Hey guys! Yep, I'm back, yep, I'm still here, and yep, all of the above. Just a quick recap - I didn't do my last edition of the Triangle Island trip, because I realized that we didn't see tooo much, and would be a bit of a waste of a blog post. But here I am, in the flesh, finally writing in my blog again. Here are some points of what I've been up to :
~ May 17-19th ~ Going way back to mid-May; with 8 other fellow young birders from around B.C., I participated in the Baillie Birdathon weekend in the South Okanagan, doing two Big Days. We racked up 153 species for the weekend, and our best tally of the two big days was 129. Highlights including a Great Gray Owl nest ( location disclosed ), Williamson's Sapsucker ( aka Willi ), Brewer's, Clay-colored, Vesper, and Grasshopper Sparrows, Northern Saw-whet, Western Screech, and Flammulated Owls, Bobolink, Surf Scoter ( awesome in May ), a Yellow-breasted Chat singing at 1:30 a.m., and other S Okanagan specialties.
~ June 5th ~ Followed up the Snowy Egret that was sighted at Robert Lake successfully; a Canada lifer, and what a beauty it was! Decked out in crisp white plumage, it is definitely a show-stopper.
~ June 15th ~ Saw 3 Black Terns at Beaver Ranch Flats just outside of Merritt, where they classically breed nearly every year.
~ June 22nd ~ Did another Big Day with just my mom on June 22th, trying to rack up as many breeding specialties as possible. We managed 122 species, despite struggling in patches mid-day without a new bird. "Ouch" miss birds for the day included Green-winged Teal, Evening Grosbeak, Pine Grosbeak, Bobolink, and a sad trio of skunked birds - Downy, Hairy, and American Three-toed Woodpeckers. But the good out-weighed the bad; we nailed nearly all of our target species, and just to name a few : Lark Sparrow, Sage Thrasher, Willi Sap, Common Poorwill, and Canyon and Rock Wrens. There were two happy surprises during the day : observing an adult Franklin's Gull at Vaseux Lake, and an odd passerine flying steadily north up on Shuttleworth Creek Road. After failing to ID the bird myself, I sent the pictures I took of it to Russell C., who couldn't stamp a firm ID on it either, so he sent it to multiple friends. They concurred it is an odd longspurish type, of the McCown's/Chestnut-collared/Snow Bunting variety. From my perspective, it is either a McCown's Longspur or Snow Bunting. Did you know that the McCown's Longspur may be more closely related to the Snow Bunting than any other longspur?
~ July 4th ~ Carrying on... twitched the Black-billed Cuckoo at 6:30 a.m. the day after it was sighted on Beaver Lake Road ( after missing it the day-of ), with a few friends, and we finally nailed it, getting priceless looks at it foraging, calling, feeding, and best of all, flying. Later on that day, I travelled to Kamloops for a swim meet ( I am a competitive swimmer ). But the swim meet started the next day, so I birded the remainder of July 4th with my friend Isaac, a young birder who also went on the Youth Big Day in May previously mentioned. We nailed a family of Chukar, among numerous other excellent birds.
~ July 10th ~ Went up Sovereign Lake Road outside of Vernon, picking up White-winged Crossbill, and discovering an American Three-toed Woodpecker nest.
~ July 11-14 ~ Travelled to Golden for, yep, another swim meet, and on the way saw a male Magnolia Warbler in a little town named Donald. On the way back, we nailed Alder Flycatcher in Revelstoke, and got crippling looks at it.
~ July 23rd ~ Got a Caspian Tern FINALLY at Robert Lake in the middle of an extreme rain-storm. My long-awaited, and overdue Okanagan lifer was sitting and preening in the middle of a gull flock. It took off with the flock of gulls westbound, never to seen again.
