April 6, 2018
Introduction
For the last 6 years I've participated in a Spring birding tour in the Okanagan. The tour company is Kelowna based Avocet Tours and the tour guide is the owner Chris Charlesworth. The format of the tour for the last 3 years has been to meet in Kelowna and check out the birds in the Central Okanagan on the first day. As usual, the group met at the Apple Bowl and set up car pooling to reduce the vehicle count. I rode with Monica, a very experienced birder from Vancouver.
Kelowna - Mission Creek Park
Our first stop was only a short hop over to this large park south of downtown Kelowna. It's amazing such a large wilderness area was preserved in this ever growing city.
There has been a Western Screech-owl roosting in the same area for a few years and we were all able to get a glimpse of it through Chris' scope without disturbance. It was quite high up and I took one record photo that was extremely poor. I've substituted a photo I took last year on the tour on a day when the owl was roosting in a lower spot.
Western Screech-Owl - Mission Creek Regional Park
2018 Bird # 103
Photo taken in April 2017
A much more visible and audible bird was a calling Varied Thrush high up on a tree top. I have to confess that this was the first time I'd heard the call and seen the bird at the same time. I'd heard the call many times before but assumed it was some unseen Flycatcher.
Varied Thrush - Mission Creek Regional Park, Kelowna BC - 2018 Bird #104
We returned to our cars and travelled east towards Lake Country. Of course, Chris had scheduled a brief stop at the local Tim Horton's first.
Beaver Lake Road heads south out of Lake Country and then gradually bends to the southeast. Once we got away from the highway we pulled and started scanning the grasslands for Meadowlarks, Bluebirds and whatever else might appear.
My first sighting was a common one, a Magpie. The picture below is not great, the lighting conditions throughout the day would make photography difficult.
Black-billed Magpie - Beaver Lake Rd, Lake Country BC - 2018 Bird #105
I had better luck with the next bird, a Pygmy Nuthatch high on a perch. This bird prefers the dry Okanagan climate and is fairly common there.
We returned to our cars and travelled east towards Lake Country. Of course, Chris had scheduled a brief stop at the local Tim Horton's first.
Beaver Lake Road heads south out of Lake Country and then gradually bends to the southeast. Once we got away from the highway we pulled and started scanning the grasslands for Meadowlarks, Bluebirds and whatever else might appear.
My first sighting was a common one, a Magpie. The picture below is not great, the lighting conditions throughout the day would make photography difficult.
Black-billed Magpie - Beaver Lake Rd, Lake Country BC - 2018 Bird #105
I had better luck with the next bird, a Pygmy Nuthatch high on a perch. This bird prefers the dry Okanagan climate and is fairly common there.
Pygmy Nuthatch - Beaver Lake Rd, Lake Country BC
2018 Bird #106
There were both species of Bluebird along the road, but I only got photos of a Western. We'd see Mountain at our next stop.
Western Bluebird - Beaver Lake Rd, Lake Country BC - 2018 Bird # 107
Once again conditions prevented good photos, there'd be better opportunities later in the tour.
Robert Lake - Kelowna
Our next stop was Robert Lake, a small protected area in the middle of a growing housing development. After getting out of the car, I had an opportunity to photograph a female Mountain Bluebird. Once again, photo quality was lacking. I'd have better luck with bluebirds on subsequent days.
Mountain Bluebird (F) - Robert Lake, Kelowna BC - 2018 Bird #108
I got a good shot of a Yellow-headed Blackbird as it sat near a fence.
Yellow-headed Blackbird - Robert Lake, Kelowna BC - 2018 Bird #109
There was a good variety of Ducks on the lake, I was most interested in the ones I had not yet seen this year. I saw a Redhead far out on the lake, but just before we left it came closer for this shot.
Redhead - Robert Lake, Kelowna BC - 2018 Bird #109
Next was a Ruddy Duck quite far across the lake. I had to zoom full out with the Nikon for this shot.
Ruddy Duck - Robert Lake, Kelowna BC - 2018 Bird #110
Just as we were leaving a Muskrat swam by.
