Post by paulos on Sept 4, 2019 10:56:48 GMT -8
After some back and forth around the province (including some excellent birding in the Cariboo: see my favourite ebird list here), I have settled in the Creston Valley in time for fall migration and to catch a few breeding birds that are still around. I've been poking around and looking for nice birding spots as well.
Just down the hill from my home in town is Tin Can Slough. It's a small wetland mostly on private property, but one patch of open water visible from the highway has turned up a few nice of shorebirds: mostly Solitary Sandpipers, some Red-necked Phalaropes and a Stilt Sandpiper. It's also the only place I have found a couple Northern Waterthrushes. I've also found some peeps and Baird's Sandpipers at the south end of Kootenay Lake, with a few odd grebes.
Wild Turkeys are everywhere, and I've seen a couple pheasants. Blue Jays abound around town, which surprised me, though Steller's Jays are not to far away in the woods uphill form the valley. I've enjoyed birding a small road paralleling Goat River, which has turned up, among other things, an early White-throated Sparrow at the end of the month.
The subalpine is close to town via either Mount Thompson (overlooking the valley) or Stagleap Provincial Park toward Salmo on Highway 3. Between the two I've picked up Spruce and Dusky Grouse, a Mountain Bluebird, a surprising Say's Phoebe, Townsend's Solitaires, Clark's Nutcrackers, White-winged Crossbills and the like.
A stop in the airport in Lister produced an early Lapland Longspur, a couple Clay-coloured sparrows, a House Wren and Mourning Doves (which I've seen a few other places). The expansive wetland complex in the valley has also been great for the usual wetland birds, a good number of Pelicans, and a good mix of warblers. A Bonaparte's Gulls made an appearance at Duck Lake.
I also had a surprise Sandhill Crane (they don't breed here) on a bike ride toward Wynndel, just north of Creston.
My Central Kootenay list so far (including some from earlier trips to the Kaslo, Castlegar and Nelway areas):
1 Canada Goose
2 Trumpeter Swan
3 Tundra Swan
4 Wood Duck
5 Blue-winged Teal
6 Cinnamon Teal
7 Northern Shoveler
8 Gadwall
9 American Wigeon
10 Mallard
11 Northern Pintail
12 Green-winged Teal
13 Redhead
14 Ring-necked Duck
15 Lesser Scaup
16 Bufflehead
17 Common Goldeneye
18 Hooded Merganser
19 Common Merganser
20 Ring-necked Pheasant
21 Ruffed Grouse
22 Spruce Grouse
23 Dusky Grouse
24 Wild Turkey
25 Pied-billed Grebe
26 Horned Grebe
27 Red-necked Grebe
28 Western Grebe
29 Rock Pigeon
30 Eurasian Collared-Dove
31 Mourning Dove
32 Common Nighthawk
33 Vaux's Swift
34 Black-chinned Hummingbird
35 Rufous Hummingbird
36 Calliope Hummingbird
37 Virginia Rail
38 Sora
39 American Coot
40 Sandhill Crane
41 Killdeer
42 Stilt Sandpiper
43 Baird's Sandpiper
44 Least Sandpiper
45 Semipalmated Sandpiper
46 Western Sandpiper
47 Red-necked Phalarope
48 Spotted Sandpiper
49 Solitary Sandpiper
50 Greater Yellowlegs
51 Bonaparte's Gull
52 Mew Gull
53 Ring-billed Gull
54 California Gull
55 Herring Gull
56 Common Loon
57 Double-crested Cormorant
58 American White Pelican
59 Great Blue Heron
60 Turkey Vulture
61 Osprey
62 Northern Harrier
63 Sharp-shinned Hawk
64 Bald Eagle
65 Red-tailed Hawk
66 Rough-legged Hawk
67 Great Horned Owl
68 Belted Kingfisher
69 Red-naped Sapsucker
70 Lewis's Woodpecker
71 American Three-toed Woodpecker
72 Downy Woodpecker
73 Hairy Woodpecker
74 Pileated Woodpecker
75 Northern Flicker
