Birders,

Today, a small army of us went up to Salmon Arm. Included in the troop was
Ryan Tomlinson, Trevor Forder, Richard Mooney, Don Cecile and myself. The
day started off cold and very foggy. So foggy in fact that birds only 50
meters in front of us could not be seen. The fog soon lifted and the
bountiful mudflats of Salmon Arm become visible.

Christmas Island

We walked through the fog hearing various songbirds along the wooded path
leading to the island. Of note was a PILEATED WOODPECKER, a LINCOLN'S
SPARROW, a MARSH WREN, a RED CROSSBILL, 2 COMMON YELLOWTHROATS, and an
AMERICAN GOLDFINCH. Once we reached the island many ducks could be made out
through the fog. Included were good numbers of AMERICAN WIGEON, NORTHERN
SHOVELER, GREEN-WINGED TEAL, GADWALL, MALLARD, HOODED MERGANSER and WESTERN
GREBES which were calling offshore. The rocky shoreline on the W. side of
the island had good numbers of SAVANNAH SPARROWS, some AMERICAN PIPITS and 2
obliging LAPLAND LONGSPURS, lifer for Richard! Shorebirds were few and far
between, but Don Cecile did see 2 AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVERS, some
BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS and some KILLDEER. We all saw a lingering GREATER
YELLOWLEGS.

Salmon Arm Wharf

The fog was really lifting at the wharf and we soon saw a very cold BARN
SWALLOW perched on a roof, taking very brief forays into the air to catch
bugs. The flats had 24 PECTORAL SANDPIPERS which we scanned through but
found nothing else. A juvenile NORTHERN HARRIER flew over the dock giving
good views.

Nature Park

Always a good spot! The fog had lifted completely and an almost adult
PEREGRINE FALCON was seen perched on a snag near the shore. A juv.
RED-TAILED HAWK chased the bird from its perch and a MERLIN also gave brief
chase to the Peregrine. The flats had 7 AMERICAN AVOCETS, a FRANKLIN'S GULL
and a BONAPARTE'S GULL.

SW. Corner of "Nature Bay" near Mouth of the Salmon River

Huge numbers of waterfowl were staged near the mouth of the river! Included
were 1500 MALLARDS, 200 GADWALL, 300 AMERICAN WIGEON, 320 RING-NECKED
DUCKS!, 11 REDHEADS, 20 NORTHERN SHOVELER, 500 CANADA GEESE and a few grebes
including an EARED. Six LAPLAND LONGSPURS were also vocalizing as they flew
overhead.

Trail at foot of 47th Ave NE.

I pulled over to have a quick nap here before driving back to Kelowna. Ryan
went for a short walk and came running back hollering for me to get up! I
got out of the truck and Ryan said "MAGNOLIA WARBLER!" I ran down to the
railroad tracks and walked about 20 M. north where Ryan was pishing. The
bird soon popped into vision and there it was, a first fall MAGNOLIA
WARBLER, most likely a female judging by the faint streaks on the flanks.
The bird sounded a strange call, a nasal "squid" and foraged actively in the
dense deciduous vegetation. The crown, face and nape were grayish and the
eye was surrounded by a thin white eye ring. The throat and breast were
yellow with a very faint thin necklace of grayish streaks. Wings were dark
with 2 white wing bars. The belly was whitish and the undertail coverts had
a fair amt. of yellow. The tail was fairly short with large white squares.
What an awesome bird!!


If anyone's interested check out my website WWW.AVOCETTOURS.COM which has
recently undergone some changes. Comments welcome.

That's all for now,

Chris Charlesworth
Avocet Tours
725 Richards Road
Kelowna, BC
V1X 2X5
Canada
(250) 718-0335
tours at avocettours.com
www.avocettours.com

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