Christmas Bird Counting

Snowy drive

“It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas……………..” And here in BC it certainly is with much of the landscape covered in freshly fallen snow. And as the days tick down to Christmas a birder starts to think of Christmas Bird Counts.

Christmas Bird Counts?

Snowy drive continued

“In 1900, American ornithologist Frank Chapman asked birders across North America to head out on Christmas Day to count the birds in their home towns and submit the results as the first "Christmas Bird Census." The Christmas Bird Count, as it is now called, is conducted in over 2000 localities across Canada, the United States, Latin America, and the Caribbean. These bird observations have been amassed into a huge database that reflects the distribution and numbers of winter birds over time. 

Christmas Bird Counts are conducted on any one day between December 14 and January 5 inclusive. They are carried out within a 24-km diameter circle that stays the same from year to year. Christmas counts are generally group efforts, though single-observer counts can and do happen. They are organized at the local level, usually by a birding club or naturalists organization.

  As well as adding an exciting and fun event to the holiday season, the Christmas Bird Count provides important information for bird conservation. Data from the Count were used in assessment reports that added Western Screech-Owl, Rusty Blackbird, and Newfoundland Red Crossbill to the Species at Risk Act lists, and the general database was used extensively in the recent State of Canada's Birds  report.” 

Gary Davidson skillfully talked me into participating in three Bird Counts over three days in the Okanagan Valley. Friday saw the Lake Country Bird Count. Saturday Kelowna’s was held and then on Sunday, Vernon at the northern end of the Okanagan. I reluctantly agreed to bird and count in all three.

So on a naughty Thursday afternoon, with the temperature hovering just below the zero mark and a light snow falling, we headed west across the Monashee Mountains towards the Okanagan. The snow was falling quite heavily as we crossed the highest parts of the crossing and the temperature outside went to minus six below however we were safe and warm inside the 4WD.

We were very lucky to be hosted by Pam and her husband Jim who had a beautiful home near Winfield that was large enough such that my snoring failed to wake them, secreted as they were in another part of the house. It is worth another sentence to emphasise how comfortable and charming Pam’s house is and I’m sorry we didn’t have more time to enjoy its eclectic art and decorations, its music and conversation.

Gary at our first rendezvous. Where else but Tim Hortons?

So Lake Country birding began at Tim Hortons where we picked up our fellow birder, Loraine at 8 am and then the games began. It was cold, about zero and snow was softly falling. And the birds were, not surprisingly playing hard to get. A walk around a small sanctuary revealed little save Mallards, 2 Bufflehead, a lazy song Sparrow that had to be pished into life and a few juncos and BC Chickadees. Canada Geese and a few Gulls flew past. And there were Flickers. Flickers are quite a handsome woodpecker however they are suffered a little, perhaps like Rainbow Lorikeets or Galahs in Australia, because they are so common. ‘Oh, another flicker”, is usually intoned with a rather sad and defeated tone completely lacking in any joy. WE saw a lot of flickers on this day. And the next. And the next.

Our first Lake Country site

A trip to the nearby Lake yielded many coot, 3 shoveller, some Herring Gull, Hooded and Common Merganser, Loon, many Western and a few Horned plus a single Red-necked Grebe and a few other waterfowl; Gadwall and American Wigeon. Kingfisher and ‘Oh, another Flicker’.

The Lake Country Reserve under snow

The day was spent happily driving around our area checking for birds and obviously counting them.

Lake Country Lake with foreground Mallards

We had a section of Beaver Lake Road which Gary walked some of while we re-checked some of our previous sites for species missed. In this way we saw a wintering Marsh Wren that we had missed earlier in the day. All in all we saw just over 50 spp for the day. Our highlights included Merlin, Hooded Merganser, Harrier, Marsh Wren while Gary on his lone trek saw some Northern Pygmy Owls that responded to his calls.

It was not long after this we met Doug Brown, a birder from the southern Okanagan that Gary described merely as a ‘character’. He was. Doug had an invisible, let’s say, aura around him that it was not wise to penetrate. He had a deserved reputation for finding birds and on Birding count days he was given far-flung routes where mere mortals would be forced to pause. At any rate on this day he was given the higher and colder and snowier parts of Beaver Lake Road and he had seen spp not recorded by anyone else; Grouse, Three-toed Woodpecker and White winged Crossbill – the latter would have been a lifer for me. To top it off he had a low-land section to bird as well and there he encountered the bird of the day – Say’s Phoebe – a very late record indeed. So excited was he that he immediately came to find us so that we would verify his record. Soon we were panting and puffing along the railway track, Doug leading the way, his left hand working anxiously placing and removing a cigarette from his lips, smoke and steam pouring from his mouth in equal quantities while his right arm waved excitedly in the general area where the bird was seen. It may have looked, from a distance at least, that we were re-enacting the last steam train’s run. At any rate we failed to see the Phoebe but we did find a good day bird in the form of an American Kestrel.

Kelowna Bird Count

 

The wrap up was held at a local Golf Club House that sold cold beer. And within a warm building at last, with a cold beer in my hand it finally felt like a Friday arvo.

Dipper

Kelowna had us join a group of three other birders and we scored a good view of a perched Sharp-shinned Hawk as we met them.  It was minus three and snowy and it had snowed quite a bit before our arrival so it was a little bit of a wade through snow for our first foray which was in a local forested creek side. Again birds were a little slow but eventually we saw a few birds – BC Chickadee, Pine Grosbeak, Dipper, Californian Quail, Red Poll, Raven, Mallard, Clark’s Nutcracker on a flyby, Pacific Wren, Juncos and, perhaps best of all, White–throated Sparrow. We also got great views of an angry Musk Rat who was strolling around the ice chasing some Mallards.

