Western Wood-Pewee, Western Tanager, Solitary
Sandpiper, Brewer's Sparrow and Fox Sparrow. My valley total is now 186 and
my ABA year is now up to 325.

Chris Charlesworth
Avocet Tours
Kelowna, BC
www.avocettours.com


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