Birders,

Today I spent about 5 hours birding at Campbell Valley Park in
Langley, BC. The weather was cool and started out sunny but breezy,
becoming partly cloudy, and ended in mid-afternoon with a downpour
punctuated with short periods of hail. The birding was good despite
the less-than-ideal weather. I tallied 47 species, of which the most
noteworthy were a DUSKY FLYCATCHER (my second for Vancouver this
spring), giving its soft "wit" call at the west end of the "Listening
Bridge" over the Campbell River, and a WESTERN WOOD-PEWEE, possibly
the first of the spring, heard along the main trail about 300 metres
south of the bridge. I tallied 6 of the 8 regular warbler species in
the area (all except Yellow-rumped and MacGillivray's).

Besides the two flycatchers, other noteworthy sightings included the
following:

Bald Eagle 3 soaring over the Campbell Valley
Cooper's Hawk 1 heard ("kek-kek-kek") but not seen; probably
one of the pair that usually nests in the park
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Pileated Woodpecker 1
Pacific-Slope Flycatcher 4
Brown Creeper 1 singing
Marsh Wren 5
Swainson's Thrush 7 heard in various parts of the park, but none
seen
Hutton's Vireo 1 singing
Warbling Vireo 2 singing
Orange-crowned Warbler 3
Yellow Warbler 10
Black-throated Gray Warbler 3
Townsend's Warbler 1
Common Yellowthroat 5
Wilson's Warbler 8
Western Tanager 2
Black-headed Grosbeak 6 (one male seen repeatedly at very close
range
at a bird feeder just east of the "Listening Bridge")
Purple Finch 6


Mammals seen included:

Eastern Gray Squirrel 2 (I nearly ran over one as it scurried across
16th
Avenue)
Douglas Squirrel 4
Townsend's Chipmunk 1 eating seeds on the Listening Bridge


One of the Douglas Squirrels appeared to be playing a game with the
Black-headed Grosbeak at the feeder near the Listening Bridge. It ran
up the tree to the feeder, scampered off with some sunflower seeds,
then as soon as it left, the Grosbeak would fly in and begin stuffing
itself. The squirrel would soon reappear, the grosbeak would fly off,
and then the grosbeak would reappear when the squirrel left again.
This "turnabout is fair play" sequence repeated itself about 5 times
until I tired of it and continued on down the trail.

Good luck and good birding,

Wayne C. Weber
Delta, BC
contopus at telus.net