Waldie's Winter Waterfowl

I took advantage of a rare sunny day and went birding down at Waldie Island. There was an enchanting atmosphere as the snow in the trees melted and dripped all around, the leaves rustled in the gentle breeze and the  dry grass quaked; all the while feeling the warm glow of the sun. Good day for birding! There was a large flock of ducks around the island including all 3 Bucephalas and 3 Aythya species. An unusual sight were 2 male Common Mergansers along with 9 females, I usually only see females. There were also plenty of Mallards with a few Canada Geese. 

I also managed to find Townsend's Solitaire, Great Blue Heron, Bohemian Waxwing and a Herring Gull at the very end of my outing, nice birds to end with.

Location:     Castlegar--Waldie Island
Observation date:     2/9/11
Number of species:     20

Canada Goose - Branta canadensis     8
Mallard - Anas platyrhynchos     55
Ring-necked Duck - Aythya collaris     20
Greater Scaup - Aythya marila     4
Lesser Scaup - Aythya affinis     40
Bufflehead - Bucephala albeola     19
Common Goldeneye - Bucephala clangula     8
Barrow's Goldeneye - Bucephala islandica     55
Common Merganser - Mergus merganser     11
Great Blue Heron - Ardea herodias     1
Bald Eagle - Haliaeetus leucocephalus     1
Herring Gull - Larus argentatus     1
Northern Flicker (Red-shafted) - Colaptes auratus [cafer Group]     4
American Crow - Corvus brachyrhynchos     17
Black-capped Chickadee - Poecile atricapillus     1
Townsend's Solitaire - Myadestes townsendi     1
Bohemian Waxwing - Bombycilla garrulus     20
Song Sparrow - Melospiza melodia     6
House Finch - Carpodacus mexicanus     5
Pine Siskin - Spinus pinus     2

#205 Boreal on Broadwater

This little Boreal Owl was gliding from perch to perch along Broadwater Road. I had heard one a few years back, but this is the first one I've been able to watch. It is also my 205th species in the Central Kootenays! What a fantastic day. While a was taking pictures this guy stopped and asked me, " Private eye?". I told him I was taking pictures of an owl, which didn't seem to register with him, because as soon as the owl flew he asks, " Was that an owl?!" He ended up staying and taking pictures with his iphone and was quite excited about the experience. After he left I began to think about all the people that had driven by having no idea there was an unusual little owl gliding along for everyone to see. Even with me there taking pictures, hinting at something interesting by the road. I am definitely glad I caught sight of this little gem. Who knows if I'll ever see one again?

Winter Walks

I wasn't originally planning on going out today as it was snowing pretty hard in the morning, but as we reached noon the snow let up. I went down to my usual birding spot at Waldie. It must have snowed around 4in over night. The river was higher than usual which meant there weren't that many ducks in the oxbow. There were mostly Mallards, Common Goldeneyes and Buffleheads.

While I was scanning the ducks I heard a distinct "chup" call note from the bushes beside me. It sounded a lot like a Varied Thrush, so I started scanning the bush. Eventually a bird flew into the open, it was a Varied Thrush, then two more popped up. What a beautiful bird!

Location: Waldie Island Trail

Date: January 12, 2011
Total Species: 18

Canada Goose - Branta canadensis     14
Mallard - Anas platyrhynchos     34
Greater Scaup - Aythya marila     2
Lesser Scaup - Aythya affinis     30
Bufflehead - Bucephala albeola     21
Common Goldeneye - Bucephala clangula     88
Barrow's Goldeneye - Bucephala islandica     6
Common Merganser - Mergus merganser     4
Great Blue Heron - Ardea herodias     2
Bald Eagle - Haliaeetus leucocephalus     6
Northern Flicker (Red-shafted) - Colaptes auratus [cafer Group]     1
American Crow - Corvus brachyrhynchos     6
Common Raven - Corvus corax     1
Black-capped Chickadee - Poecile atricapillus     10
Varied Thrush - Ixoreus naevius     3
Bohemian Waxwing - Bombycilla garrulus     175
Song Sparrow - Melospiza melodia     4
House Finch - Carpodacus mexicanus     1

Creston CBC - Dec 27th

I spent Christmas in Creston and decided to phone up Gary to see if I could tag along on the local Christmas Bird Count. We ended up spending four hours driving along country roads on the flats from the highway up to Duck lake. What a fantastic time. We tallied 25 species of which the highlights were:

- 11 Eurasian Collared-Doves, which is the biggest flock Gary has seen in Creston. Previous counts being around 3-4 birds.