~ July 29-31 ~ Went on a road trip with my friend Russ to Vancouver for some good coastal birds. It was one of the best times I've had, and I actually had five lifers for the trip. There were lotsa highlights, with little low-lights. Here are some of the high points : On the drive down, we stopped a road just south of Merritt off of the Coquihalla Hwy, seeing at least one sharp male American Redstart. Next stop was the White Rock Pier, where the long-staying "Western" Willet was showing well ( lifer #1 ). The Long-billed Curlew was hiding on the other side of some grass at Blackie Spit, and at then at the Tswwassen Ferry Docks, 8 Whimbrel were in attendance. The American White Pelican was at Brunswick Point. On the eve of the 29th, a happy surprise was having an immature Franklin's Gull fly near at us, then settling down on the mud flats at Boundary Bay, subsequently after Ilya P. joined us. Shorebirds were numerous, but were not diverse. The majority were Western, Least, and Semisands, and Black-bellied and Semipalmated Plovers. The next day were birded from dawn till dusk, and at 9:30 a.m., we found ourselves at Reifel Bird Sanctuary. I had never been there, so it was a pleasant experience. My lifer Black-crowned Night-Heron was present ( lifer #2 ), and migratory shorebirds were there also, with 6 Short-billed Dowitchers mixing with the largely fresh-water Long-billed Dowitchers ( a flock 150 birds strong ). Pectoral Sandpipers, a Western Sand, and both Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs covered the shorebird front well. 5 Mute Swans were a nice surprise while scanning the far away mud flats, and we chalked up 52 species for the park. A Barn Owl-less Barn Owl tree ( complete with Barn Owl feathers and mouse skulls ) pestered us at Alaksan Wildlife Area. Hasting Park had a Green Heron. The striking looking bird was sitting hunched at the edge of the pond ( lifer #3 ). We went to Maplewood Flats in North Vancouver, watching 7 gorgeous Black-throated Gray Warblers draped in black and white, foraging in the generous stand of forest ( lifer #4 ). Later on the day, near dusk, we sat at Boundary Bay again, scopes out, looking for something unique in the massive peep or plover flock. Within the peep flock were two Sanderling; within the plover flock were 6 Short-billed Dowitchers and a Dunlin, the latter huddled up with a Black-bellied, looking quite miserable. The last day of our bird in the Lower Mainland took us to Maple Ridge, where the Western Scrub-Jay family was the target of our searching. After ten minutes of walking listening, and waiting, I spied one of the babies atop an evergreen. A few minutes later, the other juv showed up. We got amazing looks at them, especially one, who hopped down on a power line right above our heads. They were almost too close for my camera ( lifer #5 )! From there, after hitting Golden Ears Park for a bit more birding, we headed back to Kelowna.
~ August 14th ~ Another "red alert miss" bird was caught red-handed on August 14th. The bird - Tennessee Warbler. The place - Belgo Pond in Kelowna. That was another nemesis bird for me in the Okanagan, where I had chased many, but this time, I was lucky. The hatch-year female was found foraging in a mixed flock of early migrant warblers in early morning. If you would like, you can read the full story on my Flickr page; the link is at the bottom of this post.
~ August 17th ~ Now, we come to yesterday. After another swim meet in Kamloops that weekend ( this time the Provincials ), I took a risk and selected the alternative route back to Kelowna, through Salmon Arm late in the evening. Why? Because two days before, there was a BBSA, 2 UPSAs, and one BNST at Salmon Arm Bay. By the time I reached the bay, it was 7:30 p.m. The sky was darkening, the lighting was horrible as can be, and the shorebird flock was way, waaay out on a shoreline at least a kilometer away. Argh! Well, just in case, I scanned the terribly long-distance flock, looking for a sandy-coloured, mediumish-sized bird ( BBSA ), a long-legged medium-sized bird ( UPSA ), and a pied, pink-legged clown-bird ( BNST ). Nada on all three fronts. Who knows, maybe they were hiding behind something, who knows, maybe they departed? At that incredible distance, it's almost impossible to tell. I was only able to identify Western Sandpiper, Baird's Sandpiper, Lesser Yellowlegs, Greater Yellowlegs, Killdeer, and Wilson's Snipe for shorebirds when they occasionally took flight. Oh well, the Baird's Sandpiper was a year-bird.
Well, that is the up-to-date report on mostly what I've been up to on the birding front. My B.C. year list is at 267, actually a personal best believe it or not, and my B.C. life list is in grasping distance of 300; it's grinded out at 297.
Good luck in all of your birding everyone, and keep at it! :D
Logan :)
Here is my Flickr page ( Chop_Merc is my user-name ) -
https://www.flickr.com/photos/101469605@N02/
P.S. There goes a Downy Woodpecker! A new yard-bird species, which is 121 for the all-time list.
