Subject: Okanagan Valley (BC) Rare Bird Alert - Feb 29 update
Date: Feb 29 21:29:36 2004
From: Chris Charlesworth - c_charlesworth23 at hotmail.com


This is the Okanagan Valley (BC) Rare Bird Alert (250-491-7738).


Sightings for Sunday, February 29 - 9:30 PM update.


Featured bird is:

GLAUCOUS GULL (Kelowna)
MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD (OK Falls)
SNOW BUNTING (Kelowna & Kamloops)

Other birds mentioned include:

Horned Lark
GRAY-CROWNED ROSY-FINCH
RED-BREASTED MERGANSER
Western Grebe
Mew Gull
Pine Grosbeak
Killdeer
Red-tailed Hawk
Rough-legged Hawk
Northern Pygmy-Owl
GYRFALCON
Lapland Longspur


Sightings for February 29

The first MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD of the season was a male reported at White Lake
on Feb 28 (JT,DT).

In Kelowna, a SNOW BUNTING was at the Rotary Marshes, as was a second winter
GLAUCOUS GULL (CC,CS).

S. of Kamloops off Hwy 5, ten HORNED LARKS and 250 SNOW BUNTINGS were seen
along Rose Hill Road (TF).


Sightings for February 28

Up to 50 GRAY-CROWNED ROSY-FINCHES were seen along the Old Okanagan Hwy, S.
of Vernon (TF,m.ob). The birds, of which both coastal and interior races
were noted, were foraging on an open hillside approx. 1 km S. of the Kal
Lake lookout.

Raptors were on the move, with good numbers of RED-TAILED HAWKS and a few
ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS noted around the Vernon area (LR,CC,m.ob).

A NORTHERN PYGMY-OWL was seen along Sovereign Lakes Road, off Silver Star
Road, E. of Vernon (LR). Another NORTHERN PYGMY-OWL was heard at Crystal
Mountain near Westbank (RM). Along the road to Crystal Mountain were 2 PINE
GROSBEAKS (RM).

A flock of WESTERN GREBES were noted on Okanagan Lake, off Rotary Beach in
Kelowna on Feb 26 (PL,GW,m.ob). Also at Rotary Beach was a first year MEW
GULL (GW,m.ob)

KILLDEER flocks have been noted in open fields throughout the Kelowna area
(m.ob).

A male RED-BREASTED MERGANSER was seen on Osoyoos Lake, at the Hwy 3 bridge
in Osoyoos (TF,HV,JV).


Sightings for February 23

The GYRFALCON continues at Marshall's Feedlot, in Kelowna, along Hwy 97 at
McCurdy Road (JV).

A LAPLAND LONGSPUR was found on the rocks along the outer trail at the
Rotary Marshes in downtown Kelowna (JV).

---------------------------------------------------------


Observer Initials: CC - Chris Charlesworth; TF - Trevor Forder; RM -
Richard Mooney; JV - John Vooys; GW - Gwynneth Wilson; LR - Lesley
Robertson; PL - Pam Laing;

If you have any questions about Okanagan birding call Chris Charlesworth, in
Kelowna at (250) 718-0335, Dick Cannings, in Penticton, at (250) 496-4019,
and Phil Gehlen, in Vernon at (250) 542-8053.

This update has been sponsored by the TUMBLEWEED NATURE STORE at 67 Front
Street in Penticton.

CHRIS CHARLESWORTH
AVOCET TOURS
725 RICHARDS ROAD
KELOWNA, BC, CANADA
V1X 2X5
(250) 718-0335
C_CHARLESWORTH at AVOCETTOURS.COM
WWW.AVOCETTOURS.COM

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