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Post by paulos on Mar 14, 2020 10:14:08 GMT -8
January 1 in Creston started off with a life bird for me: a couple Long-eared Owls in willows near Duck Lake. I was getting ready for the Christmas Bird Count for Duck Lake and South Kootenay Lake later that week. 15+ Short-eared Owls were hanging around Duck Lake for a few weeks, and we saw a good number on the count,. The other highlight of the count as an immature Goshawk.
Otherwise winter here is a bit quieter than in the Fraser Valley, but with the bonus of some of winter songbirds like Redpolls, Pine Grosbeaks, Bohemian Waxwings, Townsend's Solitaires and American Tree Sparrows. I had the odd sighting of a couple White-throated Sparrows. I had a surprise Golden Eagle on a forest road. I spent some time owling in February, and Saw-whets are calling everywhere. Barred owls are much more uncommon, and I'm still looking/listening out for one this year.
There has been a marked change in the last few weeks, as lakes thaw and ducks arrive in good numbers... there are hundreds of Pintails and Wigeons around. The other day I found a Eurasian Wigeon and a Eurasian Green-winged Teal at Duck Lake. Songbirds are arriving back too, including Towhees, Meadowlarks, and the odd Yellow-headed Blackbird in flocks of Red-winged Blackbirds. Birding around the farms and ranches in Lister produced my first Quail for the area (there's a small population), and a few Say's Phoebes and and Western Bluebirds in the last week.
I'm to 97 birds for the year thus far. I'm still fascinated by the different habitats and flora here compared to the wet coast, the dry Okanagan, or the Cariboo plateau--the other places where I've spent significant time in the province. It's not uncommon to find Douglas Fir-Western Red Cedar-Larch-Ponderosa Pine woods, with Spruces not far up in the hills. It's still strange to me to see Chestnut-backed Chickadees in Ponderosas and Magpies in fir-cedar forests. It's a small valley with plenty of micro-habitats worth exploring, and with them some bird surprises.
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Post by Dave on Mar 14, 2020 21:18:42 GMT -8
Thanks for the update, Paul. It will be interesting to hear more about your year list as the seasons change.
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Post by denisknopp on Mar 29, 2020 13:43:21 GMT -8
Great to hear you are getting the spring bird. You are making me miss Creston Valley if reminds me of Chilliwack when I was a kid.
Take Care,
Denis
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Post by paulos on Apr 4, 2020 12:15:53 GMT -8
Thanks Denis and Dave.
The pandemic is having its effect on birding in the valley for sure--our Bird Festival is cancelled, and the wildlife management area (which include Duck Lake)is closing, which is certainly understandable. I'll have to get creative to see waterfowl and shorebirds this spring.
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Post by paulos on Apr 30, 2020 14:57:28 GMT -8
 The end of April seems a good time for another update. There are plenty of new arrivals, including many Nashville Warblers (they have outnumbered Yellow-rumped warblers pretty consistently for me). Mountain Bluebird flocks are pretty regular (and a few Western Bluebirds too). I've enjoyed the Cinnamon and Blue-winged Teals and many Snipe displaying, calling, and flushing from everywhere. Townsend's Warblers and a House Wren are the most recent arrivals I've encountered. A few other highlights: Good flocks of several dozen Snow Geese have been moving through the valley. I was surprised by a ~30 Gray-crowned Rosy Finches on a small cliff next to the little highway heading to the border. I found a lone Black-necked Stilt a couple days ago. They seem to be annual occurrences in the Creston Valley.
I'm most looking forward to the arrival of breeding Bobolinks and Forster's Terns. Sounds like a lot is happening in the Fraser Valley too. It's a great time of year. |
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Post by ed on Apr 30, 2020 16:52:35 GMT -8
Thanks Paul. Good to hear from Creston and a slightly different bird focus.
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Post by paulos on Jun 13, 2020 15:13:06 GMT -8
May was a great month to be here in Creston. Water levels were sufficiently low that a few shorebirds came through Duck Lake, including the Stilts and Avocets, Long-billed Dowitchers, and a Dunlin (the latter not so common here). I also saw one Wilson's Phalarope at the same location. Cinnamon Teals came out in dozens... I don't think I have seen anything like that except with mixed teal flocks in the fall on the coast. The biggest surprise was a flock of sixteen White-faced Ibises (I see a couple showed up in the Fraser Valley too).
I also saw a pair of Franklin's Gulls the same day with a young birder in the area. Some strong winds must have blown some prairie birds west for us. They only stuck around until evening, when several of us saw them take off and circle high out of sight.
