Birders,

I spent much of the morning birding on my own along the Kelowna Waterfront.
In the late morning I was joined by Ryan Tomlinson and we continued to
search along Mission Creek and in the Westbank area. It was a bit cooler
today, but the weather was still excellent for February!

Kelowna Waterfront (SB = Sutherland Bay, RM = Rotary Marsh, MR = Maude
Roxby)

Common Loon (RM)
Pied-billed Grebe (SB, RM)
Horned Grebe (SB,RM)
Red-necked Grebe (RM)
Western Grebe 2 (RM)
Great Blue Heron (SB,MR)
Canada Goose (SB,RM,MR)
Tundra Swan 4 (SB)
Gadwall (MR)
American Wigeon (RM,MR)
Mallard (SB,RM,MR)
Canvasback (RM)
Redhead (RM)
Ring-necked Duck (RM)
Greater Scaup (RM)
Bufflehead (SB,RM)
Common Goldeneye (SB,RM)
Common Merganser (SB)
Bald Eagle 2 ad. (RM)
American Coot (SB,RM)
Ring-billed Gull (SB,RM,MR)
California Gull (SB,RM)
Herring Gull (SB,RM,MR)
Thayer's Gull 2 (RM)
Glaucous-winged Gull (SB,RM)
Belted Kingfisher 1 female (Mouth of Mission Ck)

We checked the Sunnyside neighbourhood of Westbank and at the S. end of
Sunnybrae Road found two male SPOTTED TOWHEES with assorted juncos,
chickadees and finches. American Robins were in the gardens here as well. A
quick trip to Gellatly Bay produced 150 Greater Scaup and a lone male Lesser
Scaup.

It was then off to Shannon Lake where we watched the gull flock shuffle
around for a while. The birds were on edge, and for good reason! There were
4 Bald Eagles, two ad. and two first years, and an adult GOLDEN EAGLE in the
area! Gulls on the ice included many Glaucous-wingeds of various ages, three
ad. Thayer's Gulls, many Herring, California and Ring-billed gulls. A number
of Lesser Scaup were on an open bit of water. A Townsend's Solitaire was
singing in between feasting on juniper berries alongside the path.

Our final destination was Mission Ck. We hiked from K.L.O Road to the
Eco-Centre and found some interesting things, but the screech-owl hole was
empty:

American Dipper 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2 (one just upstream from K.L.O, another about .5 km
upstream)
Cooper's Hawk 1 imm female
Pileated Woodpecker 1 female upstream from K.L.O
Downy Woodpecker 1 male upstream from K.L.O
Brown Creeper 1 just downstream from Eco-Centre

That's all for now,

Chris Charlesworth