Birders,

This afternoon me and my brother Connor headed to Salmon Arm in search of
whatever new migrants may have arrived. We saw some nice birds, however
nothing new that has not been reported during the last week. Shorebird
numbers seem to be down a bit, but September is traditionally one of the
greatest times for the Salmon Arm flats!!

We started at the Nature Park at the foot of Narcisse Rd where we attempted
to walk across the mudflats. Recent heavy rains have made this trek rather
difficult. Connor has a real problem with getting stuck in the mud and today
was his second time getting both feet firmly planted a few inches under the
thick gooey mud. At the climax of his frustration he had both of his hands
planted firmly into the mud, his packsack slung over his head and his scope
and binoculars caked in mud. I came to the rescue losing both of my shoes in
the process. We did see some birds nonetheless:

Nature Park

AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN 2
Pied-billed Grebe 4
Great Blue Heron 5
Turkey Vulture 4
Canada Goose 100
Wood Duck 5
Mallard 100
Green-winged Teal 10
Northern Shoveler 4
Osprey 2
Bald Eagle 2
Northern Harrier 1 juv.
Merlin 1
PEREGRINE FALCON 2 ad.
Semipalmated Plover 8
Killdeer 100
BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER 1 ad in transitional plumage
Wilson's Snipe 1
Spotted Sandpiper 5
Solitary Sandpiper 2
Lesser Yellowlegs 100 (including complete albino)
Pectoral Sandpiper 4
Baird's Sandpiper 2
Long-billed Dowitcher 1 ad.
STILT SANDPIPER 15
Least Sandpiper 50
Semipalmated Sandpiper 1
Western Sandpiper 1
Wilson's Phalarope 5
Red-necked Phalarope 70
Black Swift 10
Downy Woodpecker 1
Bank Swallow 5

We then walked in across the railroad tracks on the W. side of the flats to
avoid any further "sinkage" and mostly because I wanted to bring Connor home
alive to his mother!

W. side of flats

Canada Goose 200
Great Blue Heron 6
Wood Duck 10
American Wigeon 200
Mallard 300
Northern Pintail 150
Blue-winged Teal 10
Green-winted Teal 50
Northern Shoveler 15
Ring-necked Duck 10
Barrow's Goldeneye 1
Bufflehead 2
Osprey 1
Northern Harrier 1
American Coot 30
Killdeer 40
Spotted Sandpiper 10
Solitary Sandpiper 1
Greater Yellowlegs 5
Lesser Yellowlegs 150
Baird's Sandpiper 20
BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER 1 juv.
STILT SANDPIPER 10
Least Sandpiper 20
Western Sandpiper 1
Semipalmated Sandpiper 1
Red-necked Phalarope 30
Herring Gull 10
California Gull 1
Ring-billed Gull 80
FRANKLIN'S GULL 8 juv.
Bonaparte's Gull 10
Northern Flicker 1
Black-capped Chickadee 5
Cedar Waxwing 10
Yellow Warbler 1
MacGillivray's Warbler 1
Savannah Sparrow 10

Our final stop was at the wharf. A soft rain began falling and we scratched
plans to head for Christmas Island since the day was nearing an end.

The Wharf

Common Loon 5
Western Grebe 50
Pied-billed Grebe 2
Great Blue Heron 1
Canada Goose 100
Hooded Merganser 2
Common Merganser 8
Osprey 3 in nest
Killdeer 25
Spotted Sandpiper 1
Greater Yellowlegs 1
Lesser Yellowlegs 8
Pectoral Sandpiper 1
Long-billed Dowitcher 6
SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER 8 (juv)
STILT SANDPIPER 12 juv.


That's all for now,

Chris Charlesworth
Kelowna, BC

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