It was nice to find a few Forster's and Black Terns, several Long-billed Curlews, and plenty of Bobolinks in the area. Clay-coloured Sparrows are surprisingly numerous along some roadsides. At the end of May I took a trip to the Pend Oreille Valley on the other side of Kootenay Pass, and found a couple singing Yellow-breasted Chats. There's a small population that are known to breed there. Lewis's woodpeckers abounded in an old burn.
I also try to make a weekly trip to a road along Goat River in walking distance from home, which has produced some nice birds like a Hermit Thrush, Northern Waterthrushes, so many Ring-necked Pheasants, and a Bank Swallow colony. I'm up to 114 species there.
Birding in Creston brings a new set of challenges--with Willow, Least and Dusky flycatchers, the aural "whit" identifications are tricky. I've had to refresh my gull ID skills, as I can't simply compare everything I see to the Glaucous-winged Gull next to it. I'm also on the lookout (or listen-out...?) for Cordilleran Flycatchers. There are several records not far from here in Idaho. Who knows when one might show up? But they seem to respect the border closure pretty strictly.
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Post by birder1942 on Jun 14, 2020 8:07:02 GMT -8
What a fine report of how the birding year progresses in your area. It must be neat to be dealing with a whole suite of new local species! Normally one has to travel to a different area to get some unusual birds. Blessing on you and yours. Stay healthy and safe. John Vooys, Abbotsford
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Post by Chris on Jun 14, 2020 9:18:05 GMT -8
Great bird diversity in that area. Thanks for the update Paul.
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Post by paulos on Dec 31, 2020 8:49:43 GMT -8
A frozen Creston Valley Wildlife Area from above last week. I spent some time traveling away from Creston this summer, including when my car broke down in 100 Mile House, so I didn’t do as much summer birding around here as I might have. I did add a Western Kingbird to my Creston list. They seemed to be about as uncommon here as in the eastern Fraser Valley—just one or two around. I also heard a couple calling Bitterns in June at the wildlife area, and managed to see them on two occasions at Leach Lake this fall. One bulky bird flushed up right in front of me. The one that got away this summer was a Black Swift. But the Bobolink-filled fields, Nashville Warbler-filled woods, and Eastern Kingbird-filled riparian areas have been fun. My Nashville Warbler high count was 37 on one walk in some open woods. My first fall shorebirds came as a small flock of Semipalmated Sandpipers on July 1st. Fall shorebirding in Creston is a bit difficult, and the only consistent spot I found this year was on the mudflats at the south end of Kootenay Lake, which had my first Semipalmated Plover for the area, along with Baird’s Sandpipers, Long-billed Dowitchers, Pectoral Sandpipers and the odd peep. My mountain hawk watching was unsuccessful this year. But in early September I went to some farm flats on Kootenay River Road after a wind storm and found two Ferruginous Hawks alongside the Red-Tailed Hawks (I counted up to 35 of those at one point too). Other highlights of the fall included a good number of Swamp Sparrows, a Red-throated Loon, a Surf Scoter, some Eared Grebes, and a possibly Common but possibly Yellow-billed Loon that seems to have divided some expert birders. In November I spotted a light distant falcon I was sure would be a Prairie (not unheard of here), but it turned out to be a Gyrfalcon. Later observers found two. It’s the third record for Creston, and the bird drew a bit of a crowd. I re-found one just a couple weeks ago near Duck Lake. I also found a young Thayer’s Gull at Kootenay Lake.
 The Creston Christmas Bird Count on the 27th was fun, and I found a few uncommon winter birds, including a Mountain Bluebird, Ruby-crowned Kinglet (not usually a winter bird here), and a low-elevation Clark’s Nutcracker. Pine Siskins were out in the hundreds. I also saw a herd of elk and a family of river otters.
A couple of us found a large flock of White-winged Crossbills while looking for count week birds.
Otherwise, I’m still really enjoying the Blue Jays, Pheasants, Quail and White-throated Sparrows I come across here and there. I bought a new camera a couple months ago, and am still trying for that Blue Jay picture. They’ve been oddly reticent like this guy: Rough-legged Hawks abound in the valley.
