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


Sightings for Saturday, January 3 - 10:00 PM update.

The Featured Birds Include:

EURASIAN WIGEON (Vaseux)
DUNLIN (Kelowna)
ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD (Kelowna)
WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL (Okanagan Falls)
BOREAL CHICKADEE (Okanagan Falls)
AMERICAN TREE SPARROW (Osoyoos)

Other birds mentioned include:

Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Western Meadowlark
Three-toed Woodpecker
Trumpeter Swan
Tundra Swan
Pine Grosbeak
Northern Goshawk
Northern Pygmy-Owl
PACIFIC LOON
SNOW GOOSE
GLAUCOUS GULL
BARN OWL
GREAT GRAY OWL
GYRFALCON
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Wilson's Snipe
Lesser Scaup
Greater Scaup
Golden Eagle
Killdeer
Mew Gull
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE
Spotted Towhee


Sightings for January 3

Despite freezing temperatures the female ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD was seen at 680
Drummond Court in the Mission area of Kelowna (fide CC).

At the Maude Roxby Bird Sanctuary, in Kelowna, two DUNLIN were resting on
the ice (TF).

Up to 3 WESTERN MEADOWLARKS were at the intersection of Old Vernon Road and
Lindley Road in the Ellison area of Kelowna (CS).

On Jan 2, the BARN OWL was again seen along Bulman Road at the S. end of the
Kelowna Airport (TF). Watch for the bird at dusk and after dark near the SE.
corner of the Shadow Ridge Golf Course as it hunts the fields on the S. side
of Bulman Road.

On Kelowna's Westside, a NORTHERN GOSHAWK was in Kalamoir Park near the
Sunnyside Road entrance (EF). Two additional NORTHERN GOSHAWKS were seen
along the Shuttleworth Ck Road, E. of Okanagan Falls, on Jan 2
(CC,RT,RM,CS). The birds were seen at km 4.7 and km 8. Also at km 8 was a
male THREE-TOED WOODPECKER (CC,RT,RM,CS).

The boreal forest along the Shuttleworth Ck Road, while cold and snowy,
produced good birds including a flock of 30 WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS at km
20, 2 BOREAL CHICKADEES between km 22 and 23, a flock of 18 PINE GROSBEAKS
at km 12 and a NORTHERN PYGMY-OWL at km 13 on the Venner Meadows Road
(CC,CS,RT,RM).

A male EURASIAN WIGEON was at the N. end of Vaseux Lake on the 2nd, as were
53 TRUMPETER and 3 TUNDRA SWANS (CC,RT,RM,CS).

Along Meadowlark Road, off Black Sage Road, near Osoyoos, up to 15 AMERICAN
TREE SPARROWS were foraging in the vineyard on the N. side of the road
(RM,RT,CC,CS).

On Jan 3, 10 NORTHERN SHOVELERS and 3 NORTHERN PINTAILS were on Osoyoos
Lake, on the S. side of Hwy 3 at the bridge (CC,CS,RT,RM).


Sightings for January 1, 2004

The gray-phase GYRFALCON put in his 2004 appearance at the Marshall's
Feedlot on the W. side of Hwy 97, at McCurdy Road in Kelowna (CC,RM).

SE. of Kelowna, at the McCulloch Cross Country Ski Trails, the resident
GREAT GRAY OWL was seen swooping over the Log Cabin Trail by a skiier (AB).

At Rotary Beach, along Lakeshore Road in Kelowna, the adult GLAUCOUS GULL
was seen, and two MEW GULLS, an adult and a first winter bird, were at
Sutherland Park in Kelowna's North End (CC,RM).

Kelowna's Rotary Marshes produced an adult GOLDEN EAGLE, 8 LESSER SCAUP,
with numerous GREATER SCAUP and a calling KILLDEER (CC,RM).

East of Kelowna, 2 CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEES were along Philpott Road, off
Hwy 33 (CC,RM).

In Westbank, a SNOW GOOSE was reported in Gellatly Bay, with a large flock
of CANADA GEESE (unknown).

In the spring along Mission Ck, just upstream from the East Kelowna Bridge,
were 2 WILSON'S SNIPE (CC,RM). To find the birds park by the green mailboxes
along Hollywood Road S, just S. of East Kelowna Road. Follow the path to the
spring and wear waterproof footwear. The snipe were in the small fenced off
wetland.

Seen at midnight on Jan 1, a BARN OWL was hunting along Bulman Road, at the
S. end of the Kelowna Airport (CC). From Old Vernon Road drive W. on Bulman
and watch for the bird hunting in fields near the edge of Shadow Ridge Golf
Course.

The Lake Country CBC was held on December 28, and tallied 84 species.
Highlights included a PACIFIC LOON at the S. end of Wood Lake
(CC,RM,PL,m.ob) 2 GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE in overflight (HV,m.ob),
WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS near Postill Lake (PL,m.ob), 3 TRUMPETER SWANS along
the S. end E. side of Wood Lake (RM,DC,CC,PL,m.ob), an AMERICAN TREE SPARROW
in a weedy field along Oyama Road (DC), another AMERICAN TREE SPARROW along
Goldie Road in the Carr's Landing area (DW,RT), numerous NORTHERN PYGMY-OWLS
(m.ob), a single SPOTTED TOWHEE (CC,RM) and a RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET (HV,m.ob)

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


Observer Initials: CC - Chris Charlesworth; DW - Don Wilson; MF - Michael
Force; RM - Richard Mooney; PL - Pam Laing; DC - Don Cecile; RT - Ryan
Tomlinson; AB - Aim Beaulieu; CS - Chris Siddle; EF - Elke Fischer; HV -
Hank Vanderpol; TF - Trevor Forder.

If you have any questions about Okanagan Valley birding, contact Chris
Charlesworth, in Kelowna, at (250) 718-0335, Dick Cannings, in Penticton, at
(250) 496-4019, or 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
WWW.AVOCETTOURS.COM
C_CHARLESWORTH at AVOCETTOURS.COM

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