76 American Kestrel
77 Merlin
78 Peregrine Falcon
79 Olive-sided Flycatcher
80 Western Wood-Pewee
81 Willow Flycatcher
82 Least Flycatcher
83 Hammond's Flycatcher
84 Dusky Flycatcher
85 Pacific-slope Flycatcher
86 Say's Phoebe
87 Eastern Kingbird
88 Cassin's Vireo
89 Warbling Vireo
90 Red-eyed Vireo
91 Canada Jay
92 Steller's Jay
93 Blue Jay
94 Black-billed Magpie
95 Clark's Nutcracker
96 American Crow
97 Common Raven
98 Black-capped Chickadee
99 Mountain Chickadee
100 Chestnut-backed Chickadee
101 Northern Rough-winged Swallow
102 Tree Swallow
103 Violet-green Swallow
104 Barn Swallow
105 Cliff Swallow
106 Golden-crowned Kinglet
107 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
108 Red-breasted Nuthatch
109 Brown Creeper
110 House Wren
111 Pacific Wren
112 Marsh Wren
113 American Dipper
114 European Starling
115 Gray Catbird
116 Mountain Bluebird
117 Townsend's Solitaire
118 Varied Thrush
119 Veery
120 Swainson's Thrush
121 Hermit Thrush
122 American Robin
123 Bohemian Waxwing
124 Cedar Waxwing
125 House Sparrow
126 American Pipit
127 Evening Grosbeak
128 House Finch
129 Cassin's Finch
130 Red Crossbill
131 White-winged Crossbill
132 Pine Siskin
133 American Goldfinch
134 Lapland Longspur
135 Chipping Sparrow
136 Clay-colored Sparrow
137 Fox Sparrow
138 Dark-eyed Junco
139 White-crowned Sparrow
140 White-throated Sparrow
141 Savannah Sparrow
142 Song Sparrow
143 Lincoln's Sparrow
144 Spotted Towhee
145 Yellow-headed Blackbird
146 Western Meadowlark
147 Bullock's Oriole
148 Red-winged Blackbird
149 Brown-headed Cowbird
150 Brewer's Blackbird
151 Northern Waterthrush
152 Tennessee Warbler
153 Orange-crowned Warbler
154 Nashville Warbler
155 MacGillivray's Warbler
156 Common Yellowthroat
157 American Redstart
158 Yellow Warbler
159 Yellow-rumped Warbler
160 Townsend's Warbler
161 Wilson's Warbler
162 Western Tanager
163 Black-headed Grosbeak
164 Lazuli Bunting
Just down the hill from my home in town is Tin Can Slough. It's a small wetland mostly on private property, but one patch of open water visible from the highway has turned up a few nice of shorebirds: mostly Solitary Sandpipers, some Red-necked Phalaropes and a Stilt Sandpiper. It's also the only place I have found a couple Northern Waterthrushes. I've also found some peeps and Baird's Sandpipers at the south end of Kootenay Lake, with a few odd grebes.
Wild Turkeys are everywhere, and I've seen a couple pheasants. Blue Jays abound around town, which surprised me, though Steller's Jays are not to far away in the woods uphill form the valley. I've enjoyed birding a small road paralleling Goat River, which has turned up, among other things, an early White-throated Sparrow at the end of the month.
The subalpine is close to town via either Mount Thompson (overlooking the valley) or Stagleap Provincial Park toward Salmo on Highway 3. Between the two I've picked up Spruce and Dusky Grouse, a Mountain Bluebird, a surprising Say's Phoebe, Townsend's Solitaires, Clark's Nutcrackers, White-winged Crossbills and the like.
A stop in the airport in Lister produced an early Lapland Longspur, a couple Clay-coloured sparrows, a House Wren and Mourning Doves (which I've seen a few other places). The expansive wetland complex in the valley has also been great for the usual wetland birds, a good number of Pelicans, and a good mix of warblers. A Bonaparte's Gulls made an appearance at Duck Lake.
I also had a surprise Sandhill Crane (they don't breed here) on a bike ride toward Wynndel, just north of Creston.
