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#90582
Wow! Great work, everyone! I knew it was my turn to get out and contribute! So I spent the last two or three days out and about and came up with a good selection ... I realized I haven't updated the list in a while -- so I'm hoping for no duplicates! lol. My wife and I drove down south to do some birding in the OK Falls / Osoyoos area ... great birding down there!
Here's my selections to add:
1. Bobolink - Saw this at the Oxbows off Road 22 near Osoyoos. If you walk South down the west side of the canal from the Oxbows parking lot, you will see them in the field by the cattails.
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2. American Goldfinch - I think we already have this on the list ... Saw him both at the house and Lake Vaseux.
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3. Western Kingbird - They must have recently arrived. Saw them in Kelowna and at the Desert Museum in Osoyoos. (I think this is Male and Female)
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4. Bullock's Oriole - Saw this guy in several places -- at Swiwi (Haynes Point) Provincial Park in Osoyoos and near the Desert Museum.
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5. Wilson's Phalarope - Saw several of them swimming around in shallow water near Robert's Lake in Kelowna.
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My images of the male and female together were fuzzy, Judy. Here's a couple of females ...
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6. Vesper Sparrow - Zach, you'll have to confirm this for me ... pretty sure it is a Vesper Sparrow. Saw it near White Lake Basin, OK Falls.
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7. Northern Rough-winged Swallow - Saw this in a few places -- not a great photo, so if someone has a better shot!
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8. Yellow Warbler - Saw these at Lake Vaseux and at Swiwi Provincial park.
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9. Chipping Sparrow - Saw these at White Lake Basin ... again, photo is fuzzy -- so a better picture from someone?!
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10. Hairy Woodpecker - Saw this guy at Swiwi Provincial Park ... thought at first it was a Downy -- but after looking at the video, I pronounced it Hairy. haha. Anyone want to confirm? I'm uploading the video ... can check it there too.
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Happy Birding (and/or Birdwatching), Everyone!
James
#90588
Wow! You guys (and girls) are all killing it! I haven’t been out that much lately and when I do finally drag myself somewhere, the birds are nowhere to be found, at least not any that I’m looking for. I already have tons of pics of gulls, crows and starlings so I don’t really pay attention to them anymore. Sorry gull people, I’m just not into them. :mrgreen:
stumblingpiper wrote: May 17 11:46 pm
5. Wilson's Phalarope
My images of the male and female together were fuzzy, Judy. Here's a couple of females ...
The last time I saw one of these was in 2015 at Reifel. He wasn’t in breeding plumage but I was happy just seeing and photographing the bird!
stumblingpiper wrote: May 17 11:46 pm 10. Hairy Woodpecker - Saw this guy at Swiwi Provincial Park ... thought at first it was a Downy -- but after looking at the video, I pronounced it Hairy. haha. Anyone want to confirm? I'm uploading the video ... can check it there too.
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Sorry James, it’s a Downy. The small, dainty beak indicates Downy; by comparison a Hairy’s beak is enormous being almost as long as it’s head. This is very subtle and you have to look closely (not easy to do in the wild - what I mean is you have to examine your pictures) - the white outer tail feathers of a Downy are usually barred; a Hairy’s are all white. That is the case with your bird - hard to see because they blend in so well with the tree bark but if you enlarge the tail section you can just make out a couple of black bars, so it’s a Downy, a male.

Congratulations to all and keep on going! Eventually I’ll have something to add.
#90589
Well darn ... I guess we've only seen 197 ... haha--but ... that Swainson's Thrush gets us back to 198. Thanks, Judy. Sometimes it's difficult to tell species differences, that's for sure.
#90590
Colony Farm is a true delight - I have been easily 20 times and always seem to find something new (to me, at least). Last Saturday, that something was a Cedar Waxwing to go with the Bohemians posted a few months back. :)

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Not the brightest image - the two I saw were in shadow from my vantage point, but pretty close so that counts for something, right?

I also (finally!) found the Lazuli Buntings that hang out near the gardens there today, so that was nice to add to my list!
#90608
I was able to get out yesterday for a drive around the Okanagan looking for some birds ... with effort and some luck, I found them! lol. Our first stop was a rest area just south of the turn off to Big White ... although small, it was productive -- Mcgillavray's Warbler, Yellow-breasted Chat, and Wood Pee-wee among others ... no photos ... darn it. The second stop was the Kettle Valley Recreation Area. If you want to see the Lewis Woodpecker, this is your stop! We must have seen 5 or 6 of them here ... right near the camp grounds off the KVR trail.
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This was a very good locale for bird spotting ... we walked along the KVR trail for awhile ... I came across this Ruffed Grouse just sitting in a tree. We saw Flickers, Warblers, others.
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We also saw several Chipping Sparrows ... so here's a better image to replace my fuzzy one!
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The next spot was Johnstone Provincial Park ... although small, it showed promise for woodpeckers/etc--we did see a Townsend's Solitaire here ... but no photos.

We drove the Crowsnest Highway from Rock Ridge to Osoyoos detouring for a drive up and down Wagonwheel Road near Bridesville. This route was very productive! Quite a few birds along this route. Brewers, Red-wing blackbirds, Magpie, Steller's Jay, Cowbirds, etc. We also saw four of these Clark's Nutcrackers.
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We did see a few sparrows ... I couldn't pass up posting this Song Sparrow -- I loved the photo (sorry for the repeat!)
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So Judy ... to replace the Downy that I thought was a Hairy -- here's a Hairy Woodpecker! lol.
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We were starting to run out of steam about this time, but we made a couple of more stops ... Road 22 always produces, but we also had a good stop at Vaseux Lake ... we saw this Eastern Kingbird hanging around ...
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If someone gets a better picture of that one, please post it!

That's it for now ... trying to recover from the trip ... haha. Happy Birding/Watching Everyone!
James
#90610
stumblingpiper wrote:
So Judy ... to replace the Downy that I thought was a Hairy -- here's a Hairy Woodpecker! lol.

James
Now that’s a Hairy! Note the difference in the bill size. Good photo of a female too.
#90616
Well I finally dragged myself out of the house and went on a birding field trip! When I heard there was a Black Swan at the Great Blue Heron Nature Reserve in Chilliwack I just had to go and see it in person. I wasn't disappointed...take a look at this beauty!

ImageBlack Swan by Jewill on Flickr

I know he's not native to BC (Australia in fact) but neither are the Mandarin Duck nor the Swan Goose and they both made the list.
On a side note: I find it quite odd that there have been so many domestic or exotic birds showing up at local birding spots. 1st it was the Mandarin and Pekin Ducks at Burnaby Lake, then the Swan Goose at Brydon Lagoon and now this Black Swan in Chilliwack. Maybe it's just because I'm more interested in birds now that I'm noticing it, but it seems more likely that some unscrupulous person is dumping their unwanted pets. I hope that is not the case and it's just my distrustfulness in some people showing. As far as I know, the Mandarin is still doing well (I haven't been out there in a while) and he is going into his 3rd year at Burnaby Lake, the Pekins all disappeared within a year (probably invited to someone's home for dinner), and the Swan Goose is still at Brydon Lagoon (I just saw him today). The Swan Goose and the Black Swan should be OK over the summer because there's lots of natural food available for them. It remains to be seen if they can survive the winter.
Anyway, just my opinion...cheers to all and happy birding!
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