Bonnie said we could go!

[dpeppar]

We have been waiting to do a little travelling around BC, so when Bonnie said we could go on the 15th we did! Just a two day trip up #1 to Spence's Bridge - over #8 to Merritt.
Overnight in Merritt and some birding in the Merritt area.

Some highlights were - Spence's Bridge. We have never birded the the townsite but after seeing a recent e-bird report we stopped in and were rewarded with lots of good birds.


Lazuli Bunting - Passerina amoena - Spence's Bridge BC - Jun 15-21

We saw 17 spices in an hour including FOI's:

BH Magpies
Western Kingbird
Eastern Kingbird
Lazuli Bunting
Bullock's Oriole

Along the way to Merritt we saw Bighorn Sheep:


Young Bighorn Sheep- East of Spence's Bridge BC - Jun 15-21

We went north of Merritt to Beaver Flats adding Eared Grebe and Yellow-headed BB to our year list. A 30kmh+ wind made birding difficult.

In the morning we found our car was being guarded by this little guy.


Yellow-bellied Marmot - Marmota flaviventris - Merrret BC - Jun 16-21

We spent the morning birding the Hamilton Hill Rd for the first time. Its just east of Merritt and winds up a hill next to highway 8. We saw 17 species there including lots of House Wrens who are nesting in the bird houses put on the fences. We only saw one being used by Mt Bluebirds. Most were used by Tree swallows then House Wrens.


House Wren - Troglodytes aedon - Hamelton Hill Merritt BC - Jun 16-21

Other FOI's were:

Chipping Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow
Mountain Chickadee


A final stop at Laurie Guichon Memorial Grasslands to check out the Osprey nest.

Osprey - Pandion haliaetus - Laurie Guichon Memorial Grasslands Merritt BC - Jun 16-21

In all we saw 47 species adding 12 to our year list. So nice to get away. Next trip Oliver and the Okanogan.

DaveP
Chilliwack

[Chris]

Dave sounds like a lovely trip. I love birding those areas. I really like that marmot photo.

I could be wrong but I think Dall's sheep range is much farther north, Yukon and north.

[dpeppar]

Maybe some one knows what these sheep/goats are?

Chris I noticed some of your ebird reports along #8. We stopped at a few spots but did not see much.

[graeme45]

Those are Bighorn Sheep.  Dall's/Thinhorn Sheep are found in Northern BC.

[Chris]

Jun 19, 2021 8:39:34 GMT -8 dpeppar said:

Maybe some one knows what these sheep/goats are?

Chris I noticed some of your ebird reports along #8. We stopped at a few spots but did not see much.

Those ones would be California Bighorn Sheep. Here is their range for BC www.env.gov.bc.ca/wld/documents/bighorn.pdf I didn't read the document but I am almost 100% sure these are slightly different(subspecies) than the ones that live in the Rockies.

Here is the range for the Dall's/Stone Sheep. www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfd/library/documents/bib46265.pdf

Glad you used my eBird checklists to help out. I find the best birding on highway 8 is closest to Spence's Bridge. The last time I drove that highway(think 2019) one of the good areas now seems to have a house there so I didn't check it out.

[dpeppar]

Thanks Graeme.