With a, shall we say, little chickadee on the way, it looks like our last year in Creston before we move closer to family in the Cariboo. It's been a good go so far. I had 216 species in the area for the year, 213 in Creston Valley itself. Snow Goose Greater White-fronted Goose Canada Goose Trumpeter Swan Tundra Swan Wood Duck Blue-winged Teal Cinnamon Teal Northern Shoveler Gadwall Eurasian Wigeon American Wigeon Mallard Northern Pintail Green-winged Teal Canvasback Redhead Ring-necked Duck Greater Scaup Lesser Scaup Surf Scoter Bufflehead Common Goldeneye Barrow's Goldeneye Hooded Merganser Common Merganser Red-breasted Merganser Ruddy Duck California Quail Ring-necked Pheasant Ruffed Grouse Spruce Grouse Dusky Grouse Wild Turkey Pied-billed Grebe Horned Grebe Red-necked Grebe Eared Grebe Western Grebe Rock Pigeon Eurasian Collared-Dove Mourning Dove Common Nighthawk Vaux's Swift Black-chinned Hummingbird Rufous Hummingbird Calliope Hummingbird Virginia Rail Sora American Coot Sandhill Crane Black-necked Stilt American Avocet Semipalmated Plover Killdeer Long-billed Curlew Dunlin Baird's Sandpiper Least Sandpiper Pectoral Sandpiper Semipalmated Sandpiper Long-billed Dowitcher Wilson's Snipe Wilson's Phalarope Spotted Sandpiper Solitary Sandpiper Greater Yellowlegs Lesser Yellowlegs Bonaparte's Gull Franklin's Gull Mew Gull Ring-billed Gull California Gull Herring Gull Iceland Gull Glaucous Gull Black Tern Forster's Tern Red-throated Loon Common Loon Double-crested Cormorant American White Pelican American Bittern Great Blue Heron White-faced Ibis Turkey Vulture Osprey Golden Eagle Northern Harrier Sharp-shinned Hawk Cooper's Hawk Northern Goshawk Bald Eagle Swainson's Hawk Red-tailed Hawk Rough-legged Hawk Ferruginous Hawk Great Horned Owl Northern Pygmy-Owl Barred Owl Great Gray Owl Long-eared Owl Short-eared Owl Northern Saw-whet Owl Belted Kingfisher Red-naped Sapsucker Lewis's Woodpecker American Three-toed Woodpecker Downy Woodpecker Hairy Woodpecker Pileated Woodpecker Northern Flicker American Kestrel Merlin Gyrfalcon Peregrine Falcon Olive-sided Flycatcher Western Wood-Pewee Willow Flycatcher Least Flycatcher Hammond's Flycatcher Dusky Flycatcher Pacific-slope Flycatcher Say's Phoebe Western Kingbird Eastern Kingbird Cassin's Vireo Warbling Vireo Red-eyed Vireo Northern Shrike Canada Jay Steller's Jay Blue Jay Black-billed Magpie Clark's Nutcracker American Crow Common Raven Black-capped Chickadee Mountain Chickadee Chestnut-backed Chickadee Boreal Chickadee Horned Lark Northern Rough-winged Swallow Tree Swallow Violet-green Swallow Bank Swallow Barn Swallow Cliff Swallow Golden-crowned Kinglet Ruby-crowned Kinglet Red-breasted Nuthatch Brown Creeper House Wren Pacific Wren Marsh Wren American Dipper European Starling Gray Catbird Western Bluebird Mountain Bluebird Townsend's Solitaire Varied Thrush Veery Swainson's Thrush Hermit Thrush American Robin Bohemian Waxwing Cedar Waxwing House Sparrow American Pipit Evening Grosbeak Pine Grosbeak Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch House Finch Cassin's Finch Common Redpoll Red Crossbill White-winged Crossbill Pine Siskin American Goldfinch Lapland Longspur Snow Bunting Chipping Sparrow Clay-colored Sparrow American Tree Sparrow Fox Sparrow Dark-eyed Junco White-crowned Sparrow White-throated Sparrow Vesper Sparrow Savannah Sparrow Song Sparrow Lincoln's Sparrow Swamp Sparrow Spotted Towhee Yellow-breasted Chat Yellow-headed Blackbird Bobolink Western Meadowlark Bullock's Oriole Red-winged Blackbird Brown-headed Cowbird Brewer's Blackbird Northern Waterthrush Orange-crowned Warbler Nashville Warbler MacGillivray's Warbler Common Yellowthroat American Redstart Yellow Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Townsend's Warbler Wilson's Warbler Western Tanager Black-headed Grosbeak Lazuli Bunting |
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Post by Chris on Dec 31, 2020 13:45:40 GMT -8
Thanks, Paul for the update. Great list and a couple of potential lifers for me. I hope to make it to that area soon.
Congrats on the new arrival on the way. As you know, the Cariboo is another great area for birding.
All the best in 2021
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