Dipper again

We had some interesting territory; a range of suburbs and farmland so we saw quite a decent range of species with some good numbers of many. Solitaires of the Townsend variety were seen with a Northern Shrike, Mountain Chickadees, Caifornian Quail by the dozens and a variety of raptors. A few white crowned Sparrows accompanied the more common Songs and there were plenty of Juncos.

Dipper habitat

The birding highlights of our day came at our last birding site, Chichester Marsh. Here we added many Mallard, a few Green-winged Teal, Red-winged Blackbird, more juncos and goldfinch, more Red-tailed Hawks, Collared Doves and Virginia Rail. Now this rail would have been a lifer for me and the frustrating thing was that I saw it – a hurried scurrying back end view of a rail flying the short two metre distance between reed beds before a skidding landing and dash into the cover of reeds. I saw it but I saw nothing except a bird’s dark bum disappear. It must have been the Virginia Rail but the id is based almost solely on the process of elimination. Dam. Meanwhile Gary scored a few more day birds, a few waterfowl spp plus a nice view of a perched Cooper’s Hawk plus a Swamp Sparrow – another good bird. And a great one to finish with as it was only the second time I had seen the species.

The wrap up was at an environmental centre and it was here that Okanagan birding royalty had assembled; Chris Charlesworth, Dick Cannings and, of course, Chris Siddle – to name a few. Birds were tabled and tallied and tales were traded. Chris Siddle, who had birded alone, began by boasting just that, and he claimed that it,” reduced but did not eliminate arguments.” It was a good line, that I now look forward to using.  Chris also boasted that he had rediscovered the force of gravity, having fallen from a high fence.  Annoyingly Chris got Virginia Rail too – long, long looks of a statue like rail staring back at him from a ditch.

Post wrap up we made our way back to the Siddles for a night’s sleep before Vernon’s count.

Vernon had me joining an older couple, Peter and Hilda, who, before the day was out admitted that this would be their last count. They were a nice couple and a pleasure to spend the day with. WE were to have had another Peter accompany us however he failed to show at the rendezvous point so we eventually left without him.

Again it was cold and there was a strong wind blowing. Waterfowl and songbirds were difficult to find. Canada Geese, Mallard and a few Red-necked Grebe were about the only thing on our side of the lake. There were many Gulls not too far away from us and I had a quick look, noting Herring, Glaucous-winged, Ring-billed and Californian however I didn’t worry about having to count them. A large flock of Bohemian Waxwings flew past.

Angry Musk Rat

Not long after we began Peter took a tumble on an icy road. I helped him up and thankfully he was okay. WE soon added Downy Woodpecker, BC and Mountain Chickadees, Northern Shrike, Red-breasted and Pygmy Nuthatches plus the ubiquitous Juncos and House Finches. The day was particularly notable for raptors; many Red-tailed Hawks, amazingly only one Rough-legged Hawk, many Harriers, a few Merlin and Bald Eagles and perhaps best of all – a nice soaring Golden Eagle.  

The best bit of birding happened late in the day when we found a nice scrubby field that was attracted to me by a dark Red tailed Hawk standing guard in a tree in the middle of the space. A bit of pishing caused a heap of Song Sparrows to appear before a few White-crowned and then the bird of the day -  a Golden-crowned Sparrow! Apparently this is the first CBC record for Vernon so an ‘award winning’ bird. There is actually a trophy for the best bird however it is a perpetual trophy and perhaps people of Vernon would be disappointed if I spirited it away to Australia! [The second best spp of the day and perhaps the best was a record of Barn Owl. Also, at the same site, there were a few House Finches and Goldfinches plus Juncos.

My personal spp list for the long weekend is as follows;

Canada Goose

Gadwall

American Wigeon

Green-winged Teal

Mallard

Northern Shoveler

female Greater Scaup

Greater Scaup

Bufflehead

Common Goldeneye

Hooded Merganser

Common Merganser

Ring-necked Pheasant

California Quail

Common Loon

Horned Grebe

Red-necked Grebe

Western Grebe

Great Blue Heron

Bald Eagle

Golden Eagle

Northern Harrier

Sharp-shinned Hawk

Cooper’s Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

Rough-legged Hawk

American Kestrel

Merlin

Virginia Rail

American Coot

Ring-billed Gull

California Gull

Herring Gull

Glaucous-winged Gull

Rock Pigeon

Eurasian Collared-Dove

Mourning Dove

Belted Kingfisher

Downy Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

Northern Shrike

Steller's Jay

Clark's Nutcracker

Black-billed Magpie

American Crow

Common Raven

Black-capped Chickadee

Mountain Chickadee

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Pygmy Nuthatch

Pacific Wren

Marsh Wren

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Townsend's Solitaire

American Robin

European Starling

Male Mallard

Bohemian Waxwing

Cedar Waxwing

Spotted Towhee

Song Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow

White-throated Sparrow

Golden crowned Sparrow

Dark-eyed (Oregon) Junco

Red-winged Blackbird

Pine Grosbeak

House Finch

Common Redpoll

American Goldfinch

House Sparrow

69 spp

Plus Coyote, White-tailed and Mule Deer, Musk Rat for mammals.

Night drive home