Birders,

Early this morning Ryan Tomlinson and I drove N. from Kelowna to Armstrong.
Arriving on Highland Park Drive at about 7:30 AM, the NORTHERN HAWK-OWL was
easily found perched atop a powerpole about .5 km S. of the Sleepy Hollow
Road intersection. The bird was actively hunting at this time and was
restlessly moving from pole to pole and tree to tree. The owl took a stoop
at a perched Red-tailed Hawk as well. Until today I've never heard a Hawk
Owl call, but this bird let out a few soft trills.

We then explored the back roads of Enderby in hopes of finding another
unusual owl. No luck, but we did find a ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK and saw many BALD
EAGLES including what we decided was a 2nd year Leucistic Bald Eagle. The
back and wing feathers were pale cream, and the head had some light
streaking. The underparts were mostly off white. What an interesting bird.

Our route then took us down the W. side of Okanagan Lake along Westside Road
from Vernon to Kelowna. Along the way we made a brief stop at Fintry. There
were few birds here, but we did find a small flock of about 8 EVENING
GROSBEAKS, 70 COMMON REDPOLLS, and a SHARP-SHINNED HAWK.

After dropping Ryan off at home I continued on to a couple of other
locations. I walked in to the woods along Mission Ck, upstream from Casorso
Road. A few moments of pishing produced a flock of DARK-EYED JUNCOS,
BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEES and a curious RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET! Along an open
water way were at least 8 stunningly colored WOOD DUCKS!

What a fantastic day to be outside,

Chris Charlesworth
Avocet Tours
Kelowna, BC
www.avocettours.com