Birders,

Today Ryan Tomlinson and I birded the Salmon Arm area. We started off at the
Nature Park at the foot of Narcisse Road where we were again overwhelmed
with birds. There were thousands of gulls, shorebirds and ducks on the mud
just offshore. The bushes and trees at the nature park and along the trail
to Christmas Island were full of migrants too.

Nature Park at the foot of Narcisse Road

Shorebirds were the biggest attraction. The numbers of peeps (especially
Baird's and Semipalmated) were impressive, as were the numbers of Red-necked
Phalaropes! Nine Stilt Sandpipers is an impressive total for BC also. The
birds were wheeling around in huge flocks as a Merlin chased them back and
forth.

Spotted Sandpiper 15
Solitary Sandpiper 5
STILT SANDPIPER 9
Killdeer 600
Semipalmated Plover 5
Baird's Sandpiper 250
Least Sandpiper 250
Semipalmated Sandpiper 100
Western Sandpiper 15
Red-necked Phalarope 100
Wilson's Phalarope 2
Greater Yellowlegs 50
Lesser Yellowlegs 200
Wilson's Snipe 50
AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN 2
Ring-billed Gull 500
FRANKLIN'S GULL 4 juv.
Bonaparte's Gull 2
Merlin 1 female
Bald Eagle 8
Northern Harrier 1 juv.
Great Blue Heron 15
Common Merganser 20
Hooded Merganser 3
Barrow's Goldeneye 10
Bufflehead 10
Mallard 100
Northern Shoveler 20
Northern Pintail 1
Green-winged Teal 5
Western Grebe 100
Common Yellowthroat 10
Yellow Warbler 7
Yellow-rumped Warbler 2
Lazuli Bunting 1
Savannah Sparrow 7
Yellow-headed Blackbird 1
Canada Goose 200
Marsh Wren 3
Black-billed Magpie 2
Northern Flicker 1
American Crow 10
House Finch 2
Belted Kingfisher 1
Tree Swallow 10
Barn Swallow 400
Bank Swallow 1
American Robin 1
European Starling 1
Calliope Hummingbird 1
Ring-necked Pheasant 1
Willow Flycatcher 1
PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHER 1
Cedar Waxwing 5
Osprey 1
Song Sparrow 1
Black-capped Chickadee 1

Christmas Island

ALDER FLYCATCHER 1 seen (ID by eyering presence and green wash on breast)
Willow Flycatcher 2
Common Yellowthroat 20
Yellow Warbler 12
Gray Catbird 3
Red-eyed Vireo
Western Tanager 3
Bullock's Oriole 1
Eastern Kingbird 5
Northern Harrier 2 juv.
Merlin 1
Osprey 3
CLARK'S GREBE 1 ad.
Western Grebe 200
Horned Grebe 2
Pied-billed Grebe 2
Red-necked Grebe 1
Ring-billed Gull 50
FRANKLIN'S GULL 1 juv.
COMMON TERN 1 ad.
Solitary Sandpiper 15 (on one pond!)
Spotted Sandpiper 25
Long-billed Dowitcher 1 ad.
Wilson's Snipe 1
Lesser Yellowlegs 2
Greater Yellowlegs 10
Killdeer 30
Baird's Sandpiper 1
Least Sandpiper 1
Redhead 2
Blue-winged Teal 4
Lesser Scaup 15
Greater Scaup 3
Northern Pintail 1
Mallard 100
American Coot 300
American Wigeon 15
Wood Duck 10
Great Blue Heron 8
Green-winged Teal 10
Ruddy Duck 6
Common Loon 1
Canada Goose 30
Hooded Merganser 1
Black-capped Chickadee 1
Song Sparrow 5
Pileated Woodpecker 1
Savannah Sparrow 5
Brewer's Blackbird 80 foraging on mudflats
American Goldfinch 5
Pine Siskin 1
House Sparrow 10
Red-winged Blackbird 10

Our last stop was along the W. shore of Shuswap Lake along Sandy Point Road
where we hoped to find a late AM. Redstart. No luck, but we did get a
MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLER and a flock of EVENING GROSBEAKS. Almost a hundred
species and virtually no forest birding! Wow.


Bye for now,

Chris Charlesworth
Kelowna, BC

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