Muskrat - Robert Lake, Kelowna BC
Just after this shot it almost collided with an American Coot. I'm not sure if it was an accident or intentional. That would be a large bird for a Muskrat to take on.
Finally we saw some California Quail, a common sight in the Okanagan. They are a native North American species that have spread up the west coast.
California Quail - Robert Lake, Kelowna BC - 2018 Bird #111
Munson Pond Park - Kelowna
This was a new location for the tour and it proved to be the best one of the day.
Upon arrival we checked out the pond and Chris reported there was a female Canvasback across the pond. It was at least 100 metres away, so the photo is not as sharp as I'd like.
Canvasback (F) - Munson Pond Park, Kelowna BC - 2018 Bird #112
The next bird wasn't too exciting, but it was the first American Crow I'd seen on the trip. We have the smaller Northwestern Crow on the west coast, most of the rest of Canada and the US have the
American Crow.
American Crow - Munson Pond Park, Kelowna BC - 2018 Bird #113
Next Chris spotted a Northern Shrike. Once again it was distant, but I got a close shot after the group had moved on. This is the "Butcher Bird". It captures and kills songbirds and often impales them on barbed wire fences for eating later. We'd see more of them on subsequent days.
Northern Shrike - Munson Pond Park, Kelowna BC - 2018 Bird #114
We got to an area where Chris mentioned there had been a Harris's Sparrow overwintering. This Sparrow is more common on the Prairies and northern grasslands. However, we do get the occasional stray in Vancouver area as well. The plumage indicates it is a first-winter bird.
Harris's Sparrow - Munson Pond Park, Kelowna BC - 2018 Bird #115
It was hard to get a fully clear shot, but this one shows the front of the bird.
As we returned to our vehicles, a flock of Swallows flew by. Monica spotted a Cliff Swallow but I didn't see it. Some of the common Violet-green Swallows lit on a telephone wire for a photo-op.
American Crow - Munson Pond Park, Kelowna BC - 2018 Bird #113
Next Chris spotted a Northern Shrike. Once again it was distant, but I got a close shot after the group had moved on. This is the "Butcher Bird". It captures and kills songbirds and often impales them on barbed wire fences for eating later. We'd see more of them on subsequent days.
Northern Shrike - Munson Pond Park, Kelowna BC - 2018 Bird #114
We got to an area where Chris mentioned there had been a Harris's Sparrow overwintering. This Sparrow is more common on the Prairies and northern grasslands. However, we do get the occasional stray in Vancouver area as well. The plumage indicates it is a first-winter bird.
Harris's Sparrow - Munson Pond Park, Kelowna BC - 2018 Bird #115
It was hard to get a fully clear shot, but this one shows the front of the bird.
As we returned to our vehicles, a flock of Swallows flew by. Monica spotted a Cliff Swallow but I didn't see it. Some of the common Violet-green Swallows lit on a telephone wire for a photo-op.
Violet-green Swallow - Munson Pond Park, Kelowna BC
2018 Bird #116
We returned to the Apple Bowl to collect our vehicles and were lucky to see a Merlin that had taken up residence in the area. It would be there the next morning as well.
This smallish Falcon is one of my favourites to see and it was a great to see.
Merlin - Apple Bowl, Kelowna BC
2018 Bird # 117
Owling up Beaver Lake Road
One of the features of Chris's tours are the night excursions where we go look for Owls. We met later in the evening and drove back to Lake Country and part way up Beaver Lake road. Our first, and only target was to see a Saw-whet Owl.
We stopped after going up for 10 - 15 kilometers and Chris started his owl calls. It took a while, but suddenly an owl responded by coming straight at us and buzzing near Chris's head. He bravely kept calling and on the second pass, it came in and clipped his head as it flew by. Fortunately, it did not draw blood. Our night was over and we headed back to Kelowna for the night.
Here's a photo of a Saw-whet sleeping during the day at Reifel Bird Sanctuary in Delta BC. It looks so harmless here.
Northern Saw-whet Owl - 2018 Bird #118
Photo taken in 2015 in Delta BC