- Northern Shrike, only the second of the day.

- Northern Pygmy-Owl, my 3rd in 2 weeks. Gary informed me that Creston has been seeing an unusually high number of them this month.

Location: Lower Wyndell Rd to Channel Rd

Date: 12/27/10 14:00-18:00

Species Total: 25

CAGO 4

BUFF 10

COGO 109

HOME 1

GBHE 2

BAEA 1

RTHA 4

AMKE 4

ECDO 11

MODO 47

GHOW 1

SEOW 2

NPOW 1

NOFL 3

NOSH 1

STJA 1

BBMA 2

CORA 12

BCCH 10

AMDI 2

EUST 10

SOSP 4

HOFI 36

AMGO61

HOSP 1

A Walk Down Wilson Rd

Feeder Watch

The red-breasted nuthatches found our new feeder outside the kitchen window. I took this while doing dishes, not a bad distraction. We are seeing 2-3 of these guys at our feeders daily. Today we had the biggest flock of House Finches yet, ~30. There were a couple orange males mixed in with the usual pink ones. Other visitors were 2 american goldfinches, 4 black-capped chickadees and 2 song sparrows.

Earlier this week, I saw a northern pygmy-owl on a road sign close to our house. I rushed home for the camera, but he was gone by the time I got back.  It's easy to forget they are only 6.75in in length. For some perspective, an american robin is 10in long.

Heading to Creston tomorrow for a week, hopefully for some great birding and photography opportunities.

Yard List

When we moved to our new home I decided it was time to start a yard list, something I hadn't done before. My yard list consists of birds that I've seen or heard from my yard, not necessarily birds physically on our property. As of yesterday I had recorded 69 species from our home in Robson. Today brought me a suprise while I was having my coffee, watching our feeders and scanning the fruit trees.

The usual suspects were there: Black-capped Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Song Sparrow and then.......a Northern Shrike(#70) showed up! He just posed there while I enjoyed the view, clearly forgetting I have a new lense I could take such a shot with, sigh. Here's a list of the birds seen from my yard:

1. Black-capped Chickadee
2. Pacific Wren
3. American Crow
4. Common Raven
5. Bald Eagle
6. Pine Siskin
7. Common Redpoll
8. Downy Woodpecker
9. Northern Flicker
10. Common Goldeneye
11. Canada Goose
12. Barrow's Goldeneye
13. Bufflehead
14. Ring-billed Gull
15. Cedar Waxwing
16. House Finch
17. Cooper's Hawk
18. Song Sparrow
19. Dark-eyed Junco
20. Rock Pigeon
21. Steller's Jay
22. European Starling
23. Townsend's Solitaire
24. American Robin
25. Merlin
26. Red-breasted Nuthatch
27. American Goldfinch
28. Spotted Towhee
29. Violet-green Swallow
30. Killdeer
31. Red-tailed Hawk
32. Brewer's Blackbird
33. Yellow Warbler
34. Yellow-rumped Warbler
35. Osprey
36. Turkey Vulture
37. Hairy Woodpecker
38. Rufous Hummingbird
39. Tree Swallow
40. Calliope Hummingbird
41. Black-chinned Hummingbird
42. Yellow-headed Blackbird
43. Nashville Warbler
44. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
45. Orange-crowned Warlber
46. Red-winged Blackbird
47. Gray Catbird
48. Lazuli Bunting
49. Chipping Sparrow
50. Bullock's Oriole
51. Olive-sided Flycatcher
52. Veery
53. Western Tanager
54. Wilson's Warbler
55. Brown-headed Cowbird
56. Western Wood-Pewee
57. Barn Swallow
58. Red Crossbill
59. Western Kingbird
60. Spotted Sandpiper
61. Red-eyed Vireo
62. Common Nighthawk
63. Golden-crowned Kinglet
64. Cliff Swallow
65. Peregrine Falcon
66. Mallard
67. Sharp-shinned Hawk
68. Double-crested Cormorant
69. Pileated Woodpecker
70. Northern Shrike