My Central Kootenay list so far (including some from earlier trips to the Kaslo, Castlegar and Nelway areas):
1 Canada Goose
2 Trumpeter Swan
3 Tundra Swan
4 Wood Duck
5 Blue-winged Teal
6 Cinnamon Teal
7 Northern Shoveler
8 Gadwall
9 American Wigeon
10 Mallard
11 Northern Pintail
12 Green-winged Teal
13 Redhead
14 Ring-necked Duck
15 Lesser Scaup
16 Bufflehead
17 Common Goldeneye
18 Hooded Merganser
19 Common Merganser
20 Ring-necked Pheasant
21 Ruffed Grouse
22 Spruce Grouse
23 Dusky Grouse
24 Wild Turkey
25 Pied-billed Grebe
26 Horned Grebe
27 Red-necked Grebe
28 Western Grebe
29 Rock Pigeon
30 Eurasian Collared-Dove
31 Mourning Dove
32 Common Nighthawk
33 Vaux's Swift
34 Black-chinned Hummingbird
35 Rufous Hummingbird
36 Calliope Hummingbird
37 Virginia Rail
38 Sora
39 American Coot
40 Sandhill Crane
41 Killdeer
42 Stilt Sandpiper
43 Baird's Sandpiper
44 Least Sandpiper
45 Semipalmated Sandpiper
46 Western Sandpiper
47 Red-necked Phalarope
48 Spotted Sandpiper
49 Solitary Sandpiper
50 Greater Yellowlegs
51 Bonaparte's Gull
52 Mew Gull
53 Ring-billed Gull
54 California Gull
55 Herring Gull
56 Common Loon
57 Double-crested Cormorant
58 American White Pelican
59 Great Blue Heron
60 Turkey Vulture
61 Osprey
62 Northern Harrier
63 Sharp-shinned Hawk
64 Bald Eagle
65 Red-tailed Hawk
66 Rough-legged Hawk
67 Great Horned Owl
68 Belted Kingfisher
69 Red-naped Sapsucker
70 Lewis's Woodpecker
71 American Three-toed Woodpecker
72 Downy Woodpecker
73 Hairy Woodpecker
74 Pileated Woodpecker
75 Northern Flicker
76 American Kestrel
77 Merlin
78 Peregrine Falcon
79 Olive-sided Flycatcher
80 Western Wood-Pewee
81 Willow Flycatcher
82 Least Flycatcher
83 Hammond's Flycatcher
84 Dusky Flycatcher
85 Pacific-slope Flycatcher
86 Say's Phoebe
87 Eastern Kingbird
88 Cassin's Vireo
89 Warbling Vireo
90 Red-eyed Vireo
91 Canada Jay
92 Steller's Jay
93 Blue Jay
94 Black-billed Magpie
95 Clark's Nutcracker
96 American Crow
97 Common Raven
98 Black-capped Chickadee
99 Mountain Chickadee
100 Chestnut-backed Chickadee
101 Northern Rough-winged Swallow
102 Tree Swallow
103 Violet-green Swallow
104 Barn Swallow
105 Cliff Swallow
106 Golden-crowned Kinglet
107 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
108 Red-breasted Nuthatch
109 Brown Creeper
110 House Wren
111 Pacific Wren
112 Marsh Wren
113 American Dipper
114 European Starling
115 Gray Catbird
116 Mountain Bluebird
117 Townsend's Solitaire
118 Varied Thrush
119 Veery
120 Swainson's Thrush
121 Hermit Thrush
122 American Robin
123 Bohemian Waxwing
124 Cedar Waxwing
125 House Sparrow
126 American Pipit
127 Evening Grosbeak
128 House Finch
129 Cassin's Finch
130 Red Crossbill
131 White-winged Crossbill
132 Pine Siskin
133 American Goldfinch
134 Lapland Longspur
135 Chipping Sparrow
136 Clay-colored Sparrow
137 Fox Sparrow
138 Dark-eyed Junco
139 White-crowned Sparrow
140 White-throated Sparrow
141 Savannah Sparrow
142 Song Sparrow
143 Lincoln's Sparrow
144 Spotted Towhee
145 Yellow-headed Blackbird
146 Western Meadowlark
147 Bullock's Oriole
148 Red-winged Blackbird
149 Brown-headed Cowbird
150 Brewer's Blackbird
151 Northern Waterthrush
152 Tennessee Warbler
153 Orange-crowned Warbler
154 Nashville Warbler
155 MacGillivray's Warbler
156 Common Yellowthroat
157 American Redstart
158 Yellow Warbler
159 Yellow-rumped Warbler
160 Townsend's Warbler
161 Wilson's Warbler
162 Western Tanager
163 Black-headed Grosbeak
164 Lazuli Bunting